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 […]
Tag Archives | spring training
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, […]
Charlotte County Sports Park / Tampa Bay Rays / Charlotte Stone Crabs
Longtime spring-training aficionados may be able to recognize Charlotte County Sports Park as the former spring home of the Texas Rangers, remodeled to serve as the spring home of the Tampa Bay Rays and the regular-season home of the Charlotte Stone Crabs. Maybe. FAST FACTS Opened: 1988; renovated in 2009 Cost: $5 million original construction; […]
Camelback Ranch-Glendale / Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox
Camelback Ranch-Glendale, the spring home of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox, has become one of the best places to catch a game or practice in the Cactus League. With a layout that invites fan participation and a design that looks like it’s been part of the desert forever, Camelback Ranch-Glendale is a […]
Goodyear Ballpark / Cleveland Indians
Goodyear, located on the far western edge of the greater Phoenix area, isn’t the first place to come to mind when brainstorming for the ideal spring-training locale. But the new spring home of the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds combines state-of-the-art training complexes with one of the more pleasant ballparks in the Cactus League, in […]
Populous recommended to design new Red Sox spring facility
A committee made up of Lee County and Boston Red Sox officials are recommending Populous design the new Boston Red Sox spring-training facility. (more…)
HoHoKam Park / Chicago Cubs
Considering the Chicago Cubs play the regular season in one of the most charming ballparks in baseball, a visit to HoHoKam Park in March will tend to be disappointing to anyone but the most hardcore Cubbie fan. In some ways HoHoKam is the polar opposite of Wrigley Field: the old ballpark at Clark and Addison […]
Hammond Stadium / Fort Myers Miracle / Minnesota Twins
Hammond Stadium may be best known as the spring home of the Minnesota Twins, but it’s also home to the Fort Myers Miracle of the Florida State League. Located on the southern edge of Fort Myers, the ballpark is clearly geared to the Twins and spring training, but the Miracle team draws well (at least […]
Ed Smith Stadium / Baltimore Orioles
Ed Smith Stadium has seen a lot of change in recent years. First, the Cincinnati Reds and Sarasota Reds bailed at the end of the 2009 season. Then the Baltimore Orioles shifted spring-training operations to Sarasota for 2010, signing a 30-year contract to play at a renovated facility. This offseason more extensive changes will take […]
Jackie Robinson Ballpark / Daytona Cubs
You don’t get any more Floridian than Jackie Robinson Ballpark, home of the Daytona Cubs of the Florida State League. Much of Florida’s baseball history intersects on this small island outside of downtown Daytona Beach, while one of the most important events in baseball history took place there as well. FAST FACTS Year Built: […]
Champion Stadium / Atlanta Braves
The spring-training home of the Atlanta Braves, Champion Stadium (formerly known as Disney Field, Disney’s Wide World of Sports, Cracker Jack Stadium and The Ballpark at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex) is architecturally one of the flashier venues for spring training.It’s also one of the largest: with 9,500 seats (80 percent between the first […]