The Grapefruit League - Spring Training in Florida About This Page:

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by Dianne Cook, PassPorter Message Board Guide and Guest Contributor

Do you love the smell of freshly cut grass, the aroma of hot dogs sizzling on a grill, fresh squeezed lemonade, and the sound of the crack of a bat as it makes contact with a hard, round ball? Then Spring Training in Florida is just for you.

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[PassPorter News]

Spring Training has been part of Florida for over a century. The first official Spring Training took place when the Washington Capitals decided to prepare for the 1888 baseball season in Jacksonville, FL. To put that into perspective, Babe Ruth wouldn’t be born until 7 years later and the New York Yankees didn’t exist. Spring Training didn’t last then, as the Capitals didn’t return the next year. It wasn’t until 1903 when Connie Mack (Baseball Hall of Fame-honored manager) brought the Philadelphia Athletics to Jacksonville to prepare for the season. Slowly other teams came to Florida. Over time the teams came together and called themselves the Grapefruit League. There is also a smaller “league” of teams that have Spring Training in Arizona, called the Cactus League.

The modern era of Spring Training started with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948 at Vero Beach. At the time, the executives of the Dodgers wanted more than just a place to prepare for the baseball season in the Spring - they wanted a year round “baseball school” for their players. So they purchased a large area of land in Vero Beach and built dormitories, health facilities and every type of training complex available. They called it Dodgertown and it still exists today. It is known as the shrine of Spring Training. Consider combining the best of both worlds, with a stay at Disney’s Vero Beach resort at the same time!

Over the years, many people make annual trips to Florida in March just to watch a few baseball games. Part of the charm, especially for us, is the intimacy of the parks. At major league parks, most people will never get the opportunity to sit behind home plate, but you can at Spring Training. Regular-season tickets are also an expensive treat. Major league tickets can cost up to $100 or even more. We have never spent more than $30 dollars a ticket at any Spring Training park and we have been lucky enough to always be directly behind home plate - as close as 4 rows up!!

I think the real attraction of Spring Training is the attitude of the players. In Spring Training, the players are happy to be back, not under the pressure of the regular season. They are willing to talk to fans, and the best thing is their desire to sign autographs. Our boys have collected many autographs over the years, including Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui, Mariano Rivera, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, Mike Schmidt, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz and countless others from many teams. A hint we have learned over the years is that very often players do not sign at their home parks. Apparently, they have contracts not to sign many autographs since the gift shops sell signed memorabilia. If you really want to try to get autographs from certain teams, try to see them when they are playing at another park. There are a few exceptions however; we have found that at the Houston Astros' park - Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee - everyone signs, both the home and visiting teams. It is known throughout Florida as the “Autograph-seekers Park”.

One of my favorite parks is Cracker Jack Stadium at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex - home of the Atlanta Braves. The experience here is magical and includes the things only Disney could provide. We recommend a night game here. The fireworks at the 7th inning stretch may not be “Wishes” or “Illuminations” but they are spectacular just the same. The entertainment provided by Disney is something to see. There are disk jockeys and rock music to keep fans entertained all nine innings. The funniest thing is the roving microphone man. He comes up to people in the stands and may ask trivia questions or play “Name That Tune”. We have always had great seats here, always behind home plate and never more than 7 rows up! To add to the magic, parking is free here. This is the only Spring Training park to offer this and you do not need to purchase a ticket for the Complex if you have a Spring Training game ticket.

Another stadium close to Walt Disney World is the home of the Houston Astros, Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee. There are a lot of children’s activities and this park is the only one in the Grapefruit League to offer a kid’s meal. There is a playground down the first base line. It is inside a chain-link structure and is a wonderful thing if you have small children who could care less about baseball. The stadium is the smallest of all those in the Grapefruit league - it reaches capacity at 5,000 people. I think it is the most intimate of the stadiums as there isn’t a “bad” seat in the entire place. The top seat is no more than 100 feet away from the playing field. There is also a specific section for autograph seekers called “Autograph Alley.” It’s a long wall where there are no seats. Every player must walk past to get to and from the clubhouse. Not all will stop and sign, but many do. At least you will see them up close, and they may stop and chat.

Perhaps the greatest thing about planning a Spring Training vacation is that no matter where you go in Central or South Florida, several parks are within an hour’s drive of each other. It is quite easy to pick a central location and spend a week going to baseball games. We love to combine baseball and Disney. We have stayed at a Disney resort and driven to parks all along Interstate 4 - Disney's Wide World of Sports (the Atlanta Braves), Kissimmee (the Houston Astros), Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland (Detroit Tigers), Chains of Lakes Park-Winter Haven (Cleveland Indians), Legends Field in Tampa (New York Yankees), and even Clearwater Community Sports Center in Clearwater (Philadelphia Phillies).

You could stay at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort and drive to see the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie and then the St. Louis Cardinals and the Florida Marlins in Jupiter, FL and even the Boston Red Sox in Fort Meyers. Don’t forget to continue on to the Baltimore Orioles in Fort Lauderdale. If you prefer the west coast, you could see the Yankees at Tampa, the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, and the Devil Rays in St. Petersburg. You could then continue onward to see the Pirates and the Blue Jays.

No matter where you stay in Florida, there is a park nearby. Consider this wonderful opportunity to get up close to the players and to go see Major League Teams for a fraction of the cost at a Major League Stadium. It will be the experience of a lifetime!