Here’s one reason why spring training is unlikely to return to the former Dodgertown in Vero Beach: Between youth tournaments, swimming meets and other events, Vero Beach Sports Village is the busiest it’s been since the 1940s, when the Brooklyn Dodgers hosted 26 teams there during spring training. It’s a vindication of sort for Minor […]
Tag Archives | florida
Crunching the 2011 Florida spring-training numbers
Attendance at Grapefruit League games at Florida spring-training facilities was slightly higher in 2011 than in 2010, but overall attendance been a little down since record numbers were set in the middle of this decade. A total of 1,571,196 fans attended Florida spring-training games this past spring. That’s higher than last year’s tally of 1,427,627 […]
Twins set spring attendance record — in Florida
As spring training winds down, we’ll be looking at the winners and losers of 2011. The first big winner of 2011: the Minnesota Twins, who set a Florida spring-training attendance record at Hammond Stadium. The Twins drew 129,453 fans to 16 games at Hammond Stadium this spring. It’s a record for fans attending spring Twins […]
Henley Field / Florida Southern Mocs
Built to serve the spring-training needs of the Cleveland Indians in 1925, Lakeland’s Henley Field is still a charming place to take in a college-baseball game as a welcome diversion from the crowds at Tiger Town and Joker Marchant Stadium. FAST FACTS Year Opened: 1923; grandstand opened in 1925; renovated in 2002 Capacity: 1,000Dimensions: 325L, […]
Joker Marchant Stadium / Detroit Tigers / Lakeland Flying Tigers
Tiger Town is the last great traditional spring-training site still used in Florida. The Tigers have been training in Lakeland since 1934 (taking a break for the war years, of course) and playing in Joker Marchant Stadium since 1966. In those many years Tiger Town has evolved into a complete training complex that includes the […]
A guide to spring-training practices
Die-hard spring-training fans aren’t content with just sitting in the stands and watching a game: they want to watch a practice and get close to the players. It’s a great experience, as long as you know what you’re in for: most teams train on practice fields, not the ballparks, and so the creature comforts are […]
First seats installed in new Marlins ballpark
Big day for David Samson and the Florida Marlins front office at their new ballpark, slated to open next season: the first seat was installed in Section 19, and the team took batting practice, albeit on a dirt surface with no fences. The new ballpark is slated to open in 2012; the team will spend […]
It’s truck day!
At MLB clubhouses across the nation, the same scenario will be played out in the next few days: large trucks bearing lots of equipment will heading to Florida or Arizona, to be broken out for spring training. Yes, friends, it’s Truck Day! At least for the Red Sox, who not only have made Truck Day […]
Rays go with new turf for ’11 season
The playing surface at Tropicana Field will be upgraded for the 2011 season, as the Tampa Bay Rays announce the impending installation of a American-made, 1.1-million-square-foot AstroTurf field. “The AstroTurf fiber and in-fill systems contain the very latest technology and will provide our players the best playing surface available,” said Rays President Matt Silverman. “Our […]
Developer lays out plan for Chain of Lakes Park redevelopment
Chain of Lakes Park, the former spring home of the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians, would be redeveloped as a lakeside village with retail and restaurants under a plan submitted to Winter Haven officials, with work beginning in a month. The Landings, proposed by Orlando developer Tony Benge, would take the former spring-training site […]
Exploring the roots of spring training in Florida
We’re now in full-blown preparations for spring training. The roots of spring training are still a little cloudy, but we’ve run across a newspaper article documenting Henry M. Flagler‘s efforts to bring spring training in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1890 — complete with an illustration of the ballpark. The article appeared in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated […]
O’s: Ed Smith Stadium renovations right on schedule
Renovations to Ed Smith Stadium, the spring-training home of the Baltimore Orioles, are proceeding right on schedule and should be done in plenty of time for the team’s March 1 Grapefruit League 2011 debut. For those attending past spring-training games in Sarasota — whether it be when the Chicago White Sox or Cincinnati Reds were […]
Dodgertown signs come down
Another milestone with a tinge of sadness: All the old Dodgertown signs came down this week in Vero Beach, as the branding of Vero Beach Sports Village by Minor League Baseball continues. The former spring-training facility of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Los Angeles Dodgers now carries the Vero Beach Sports Village branding and logo […]