Posts Tagged ‘spring training’
Plant Field and the Roots of Spring Training in Tampa, Florida
Plant Field was located near the northeast intersection of North Boulevard and West North B Street in Tampa, Florida. Constructed in the 1890s, the athletic facility was on the grounds of the Tampa Bay Hotel and included a variety of athletic fields, including horse racing, for guests of the hotel. Plant Field was named after…
Read MoreFt. Lauderdale Stadium – The Ghost of Spring Trainings Past
Fort Lauderdale Stadium is located at 1401 NW 55th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, just east of the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport and north of Lockhart Stadium. Although the City of Fort Lauderdale operates the ballpark, the land it is on is part of the 64 acres that make up the airport. For almost 50 seasons,…
Read MoreSarasota’s Ed Smith Stadium Redux
Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida, is not a lost ballpark. However, the stadium as it existed in when it first opened in 1989 is long gone, replaced with a strikingly different ballpark that calls out for a deadballbaseball then and now comparison. Ed Smith Stadium as it exists today is modern, yet seemingly from…
Read MoreBaseballs and Superbowls – Tampa’s Al Lopez Field
Al Lopez Field was located at the intersection of North Himes Avenue and West Woodlawn Avenue in Tampa, Florida. From 1955 to 1959 it was the Spring Training home of the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox relocated to Payne Park in Sarasota, Florida, in 1960. From 1960 until 1987 Al Lopez Field was the Spring Training…
Read MoreOnce Dodgertown Now Historic Dodgertown
Dodgertown, located at 3901 26th Street in Vero Beach, Florida, was the spring training home of the Brooklyn Dodgers commencing in 1948. The major league squad also trained in Ciudad Trujillo, Dominican Republic in 1948, and from 1950 through 1957, the Dodgers’ big league club played their Spring Training games at Miami Stadium. Dodgertown was…
Read MorePayne Park – Spring Training In Sarasota From John McGraw to Tony LaRussa
Payne Park was located at the southeast corner of Adams Lane and South Washington Boulevard in Sarasota, Florida. The stadium was part of a 60 acre park named in honor of Calvin Payne, a Sarasota winter resident who donated the land to the city in 1923. From 1924 to 1988, the ballpark was the spring…
Read MoreWaterfront Park/Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg, Florida
Professional baseball first came to St. Petersburg, Florida, as early as 1908 when the then- independent St. Paul Saints played an exhibition game against the National League Cincinnati Reds. In 1914, businessman and future mayor Al Lang convinced the St. Louis Browns to come to St. Petersburg and train at Sunshine Park – also known…
Read MoreCrescent Lake Park/Huggins-Stengel Field in St. Petersburg, Florida
Crecent Lake Park is located at 1320 5th Street N in St. Petersburg, Florida. In the southern most part of the park, tucked away in a residential neighborhood, is an important and relatively unspoiled historical baseball site. Beginning in 1925, the ball field at Crescent Lake Park was the spring training home of the American League…
Read MoreJ.P. Small Memorial Park – Jacksonville’s Oldest Ballfield
Baseball has been played at 1701 Myrtle Avenue in Jacksonville, Florida, since 1912. Currently known as J.P. Small Memorial Park, the ball field has been the site of major league spring training, minor league games, Negro League games, and countless high school and college contests, as well as high school and college football. From 1912…
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