Baseball Spring Training Trips – Insider Tips
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10
Mar
“The intimacy of spring training has a lot to do with the relatively modest size of the Florida and Arizona stadiums, says Alan Byrd, author of “Florida Spring Training: Your Guide to Touring the Grapefruit League,” who has gone to hundreds of spring training games since 1977…
Among Byrd’s favorite parks is Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, Fla., where the Houston Astros train. “I get to the park about an hour and a half early and watch these guys take batting practice,” Byrd says…
“The furthest seat in Kissimmee is 50-100 feet from the field. Often you’ll have opportunities to talk with the players…and get their autographs. You’re watching them so close you can hear every pop of the ball in the glove.”
Pick a hotel that suits your plans.
If you need to jump start your planning, consider booking a spring training travel package through MLB.com. Also look to your favorite hotel chains for specials. For instance, Phillies fans can tap into a deal at the Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort that includes game tickets and a rental car, and Hilton Garden Inn in Sarasota is bundling a room with Pirates tickets and transportation to and from McKechnie Field. If you’re not getting a car as part of a package, absolutely rent one before you go.
Byrd observes that Florida’s ballparks fall fairly neatly into four clusters: central Florida, the Tampa area, southwest Florida, and the state’s eastern coast. Pick one whose nearby sites also pack appeal for you, as you won’t be watching baseball all the time. While you can ballpark hop and see night games, you probably won’t average more than one game a day, usually from about 1-4 p.m.
Know the deal with tickets.
It’s a good idea to buy at least some of your game tickets through MLB.com before leaving home. Yankees and Red Sox seats can sell out as early as January when tickets go on sale, but given there are 30 teams training – 15 each in Arizona and Florida – you ought to be able to score at least some of the seats you want. Ticket prices can be upwards of $30 but usually hover in the $15-20 range. As with the major stadiums, you’ll find reserved boxes and levels as well as general admission seats. But unlike the majors, you might find standing room only-admission as well as inexpensive lawn seating or, in the case of Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, where the Colorado Rockies train, you can sit on a sand pile for just $4.
Know the secret strategies and spots.
If you’re hoping to get a glimpse of your favorite team’s heavy hitters, bear in mind that they’re usually played in the first five innings, after which they’ll sometimes leave, Posada says. Byrd concurs that by that point in the game “most of the regular players have sat down” but if you stick around after that you’ll be “seeing the future of the team.” Salguero made his Arizona trip late in March, which was nice because that’s when the starting lineups are being worked out and the ‘no name’ players have been cut.” Byrd says that getting access to players in Legends Field can sometimes be difficult, as fans are not often permitted in the lower levels without a ticket.
However, the Yanks play many of their games at Dunedin Stadium, which is “very friendly for access to players,” he says.
Relax your expectations.
Before the Dodgers moved to Arizona for spring training, Byrd recalls seeing then-Dodger Nomar Garciaparra follow a specific routine at spring training games in Vero Beach. After stretching, Garciaparra would walk “straight on to the stands and move either to left or to the right,” signing autographs. “You start learning players’ tendencies. You might not get [an autograph] the first time but you might get it the second time. ” ( via foxnews.com ) by Paul Eisenberg – FOXNews
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From Conde Nast Traveler and The Arizona office of Tourism, Scottsdale CVB, and The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa.
