Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, International League

8/10

The design of the exterior of the park, as well as the name "Baseball Grounds" gives this particular ballpark a retro feel.

A sparse crowd enjoys the break between rain-shortened games.

               EverBank Field and the Commodore Point Expressway dominate the right field skyline.

I stopped in Jacksonville on a weekday afternoon, to catch a getaway game featuring the Jacksonville Suns , the AA affiliate of the Miami Marlins and the Tennessee Smokies. The park is part of a plan to revitalize Jacksonville with brand new everything. It has a brick façade and backstop and even the name “Baseball Grounds” is a tribute to old time baseball. The park is a good example of a smaller retro style. The park holds 11,000 and features both infield and outfield seating. My ticket was 25 dollars and in the front row(I’m not a fan of the front and moved to the back). The park has a small video scoreboard in left field, which displays the usual animations and player photos during the game.

The baseball grounds are located near the shores of the St. Johns River, across a parking lot from Everbank Field, home of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and up the street from Jacksonville’s Arena in a Sports district. There’s not much else in the immediate area otherwise, downtown is a short drive away and has a little more in the way of activities. Parking was across the street in the arena parkade for 5 dollars. The game I went to was lightly attended, so in and out was easy.

The game was sparsely attended, due to impending heavy rain throughout Florida, the hometown Suns and Tennessee Smokies made up the previous nights game before playing a 7 inning game at the scheduled start time. I was unaware of the situation coming in. Only about 500 people were in the stands for game 2, despite an announced(they didn’t announce it at the park, because of how off it was) of around 2,700 people for game 2. A good number of kids day camps were there and did most of the cheering, as besides them, there were roughly 100 in the stands.

The concessions were mostly closed with the front office staff manning the one that was open. Lines got long and selection was somewhat limited to burgers, sausages, dogs and snacks. Price for a regular/medium pop and a sausage was 8.50.  There were some specialty stands open, but a lot weren’t.

Jacksonville is a city of over 1 million Metro at the crossroads of I-95 and the eastern end of I-10. The city is also home to the NFL’s Jaguars and sees a great deal of other events. It looked in the quick glance I got to be a nice place and I would definitely go back, given the chance. The mascot is a dog named Southpaw, who, because of low attendance, gave himself the day off.

Assuming the low attendance and lack of atmosphere, plus the poor selection at the concessions are all unique to the game I went to(which is being nice), the park itself is very good, with a bit of a retro feel. Parking is close and cheap and the level of competition for AA is a cut above the low minors for sure. I wouldn't mind going back for a better attended game, as I'll likely get a better impression.

Update 2016: Rescoring this one initially, I thought it would drop to a 7, but in actual fact, the park itself is well designed and worthy of an extra point. I'll still hopefully get back here soon, possibly even this summer.

Update 2026: There have been a few notable changes here since my last visit, or the last update. Firstly, the team has sold naming rights, which means this is now VyStar Park. Secondly, the team rebranded as the "Jumbo Shrimp". Third and probably most importantly, during the minor league reorganization of 2021, Jacksonville promoted into the Triple A International League. The market and park have both been adequate for a time, but the timing ended up being just right for Jacksonville to make their jump. This one's due for another visit. Right at the intersection of Interstates 10 and 95, it's on the way to many other cities, so it could happen.

Linescore

2012-06-25

                                             123  456  7   RHE

Tennessee Smokies(CHC)   000  300 0    3 5 0

Jacksonville Suns(MIA)        000  127  x   10 9 0

Temp: 87F  Time: 2:00  Att: 2,247

Note: Game 2 of a "minor league" doubleheader

Blue Wahoos Stadium

Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Southern League

7/10

        The exterior of the park is still pretty bare, omitting even a sign with the name of the building(I tired to look it up when I got back and still got it wrong). I'd suspect its being left blank for a corporate sponsor.
         This staff member is covering her mouth, already over-apologetic for standing in my picture.

 

          I was here SUPER early, which gave me a chance to really walk around.

                                    

The Jackson Generals take batting practice.

I was excited to include the new stadium in Pensacola on my loop through three southern states in 2012. The team had just relocated from the Carolinas, and was enjoying its inaugural season in this brand new ballpark built right on the shore of Pensacola Bay. I had travelled from just outside of Atlanta after catching the Braves and swung through Alabama, making a pit stop in Mobile to see the USS Alabama in all its restored glory, prior to arriving in P-cola.

The evening's contest featured the hometown Pensacola Blue Wahoos, the Cincinnati Reds AA club, matched against the Jackson Generals, the equivalent for the Seattle Mariners. The park itself is located right in downtown Pensacola, one of the bigger cities on the Florida panhandle, as part of a new waterfront complex. One of the first drawbacks is that there isn't very much parking in the immediate area of the stadium and it's pretty much all snapped up by disabled parking, VIP parking, or season ticket holders. There are numerous pay lots in the area, as well as a ton of FREE on street parking, which I opted for.

The façade of the park is so basic that I didn't get a photo of it. As mentioned above, I doubt this place will be so generically named for too long. Entrance is on the first base side and up a few flights of stairs. Once you're up, you are confronted by a sparkling new ballpark, with just under 5,000 seats. It is well laid out and the outfield views are of the bay to right and an inlet to left. It isn't just Barry Bonds that can hit one into the water here. The team shop/ offices are in the main building behind home plate.

I'm a bit of a hypocrite with the issue of Minor League teams in particular taking on goofy names to sell shirts. "Blue Wahoos" is a goofy name. I also now own a Pensacola Blue Wahoos running shirt(featuring a Blue Wahoo wrapped around a baseball bat to form a "P") AND kept the bag it came in. I'm deeply conflicted.

One of the aspects of the Bayfront Stadium that I really liked were the concessions. The food itself was above average, but the layout is actually pretty innovative. Firstly, they were referred to as "Port" and "Starboard" which pays homage to the nautical theme of the park. Secondly, they were removed from the concourse, meaning that the lines for the concessions aren't going to spill over. There were extra tills not being used, which for big home dates, could get the lines moving. Also, ordering and paying are two separate people, kind of like a drive-thru. It was a little clunky, as most people didn't know quite where to go(me too), but with time, the locals should get the hang of it.

Overall, I enjoyed my game here. The Wahoo starter took a perfect game (or maybe a no hitter) into the final three frames before losing it. The ambience was alright, but like with other debut parks I've been too, there aren't many local traditions yet. Ownership seems pretty approachable, soliciting fan concerns pretty hard (I got a survey in my e-mail the next week) and actually trying to act on them (Don't climb over the seats for instance. I'm a seat climber. I'll try and stop.) But, as of right now, there isn't anything that makes this place particularly special, although that's not to say that won't ever change. 7/10.

Update 2016: This place still doesn't have a corporate sponsor, which going into season 5, is borderline miraculous. On the team website, it's referred to as "Blue Wahoos Stadium", I've also seen "Community Martitime Park", but I'll just stick with this name for now I suppose. As for the ratings, I was going to keep the 7, but I did say the food was above average, so it can have an 8.

Update 2026: So the name is "Blue Wahoos Park", instead of "Pensacola Bayfront Stadium". I'm beyond shocked that there's been no corporate sponsor, but with the facility being community owned, they may not need one. The Blue Wahoos still appear to be a good draw. The ended their Reds affiliation, and after a few years with Minnesota, have ended up with Miami, meaning the Marlins' top two affiliates are also both in Florida. I wouldn't mind coming here again, but being on almost the complete opposite corner of the continent now, it may be awhile.

Linescore
2012-06-27
                                                 123   456   789  RHE
Jackson Generals(SEA)               000  000   000  040
Pensacola Blue Wahoos(CIN)       200  000  21x  580
Temp:83F   Time: 2:24  Att: 4,625

Roger Dean Stadium

Miami Marlins/ St. Louis Cardinals, Grapefruit League

Jupiter Hammerheads/ Palm Beach Cardinals, Florida State League

6/10

One of several entrances to the stadium

A view of the park during the rain delay. The teams have matching offices on either power alley.

Clearwater players run for the dugout after a brief respite from the downpour turned out to be exactly that. False alarm.

 Update 2016: This entry used to be copied and pasted from the old format, so I fixed the captions on the pictures and retyped the entry and rescored it as well, besides adding the boxscore.

 I pulled double duty on this day, catching the afternoon matchup in Miami, before Hitting I-95 for the hour or so drive to Jupiter for a Flordia State League game between Clearwater and Jupiter, arriving during the 2nd inning. That weekend had seen bands of heavy rain from Tropical Storm Debby swoop in. This resulted in a delay of nearly an hour that chased all but about 25 of the 350 announced fans away.

This park is perhaps the busiest in the pros in terms of number of games. It hosts the Cardinals and Marlins in March, then from April to September it's a minor league park for the baby Cardinals and Hammerheads. The layout is straightforward with a box section in front, a wide aisle, then loge seats in the back, similar to Mesa or Peoria in Arizona. It's entirely adequate for Spring Training, I'm sure, but like a lot of places in Florida, it is a big empty stadium for Single A. More on that later.

It is a strange setup to have so many minor league teams in a state where baseball is more of a spring or closed roof kind of sport. I realize it's nice to have the teams so close to a hub like the spring training facility, but I still don't get it. At any rate, the impending bad weather(which I knew nothing about) and the fact it was a Sunday evening kept attendance to around 350, with maybe 150 showing up. A strong and long shower sent everyone but the diehard fans, relatives, road warriors like me or people who had to walk home anyway; home early. It led to me moving under a small ledge at the back of the loge section, where once the game started again, I could hear everything people in the press box were saying. This included a Seinfeld reference for a batter by the name of Cartwright, a comment on how after the delay there were literally more people on the field than in the stands and encouraging the Clearwater closer to finish the save, so his promotion to AA could go ahead as scheduled(it did). The hot dog guy told me that the "seniors night" promotions draw bigger crowds. The Hammerheads and Cardinals match promotions, so any day of the week is the same thing regardless of who's playing. Attendance for both teams correlates very closely most years, with the figures being within 20 for 2015.  The atmosphere was non-existent, but at the same time, the bad weather and press box chatter led to a unique experience. So overall, atmosphere is neutral.

The only knock is the concessions. I had a simple hot dog and ended up stopping later on. The choices were beer, pop and hot dogs. Baseball minimums really. The team seemed to know there wasn't a big crowd in store and didn't waste food. Still, it would have been nice to have something else to pick.

Overall, for FSL play, I give it a 6, due to the limited food options, with atmosphere being "non-traditional" but quirky enough to be enjoyed and the park being just fine. It's in a good spot, with lots of home dates, so I could be back.

Update 2026: It's been an eyelash under 14 years since I spent a memorable evening at this place. It's still one of the more unique games I've ever been to. This park was renovated since my last visit and it now has a prominent roof on at least one side of the stadium. We'll see when I end up back in Florida. It may be awhile.

Linescore

2012-06-24

                                                  123      456    789    RHE

Clearwater Threshers(PHI)            000      100    200     354

Palm Beach Cardinals(STL)          001      000    000     111

Temp: 75F  Time: 2:22(:57 Delay)  Att: 350

Tropicana Field

Tampa Bay Rays, American League

7/10

A relatively staid exterior is souped up with a giant banner of all the Rays' stars.

Behold, the dome in all it's beauty. It looks like it belongs in Japan, but being there, it didn't totally seem out of place for MLB.

Did not leave my seat the entire game here, so this is as good as I did.

I went to my first game at "The Trop" in 2012, having come from Pensacola the night before. I had heard a lot of negative feedback about the dome and I'm here to tell you it's a little overblown. Firstly, yes, the dome is a cave. There is a big white roof that does, thankfully let in some light and it will darken slightly when the sun goes down. There's a lot of white concrete and the backdrop is very boring, even for a domed stadium. That having been said, there was a pretty good downpour outside for about 3 innings, which we completely ignored, even a retractable design may not have been so fortunate. The parking here is actually really well organized too. It may have just seemed that way because of the lower attendance, but it flowed well, with cars coming down a big aisle in the middle to park and leaving via multiple exits onto the street on the opposite side. It was a welcome relief after "carmegaddon" a few nights prior in Atlanta. Still, the park is slightly below average overall.

The surprise here was the food. Pulled pork sandwich that wasn't bad, but there were about 10 kinds of BBQ sauce available, you pick AND self-serve. There seemed to be a lot of options, but the thing was the areas around the concessions were very large and removed from the concourse, to prevent crowding. Not sure how much trouble it saved at a sparsely attended park like this, but was welcome.

The atmosphere here was above average as well, with the Detroit Tigers as the visitors, a fair number of Tiger rooters showed up which barely saved this place from a 6/10. It gets the slightest 7 of all time, but even Tropicana Field manages to be average, in the end.

Update 2021: I have revised this one down to a 6. The atmosphere from the visiting/local Tiger fans was enjoyable for sure, but the home team generates very little. The facility is one of the bottom 3 MLB parks I've been to, although the concession was apparently ok. I still haven't been back here. Perhaps I'm due? Maybe if I did the very end of spring training, then into this.

Linescore

2012-06-28               

                        123   456  789  R H E

Detroit              002  101 001  5 15 1 

Tampa Bay       000  010  100  2 6 2 

Temp: 72F/Dome   Time: 3:05  Att: 20,532

Spectrum Field

Philadelphia Phillies, Grapefruit League
Clearwater Threshers, Florida State League

8/10

 

 

The crowds make their way in for another Phillies/Pitrates showdown

Another glorious Florida afternoon.

The seats filled a lot more than this before the first pitch with almost 8k on hand.

I caught a day game here near the very end of spring training in 2018, before an evening drive to South Carolina, on the way to the Balt-Wash area. As far as I remember, this was the absolute last Spring Training game here for 2018. The all Penn. rivalry made it all the more interesting. 

This is one where the review is getting typed a few years after going, so memories are fuzzy. The park itself is a pretty nice facility, that appears to have inspired some of the parks that came after it, plus some renovations. Food I don't remember much about either way. Atmosphere was pretty decent, especially for the spring. A tight game that ended after 9, tied at 5, helped this out for sure. I'll be back here a few more times I think.



Linescore
2018-03-27
                       123    456    789  R H E
Pittsburgh       400   000    001  5 12 1
Philadelphia    000   040   010   5  9 1
Temp: 79F  Time: 2:55   Att: 7,958

Joker Marchant Stadium

Detroit Tigers, Spring Training
Lakeland Flying Tigers, Florida State League

8/10

The slightly late, such as myself, file in.

The recently renovated stadium had a decent crowd that day.

A somewhat overcast day, but still a good day for baseball.

I started my 2018 trip here. It was a mixture of the very end of spring training, combined with some NHL venues, and getting the new Atlanta park, as well as Baltimore and Cincinnati off my list. On this particular day, I started in southern Georgia, drove here, then drove into Tampa for a Lightning game after. I ended up getting held up on the way down, so showed up in the 2nd inning or so.

This place opened in 1966 and has undergone two complete renovations, with the last one being done for spring training 2017. It hosts the Tigers Grapefruit League games and Flying Tigers high A the remainder of the year. On the whole, I found it to be a pretty decent home for the Tigers spring training, probably above average, but not much else It's tough to comment on the renovations without seeing the before product myself, so I went and found some at Ballpark Reviews here. An entire office building has been added in right field, plus a new scoreboard that's to MLB standards. Another addition was the restless fan's favourite, the wrap-around concourse. I'd hazard a guess that the player's amenities are much improved as well. The atmosphere was nothing remarkable either way, the game was a low-scoring affair with Tampa Bay that ended in a 2-2 tie.

I would definitely come back for another game here, but not before getting the last few I haven't seen in first. I'd give it an 8, without remembering a whole ton about it, because that's what it presents as. I don't think the Lakeland minor league club is in danger of being pulled, but we'll see what happens on that. Not a scientific process here sometimes....

Linescore
2018-03-26
                      123    456  789  RHE
Tampa Bay      200   000   000  250
Detroit             001   001   000  281
Temp: 82F  Time: 2:30   Att: 6,662

JetBlue Park at Fenway South

Boston Red Sox, Spring Training

8/10

The crowd files inside just after first pitch.

A nice sized crowd takes in a Friday nighter vs. Baltimore.

A hasty picture from the right field corner and Spring Training '17 is a wrap!

I headed to Fort Myers after a day game in Bradenton, to check out the relatively new Red Sox park in Fort Myers. It was a night game against the Orioles, with a large crowd on hand. I managed to run just a bit behind and didn't make it to my seat until the start of the 2nd inning. This a new park as of 2012, when it replaced an older stadium closer to the centre of Fort Myers. This one is technically just outside the city limits. This, I believe was my most expensive game of the entire trip, but it was also the last. The weather was perfect however, so there was at least that. This is a very large, very ornate park, serving fans from all corners of "Red Sox Nation". It reminds me of some of the newer spring parks in terms of size, like Salt River, but compares the best to Sloan Park, with an iconic team, with a big fan base, playing in a large, new and expensive spring park.

I bought on a resale site and sat next to the guy who had been selling the tickets, who decided to go to the game when the other ticket didn't sell. He was a decent guy and explained how the old spring park, "City of Palms" was in a bit of a dicey neighbourhood. When he and two friends had gone to a Sox game there at some point in the past, they were stopped by police walking home and asked why they were in the area..that bad. The usual problems of bad parking and low capacity versus demand meant this move was likely inevitable.

I somewhat resent this trend of making spring training stupid expensive, but you can't really hate this park. It's impressive, no bones about it. Large concourse, the seating area is nicely spread out and there's a "mini-monster" in left field. Concession was adequate and maybe a little expensive. Atmosphere was a shrug. There were lots of die-hard fans, but lots of highly disinterested casual types, so it was a wash. The only real thing was parking, with ingress being lousy(I arrived at first pitch though, so I deserve a little blame..) and egress being a disaster(a three car collision did not help). All in all, I didn't hate coming here, but there are other parks in the area I'd head for first. 8/10.

Linescore
2017-03-10
                           123    456   789  RHE
Baltimore             000    000   000   061
Boston                300    100   000   450
Temp: N/A   Time: 2:29   Att: 9,957

LECOM Park

Pittsburgh Pirates, Spring Training
Bradenton Marauders, Florida State League

9/10

The sidewalk was just a little too tight to get a decent shot of the entrance.

This is as good as I did behind home plate. I cropped a guy out, you can still see the top of his head.

Looking in at the grandstand.

Bonus Shot: This could be the best one I have, but it doesn't fit my facade/home/outfield template.

I went to LECOM Park on the last game day of my 2017 Florida trip, after a night game at Port Charlotte and before another one at Fort Myers. This is a pretty old field, having existed as McKechnie Field for numerous years and several other names since initial construction in 1923. The Pirates have been here since 1969, though it's been renovated several times since then. New renovations were completed prior to my visit in 2017. The park shows it's age and is a group of three grandstands set up behind home plate and each dugout.

The atmosphere is more oriented on baseball for sure, as there are flashier parks even in the Tampa area, let alone on the Gulf Coast. People were into the game, but not too into it.  The weather was clear and hot. The park's renovations mean it now has a wrap around concourse, which consists of a boardwalk which I thought looked pretty good.. There are numerous concessions on the first base side, and in center field, they do sell Gator Bites, which I would have had if I'd found them before I had my fish sandwich(which was very good as well).

It's a tough call, but I'd give this place a point for food and the park layout, plus a half point for atmosphere. I'd go back here again in a second, and likely will.

Linescore
2017-03-10
                     123   456   789  RHE
Tampa Bay    001  000   000  142
Pittsburgh      100  000   003  450
Time: N/A  Temp: N/A  Att: 5,804

Ballpark of the Palm Beaches

Houston Astros, Washington Nationals (Spring Training)

8/10 

The weather in Florida was borderline stupendous the entire time I was there.

There isn't an easily photographed entrance around here. Any further back and the posts would have obstructed everything.

Looking in on my walkaround.

I came here in 2017, the year it had opened. Both the Astros and Nationals had moved here,out of older parks in Kissimmee and Viera. The park was brand new, built midway between the Florida Turnpike and I-95 about 100km north of downtown Miami. It's obviously a pretty nice, new, clean park. In terms of it's extravagance, I'd rate it somewhere above parks like Goodyear or Surprise, but below other new parks like Sloan Park or JetBlue. Come to think of it, it compares nicely to Camelback Ranch. Anyhow, parking is in a field off to the one side, I cannot remember if it cost anything. There are a few fountains on the paths to the park surrounded by ponds, marked with signs warning of alligators.

There's not really an entrance to speak of, just some signage over a gate along the third base side. The concourse and aisles are roomy and the concourse is wrap around, which is practically a requirement these days. The food menu was pretty average, with some favourites from D.C.(I think), but nothing memorable. I saw Ichiro live for probably the final time and Bryce Harper silence the "overrated" chant from one guy(and only one guy) by promptly hitting a homerun.

On the whole, I'd give this place an extra point for the facility, although maybe a half for the Nationals' fans bringing some of their quirkier cheers. I'd go back here for sure. 


Linescore
                       123     456    789   RHE
Miami               000    020    000   270
Washington      000     001   100    230
Time: 2:33 Temp: N/A Att: 4,004

Charlotte Sports Park

Tampa Bay Rays, Spring Training
Charlotte Stone Crabs, Florida State League

7/10

The relatively simple entrance to the park.

A Colombian conference at the mound.

Looking in on the refurbished stadium bowl.

I crossed Florida after a day game at Port St. Lucie, to take in a night game at Port Charlotte, featuring the Tampa Bay Rays and Colombian national team. I got hung up in the exodus from that first game of the day and traffic was somewhat unhelpful, so I arrived around the second inning or so. The evening's contest saw a pre-tournament game for the Colombian entry in the upcoming World Baseball Classic and thanks to some Rays pitchers being loaned over and a ninth inning rally, they ended up coming back and beating the Rays.

This was originally the site for Spring Training for the Texas Rangers, from 1987-2002, prior to that team pulling up stakes and heading west to Surprise Stadium. After this, the team hosted one season of the Independent South Coast League in 2007, before renovations lured the Rays to set up Spring Training and a Florida State League team here in 2009.

The park is a pretty average place, which shows it's age only in its design. It's clean and well maintined. Zaxby's chicken sandwiches appear to be the menu item of choice, because they were sold out by the time I showed up. I remember the food here being markedly average. The only thing that stands out here is the atmosphere. The Rays are the Rays, so despite being the 2nd closest MLB team to their hometown for Spring Training, they don't draw so well. But, with ticket prices substantially lower than anywhere else in Florida, actual people show up for these games, which makes the atmosphere pretty authentic. When I went on my walk to get pictures of the stands from the outfield, a woman asked the Rays' bullpen coach a question, calling him by his first name and received a prompt "Yes, ma'am.", then an answer. Bullpen coach Stan Boroski explained how the Colombian team only wanted to use bullpen pitchers in the game and the Rays had agreed to put in some of theirs once everyone in that Colombian bullpen had had a turn. I'm not sure if at some of the bigger parks, this conversation would have happened so easily.

In summary, I'm more than happy that a place like this could lose it's team, do some renos and get an MLB team back in town, but it's nothing overly impressive. I'd maybe give a half point for atmosphere, but it really doesn't matter, as everything else is average. 7/10.



Linescore
2017-03-08
                         123   456   789   R H E
Colombia            001  100  016   9 10 1
Tampa Bay          140  020  000  7 8 3
Temp: N/A  Time: N/A  Att: N/A

Florida Auto Exchange Stadium

Toronto Blue Jays, Spring Training
Dunedin Blue Jays, Florida State League

6/10

The main entrance to the park is pretty nondescript.

The best view from behind home plate I could get without blocking someone.

A decent crowd hangs around to watch the Blue Jays get polished off by the national team.

I finally finally made it to Dunedin after many years of ballparking for a spring training match up in 2017. The game saw the Jays taking on the Canadian entry for that year's WBC. The Jays were missing a few regulars to other WBC camps and a few to injury, so it was a Quadruple-A roster to start. J.A. Happ was shelled right out of the gate as the Canadian nationals went on to win their only game of the 5 pre-tournament and round robin games they played, with little struggle.

The park itself is quite old, opening in 1990, although it somehow looks older than that. It's a facility that is definitely lacking in many areas, the least of which is the cramped team store, in an outbuilding off the concourse, seats that are benches, with not much room between people or in the aisle and a general lack of parking in the area. I ended up parking about 3 blocks away on the lawn of a bar for about 10 dollars(free drink ticket included!). The concourse is a little narrow, but is mostly kept clear.

Concession, on the other hand, is also lacking in options, but at the very least, prices are comparatively low. Atmosphere was tough to judge with the non-MLB opponent for this one, but I'd say it's slightly above average, but not deserving of special recognition. Overall, I'd take off a full point for facility, which would leave this as a 6. It looks more like a bigger, dated, minor league park, as opposed to most of the other Spring Training ones. It's way too big for the High-A team it hosts in the Florida State League, which usually averages just under 800 fans per game.

But, the Blue Jays themselves are well aware of the park's shortcomings and are working on it. More of concern to the team is that the minor league complex and training fields are a 15 minute drive away. A 5 minute drive was enough to have the Oakland side desert Phoenix Municipal for Mesa. This was a big bone of contention for the Jays, but it appears they're willing to live with it, as a tentative deal will see this stadium and the training complex both heavily renovated, even if they remain a fair distance apart.

I will likely give this one a pass until renovations are completed and try to see the Blue Jays in Clearwater or Tampa.

Linescore
2017-03-07
                         123  456   789   R H E
Canada             122  000   011   7 13 0
Toronto             000  000  100   1  2  2
Temp: N/A  Time: N/A Att: N/A

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

Marlins Park

Miami Marlins, National League

7/10

 I was running late, so I grabbed a photo of this sign on the way in.

 A Saturday afternoon matchup against the Blue Jays drew a decent crowd.

BP for the next afternoon's game.

Bonus pic: The "Home Run Sculpture" in Left Field.

It's not the Home Run Apple, but I found it super deflating when the Jays gave up a home run.

Firstly, there is a lengthy backstory surrounding the construction and financing of this stadium. In a nutshell, the Marlins played at Sun Life Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins, for their first 18 years. That facility was apparently designed with Baseball in mind, but was hardly a permanent home for the Marlins. So ownership began a sustained effort to build a ballpark, which eventually led to MLB threatening that the Marlins would leave town if one wasn't built. That night, an agreement was reached for a new park to be constructed on the site of the Orange Bowl, which had recently been vacated by the Miami Hurricanes football team. The park got built, the Marlins paid just under 20% of the cost to build it, got their knuckles rapped for not spending enough of their luxury tax payments on payroll, now represent Miami instead of Florida, the mayor of Miami-Dade County was recalled over the issue and as of right now, the Marlins are drawing around 2,500 more per game than they did in Miami Gardens. Anyhow, the ballpark itself......


Going here was the crown Jewel of my Florida/Georgia/Alabama loop in 2012. The Jays were in town and I found a way to make it work. I drove down from Orlando for game 1 and arrived in the 2nd inning. This ballpark aimed to be uniquely designed, with architecture and décor that would be out of place anywhere but South Florida and appears to have succeeded. I've seen Marlins Park classified as both a Retractable Roof ballpark and the first "Modern" ballpark, both are correct, but only the latter reflects that the Marlins have a unique venue in MLB.

There were many plusses to Marlins Park. Firstly, it has a roof, which in the heat and especially the humidity of South Florida, is a near requirement. The park was brand new when I went and it was kept very clean. The food here is something else. There are a lot of different options including gluten free. I had first and currently only Pressed Cuban Sandwich here and it was pretty good. There's your usual ballpark fare as well as one item based on the visiting team. For the Blue Jays, they chose Poutine, which included a description for those unfamiliar. People in blue shirts seemed to be buying most of them. The park also makes an effort to cater to everyone with a more particular diet, including people who are going gluten-free. There is only one small concession in center field that has gluten free stuff, but it's the only one I've ever seen anywhere. The ballpark has numerous homages to the old Orange Bowl, including displays of big games and the orange bowl sign chopped up in pieces out front as street art.

But, there are some negatives. The area around the park is residential, so there's not really an after party atmosphere. People are offering their driveways and even their lawns as parking spots. I parked in one of the parking garages next door owned by the team. At the time of my visit, the roof either leaked, or had condensation issues, like most windows in South Florida. This meant that a steady stream of water dripped onto entire rows of the upper deck and I had to dodge some droplets to get to my seat. I'm not sure if the issue's been fixed. There is also a ballpark location of the "Clevelander" from Miami Beach behind left field, which I guess is supposed to overcome the lack of nightlife in the area. I just found it somewhat tacky, although it was full.

Overall, the City of Miami has a nice new park, which I'd rate as an 8/10. Once the kinks get worked out and the area around the ballpark inevitably changes, it would be rated higher.

Update 2016: I have not been back since 2012, evidently, I am not alone, as 2016 saw the Marlins finish 27th in MLB in attendance. With Atlanta getting a new park for 2017 and Texas as early as 2020, we will find out in a few years just how good this place is. Under the new scoring rubric, I can't help but knock the score down to a 7, as while the food was good, it wasn't worthy of a full point. 

Linescore
2012-06-23
                                   123   456   789   RHE
Toronto Blue Jays         010   000    006  780
Miami Marlins              000   000    100   151
Temp: 76F   Time: 2:49  Att:  24,448 

2012-06-24
                                     123   456   789    RHE
Toronto Blue Jays           000   000   000   080
Miami Marlins                 040  002   30x   980
Temp:  73F  Time: 2:29  Att: 27,888