Mesa officials have a game plan for HoHoKam Park, which in the next few years will become the former spring home of the Chicago Cubs: they’ll try to attract another MLB team to train there. Not a bad plan, really: might as well give it a shot. The plan is pretty simple: when the Cubs […]
Tag Archives | spring training
Study evaluates potential Cubs spring-training sites
A study evaluating potential spring-training sites for the Chicago Cubs gives an edge to a site on the fringe of the city versus downtown Mesa — but we’re not sure the project is being judged by the right criteria. The study, commissioned for less than $20,000 by Mesa officials, evaluates three potential spring-training sites on […]
Old Fenway Park scoreboard to be featured at new BoSox camp
A manual scoreboard previously used in Fenway Park will be installed at the new Boston Red Sox spring-training ballpark in Fort Myers, Florida — if it can be located. The 15-by-60-foot manual scoreboard was removed in 2001 and shipped to Counterpart, Inc., for renovations. That firm says it doesn’t have the scoreboard, though; presumably architect […]
City of Palms Park / Boston Red Sox
This will be the last spring the Boston Red Sox are training at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers. It’s not been an especially distinguished run in terms of ballpark architecture and amenities, as City of Palms Park and a nearby training complex were cramped, outdated facilities. Here’s a look at City of Palms […]
Nats looking at spring-training move to Kissimmee
The Washington Nationals are exploring options for spring training; while the team has been negotiating with Brevard County to improvements to Space Coast Stadium, it has also been looking at other areas for a new complex. And one of those areas is Osceola County, where the Houston Astros already train. The Nationals have approached the […]
Five sites emerge as home for new Cubs facility
Five sites are under consideration as the new home of a Chicago Cubs spring-training complex in Mesa, but two are emerging as the front-runners. The two are Riverview Park and downtown Mesa. The sites have some pretty specific criteria attached: besides serving as the home to a new ballpark and spring-training complex, the site must […]
Peoria (Az.) mapping $21 million in ballpark improvements
Not waiting to have its spring-training tenants complain about the state of facilities, the city of Peoria is planning some $21 million in improvements to Peoria Stadium and its training facilities. Not waiting to have its spring-training tenants complain about the state of facilities, the city of Peoria is planning some $21 million in improvements […]
City of Palms Park site pitched as natatorium location
The land under City of Palms Park, slated to serve one more season as the spring home of the Boston Red Sox, could become the site of a natatorium if the National Swimming Center Corp. can raise funds. City of Palms Park, slated to serve one more season as the spring home of the Boston […]
Cubs to Naples: We prefer to stay in Arizona, thank you
The quest to bring the Chicago Cubs to a new spring-training site in Naples is all but over, as Crane Kenney politely declines the offer for now — which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone following the situation. What was surprising: how dogged the two outfits seeking the Cubs were pursuing the team, even […]
Ballpark Visit: Huggins-Stengel Field at Crescent Lake Park
We visit the former spring-training home of the New York Yankees: Huggins-Stengel Field at Crescent Lake Park. Dedicated in 1925 by St. Petersburg Mayor Al Lang, Huggins-Stengel Field was the heart of spring training for generations of baseball fans and is still a fun place to catch a baseball game. The two historic markers and […]
Roger Dean Stadium / St. Louis Cardinals / Jupiter Hammerheads & Palm Beach Cardinals
It is the busiest ballpark in professional baseball, a place where four teams play daily from the beginning of March through the middle of September. There’s no ballpark that hosts two pro teams simultaneously for two different sessions, all under the same management. Year Opened: 1998 Capacity: 7,000 Architect: Populous Dimensions: 335L, 380LC, 400C, 375RC, […]
Jack Russell Memorial Stadium
A look back at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium, the former home of the Philadelphia Phillies and Clearwater Phillies. FAST FACTS Year Opened: 1955 Former Capacity: 6,942 Dimensions: 340L, 400C, 340R Surface: Grass Address/Directions: 800 Phillies Drive, Clearwater. Take Hwy. 19 north of St. Petersburg to Drew Street, where you’ll head west approximately four miles until you […]
Holman Stadium / Dodgertown
A look back at Holman Stadium and Dodgertown when they served as the spring-training home of the Brooklyn Dodgers/Los Angeles Dodgers. Year Opened: 1953 Capacity: 6,474 Architect: Designed by Norman Bel Geddes (famous theatrical designer and architect of the Futurama building at the 1964 New York World’s Fair); engineered by Captain Emil Praeger Dimensions: 340L, […]