Hammond Stadium

Minnesota Twins (Spring Training)
Fort Myers Miracle, Florida State League

No Rating

The park has a short, palm tree lined boulevard walking up to the main entrance.

A good crowd waits between innings of Cardinals/Twins.

A quick shot back at the press box.

I ended up having quite the day on my scheduled visit to Hammond Stadium. I had flown into Miami the night before, to find that my suitcase had hung back in Houston. I ended up waiting around until nearly 11 before the airline called, to let me know my case had hit town. After a quick run to MIA, I headed out for the drive across Alligator Alley to Fort Myers, knowing full well I would be very, very, late. After a grassfire in the area of I-75 slowed things down a bit, I arrived after the parking attendants had left and snagged a spot for free. A short usher conference determined I was still allowed in and I set an all time lateness record, walking in in the bottom of the 6th inning. By the time I arrived at my seat, the top of the 7th awaited me. A relatively large crowd greeted me, as the Cardinals( who always seem to have a following) were the opposition for the day.

My visit here was so rushed(I might have been inside for an hour) that I can't offer a whole ton of insight. It looks like a decent place, the concession appeared ok, but not great and the atmosphere was not bad, especially since as I mentioned, the Cardinals seem to drag a few fans from park to park with them. A tight  1-0 game into the bottom of the 9th saw the Redbirds get the first two outs, before the wheels fell off and the Cardinals threw away the game winning ground out twice in a row. The Twins won it in the 10th, which arriving so late, I was pretty excited was actually played.

Overall, looks like a decent place, but just way too rushed to really get to know it. I only have a few Grapefruit League parks left to do, this one is top of the list for a 2nd trip.

Linescore
2017-03-06
                       123    456   789 10 RHE
St. Louis           001   000    000  0  173
Minnesota         000  000    001  1  290
Temp: 76F   Time: 3:18  Att: 8,615