Baseball’s annual celebration of Jackie Robinson Day also takes place on the Minor League Baseball and amateur levels, with plenty of events scheduled for Vero Beach’s Jackie Robinson Training Complex (JRTC) at Dodgertown.
Yeah, we know MLB prefers the branding of Jackie Robinson Training Complex instead of Dodgertown, but fans of a certain age know the Vero Beach facility by the latter, not the former. Still, MLB has done a splendid job of maintaining and operating both Dodgertown and Holman Stadium, where Robinson spent most spring trainings in his 10-year MLB career. Today the training complex serves as the primary stage for the league’s youth development initiatives throughout the year, as well as several events surrounding Jackie Robinson Day, April 15. If you are in the area, we’re recommend taking in an event or three.
Like the annual MiLB game, this year featuring the Low-A Florida State League’s Jupiter Hammerheads and the Palm Beach Frozen Iguanas (an alt branding of the Palm Beach Cardinals). Game time is 6:42 p.m. Holman Stadium has never looked better: yes, the famous baseball lights are still there, and yes, it does look a little weird with real, rather intrusive dugouts. if you used to go to Dodgers spring-training games when both teams were perched on benches down the lines and pitchers sitting on the field next to the bullpens down each line, the modern Holman Stadium will be a little jarring.
(We’re not fans of most alt branding, as they reek of forced merch plays, but in this case the Frozen Iguanas moniker is pretty clever. In Florida, when the temps dip below 40 degrees, the ever-present cold-blooded iguanas enter into a dormant state–they “freeze”–and quite often drop from palm trees. Don’t worry: when the temps inevitably rise, they wake up. The Palm Beach Cardinals are adopting the alt identity for 12 Saturday games this season, complete with sponsorship from an iguana control service.)
Holman Stadium opened in 1953, late in Robinson’s MLB career; he retired after the 1956 season, turning down a trade to the New York Giants. It was named for Bud Holman, the airline exec key in bringing the Dodgers to Vero Beach in 1948, designed by Norman Bel Geddes, and engineered by Captain Emil Praeger. More on Holman Stadium and Dodgertown here.
If you go, arrive early and stroll through the training complex grounds. Though the branding of individual fields is modern, the layout dates back to the Dodgers era. And some of the old street signs, like the one marking Vin Scully Way and Duke Snider Drive, are still present, though they are modern reproductions.
The April 15 game is just the beginning of MLB festivities at the complex. Other events, per MLB:
Trailblazer Series: Now in its ninth iteration, the Trailblazer Series will take place April 17-18. The event provides girls, aged 12-14, who play baseball with development and educational opportunities centered around the spirit of the game’s quintessential trailblazer.
PLAY BALL: In conjunction with the Trailblazer Series, MLB will host a special Jackie Robinson Day PLAY BALL event on April 18, giving over 200 kids aged 5-12 from local Indian River County the opportunity to participate in diamond sports. This event will be led by the Trailblazer Series athletes volunteering as coaches alongside MLB PLAY BALL Ambassador Justin Sherman.