Grapefruit League Spring Training

from 2022 Florida Golf Winter/Spring

Florida Senior Games

Florida Grapefruit League Ballparks

OFFER MODERN AMENITIES WHILE LOOKING BACK AT TEAM HISTORY

Major League Baseball Spring Training was the State of Florida’s first venture into sports tourism.

Beginning in 1923, Florida Spring Training stadiums were constructed in Bradenton, Clearwater, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Fort Myers and West Palm Beach.

Four of those communities are hosting Florida Spring Training in the 20s of the 21st century.

By 1928, the State of Florida was prospering with a booming population, arriving by automobiles, to live in newly built homes. Baseball was America’s pastime and 10 of the 16 Major League teams held their spring training in Florida. It was a prosperous time for the growth of Florida Spring Training Baseball, even during the Great Depression years, only to be interrupted by the World War II years of 1942-45.

Since 2010, nine of the 12 Florida communities have made significant investments in a spring training facility, giving fans topnotch amenities found in the much larger stadiums and arenas around the country.

When the Philadelphia Phillies opened their new spring training home, in Clearwater, in 2004, the now BayCare Ballpark featured the first 360 degree walkway around the park. Fans could

now view the game from every angle of the field while soaking up the Florida sunshine on a March afternoon.

Over time, Charlotte County Stadium, LECOM Park, Hammond Stadium at the CenturyLink Complex, Jet Blue Park, Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium, the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, Clover Park and the TD Ballpark have completed the same feature.

In those areas, that were once considered the far reaches of the ballpark, fans can now spread out blankets on the grass, sit in cabana chairs, sip on drinks and enjoy a variety of concession foods, all while watching a Major League Baseball game.

In 2020, two Florida communities, Dunedin, home of the Toronto Blue Jays and North Port, home of the 2021 World Series Champion Atlanta Braves, were the latest to offer fans a 21st Century view of Florida Spring Training.

Blue Jays fans can get a bird’s eye view of Toronto pitchers warming up in the bullpen in right field while sitting in an outdoor bar area. If they grow tired of that view, they can stroll across the outfield boardwalk to an air-conditioned indoor food and drink area.

Spring training ballparks are also tapping into the team’s history. At CoolToday Park, the Atlanta Braves have numeric monuments dedicated to the 11 retired numbers from Warren Spahn to Chipper Jones. The Braves followed the examples set by the New York Yankees at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa and the Boston Red Sox at Jet Blue Park in Fort Myers.

All 13 of the Florida Spring Training ballparks have their own unique aspects, whether it be the team’s history, the host community history or a nod to the culture of the team’s regular season home.

Once the month of March passes, nine Florida Spring Training sites host Low A Southeast Minor League teams, with schedules that run through August.

For over 100 years, Florida Spring Training welcomes back fans to America’s Pastime, after a long winter’s nap. They flock to the ballparks wearing the colors of their favorite teams. They take their seats, with scorecard in hand, to see new players who have made their way through the Minor League system, or who joined the team over the winter through a trade or a free-agent signing.

But what really brings baseball fans together in March at Florida Grapefruit League locations is to hear that familiar crack of the bat and the sound of 90 mile an hour fastball hitting the leather of the catcher’s mitt.

Play Ball!