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Reporting Dates Set
Before the games begin, players have to report to camp and those dates were officially released on January 12. To see when pitchers and catchers report and baseball begins anew again, visit the Spring Training Reporting Dates page.
2010 Spring Training Schedules Posted
Schedules for all 30 teams plus the day by day league schedules (Cactus and Grapefruit) are available on the Spring Training Schedules page.
Let's Watch Two
Ernie Banks famously said "Let's play two!" and while there are no doubleheaders during spring training there are plenty of opportunities for fans to watch two games in one day. With 43 games scheduled to be played at night in 2010 fans can enjoy a day/night DH at different ballparks. Check out the list of 2010 Spring Training Night Games to plan your creative double dip.
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Spring Training News
Citizens Groups File Lawsuit Over Sarasota's Deal With Orioles
Scheduled renovations to Sarasota's Ed Smith Stadium are on hold, pending the resolution of a lawsuit filed in Sarasota Circuit Court against the city and county over their issuance of $26.2 million in construction bonds. As reported in the January 11th Sarasota Herald-Tribune, "While the lawsuit may not derail the Orioles' plans to make Sarasota their spring training home, it may mean the Orioles have to play in the existing Ed Smith Stadium for more than one year." The two citizens groups behind the lawsuit say open meeting and public records laws were violated during Sarasota's pursuit of a spring training tenant to replace the Reds. Sarasota Citizens for Responsible Government and Citizens for Sunshine are also challenging the financing plan for stadium renovations, which are to be funded by a $7.5 million city bond and an $18.7 million county bond. Work on Ed Smith Stadium was to have begun shortly after the Orioles concluded their first season of training in the ballpark on April 3.
D-backs and White Sox to Give 50K to Pima County Instead of Playing Charity Game
Not a lot of people know this, but a game, usually the first of the spring, in a handful of (mostly Arizona) ballparks is designated as a charity game, with the proceeds from it given back to the community. An example of such a game in 2010 is the Padres-Mariners match-up at the Peoria Sports Complex on March 4. In years past, Tucson Electric Park's two tenants played a charity game, but with the White Sox having bolted for Glendale last year the contractually obligated game won't be played this year. Instead, the Arizona Daily Star reported on January 1 that the Diamondbacks and White Sox plan to give Pima County $50,000 (combined, not each) to make up for the lost charity proceeds. Tucson is the county seat of Pima County and had been the spring training base of the White Sox from 1998 to 2008, while the hometown D-backs are in their final season of training in "The Old Pueblo."
Cubs and White Sox to Play Spring Training Set in Vegas
Sin City's annual "Big League Weekend" will feature two rivals from the Windy City, as Chicago's Cubs and White Sox will play a pair of games in Las Vegas on March 12 and 13 at Cashman Field. The pairing is a rematch of a mini series played last year, when the White Sox won both games before overflow crowds at the 9,334-seat home of the Las Vegas 51s. The two games in 2010 will take place on a Friday night and Saturday afternoon, but just like last year each team will bring only half of their squad, with the other half remaining in Arizona to play regularly scheduled Cactus League games. For the Cubs, their Big League Weekend appearance will mark the sixth straight year they have played a spring training game in Las Vegas, and ninth overall. Their first visit to the desert came in 1993, when they played the White Sox at the end of spring training in a game that drew 15,025 fans, which is still the Cashman Field attendance record. In 2009, the two teams drew 11,459 and 11,174 to midweek games played on March 4 and 5. The actual "Big League Weekend" games were between the Mariners and Rockies on April 3 and 4.
A's Approached By Developer; Phoenix Vows to Keep Team
Following an overture to the Oakland A's by developer Marty DeRito, who has land to spare near the Salt River Reservation in Scottsdale, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon "is digging in to protect the city's turf," reported the The Arizona Republic on September 5. The Athletics' lease at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, the Cactus League's oldest ballpark, expires in 2011 and the mayor said that the city plans to discuss a new or refurbished stadium with the team to keep them in Phoenix, where they've trained since 1982. "The Oakland A's aren't moving," said Gordon. Strong words indeed, but that remains to be seen.
Orioles Depart Fort Lauderdale for Sarasota
The Orioles' 14-year stay in Fort Lauderdale officially ended on July 22 when Sarasota's county commissioners approved a $31.2 million deal to bring the team back to where they trained in 1991 and from 1993 to 1995. The Orioles signed a 30-year lease to replace the Cincinnati Reds at Ed Smith Stadium, which will undergo a county-funded overhaul following the 2010 spring season to bring the 20-year old ballpark up to modern, amenity-laden standards. The Orioles departure from Fort Lauderdale Stadium, which opened in 1962 and had been used continuously ever since, ends that's city long history as a spring training host and reduced the number of teams training on Florida's East Coast to four (Cardinals, Marlins, Mets and Nationals).
The Worst Draw In Spring Training Is...
The Houston Astros at Osceola County Stadium, who drew a record 62,326 fans in 2009 for 19 games, giving them an average draw of 3,666, the lowest in the Grapefruit League. The league average was 6,030. The stadium in which the Astros train has just 5,300 seats. The Astros get 75 percent of the ticket revenue. Ditto for concessions and parking revenue. Ticket sales did top $1 million for the first time in the ballpark's 25-year history, while concessions were flat and parking was "down a few thousand," according to facility manager Pete Rodriguez and the Osceola News Gazette.
Goodyear's First Spring in the Cactus League Labeled A Success?
Goodyear's inaugural spring training was considered a success, at least by the city, which noted on their Web site:
"Almost 100,000 fans attended spring-training games at the Ballpark, a record for the Cleveland Indians. The final tally represents a 14 percent increase over the team's previous record in 2008. The season’s high attendance resulted in strong ticket sales, which grossed nearly $1.6 million and is about 17 to 20 percent higher than projected."
But there's some spin in that statement, as we noted after reviewing the numbers...and projections.
Spring Training Features
Planning For Spring Training
What do you need to know before you go? Joe Connor helps you answer that question in his article, 5 Questions to Ask Yourself When Planning Your 2010 Spring Training Trip. Joe follows that piece up with a little recent history about each team training in Arizona and Florida to explain why the sport's playoff parity has been good for Spring Training ticket sales.
Things To Do In Arizona and Florida During Spring Training
Fans of all ages have plenty to experience and see in the Grand Canyon and Sunshine States besides watching their favorite team train in their winter home. Joe Connor details a “starting nine” of sports and recreation things to do when you're not at your favorite team’s ballpark.
To Dine For: Ranking the Ballparks Based on the Food They Offer
Peoria and Lakeland top our list by having the best ballpark concessions fare in their respective leagues. Which other ballparks also do a good job at satisfying appetites? See the rankings and explanations for all 26.
Tips For Getting Autographs
How do you get autographs in Spring Training? Joe Connor answers that question. Read his article, How to Get Autographs During Spring Training, to learn about the three important factors autograph seekers must be aware of in their quest.
2009 Spring Training Recap
More games meant more fans, as 3,234,439 attended spring training games in Arizona and Florida in 2009, when a collective 536 games were played in 26 ballparks.
In the Grapefruit League, 288 games were played by 16 teams in 15 ballparks. Total attendance was 1,664,605, an average of 5,780 per game. Only two games were rained out, both in Fort Lauderdale.
In the Cactus League, 248 games were played by 14 teams in 11 ballparks. Total attendance was 1,569,834, an average of 6,330 per game. All games were played as scheduled.
The average attendance for a spring training game in 2009 was 6,034, which was down 828 fans per game from 2008, when 436 games drew a total of 2,991,685 fans to Cactus and Grapefruit League ballparks.
Spring training was expanded by a week in 2009 to accommodate for the World Baseball Classic, which was played between March 5 and 23. To help teams prepare for the WBC, Major League teams played participating counties in 36 exhibition games that added an international flavor to Cactus and Grapefruit League schedules. Those games helped in part to account for the additional 100 games that were played in 2009 from the previous year.
The 2009 season saw two new ballparks added to the Cactus League roster, as the Indians moved from Winter Haven, FL into Goodyear Ballpark and the White Sox and Dodgers left their previous homes in Tucson and Vero Beach, FL for Camelback Ranch in Glendale.
In the Grapefruit League, the Tampa Bay Rays moved into a completely refurbished ballpark in Port Charlotte, leaving behind Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg, which joined Winter Haven's Chain of Lakes Park and Vero Beach's iconic Holman Stadium on the league's list of recently abandoned ballparks.
2009 Attendance Leaders
(home games only, ranked by per game average)
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2009 Grapefruit League Standings
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2009 Cactus League Standings
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"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."
- Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby
"It's the fans that need spring training. You gotta get 'em interested. Wake 'em up and let 'em know that their season is coming, the good times are gonna roll.”
- Harry Caray