Spring Traning practices?

leadoff4

With pitchers and catchers reporting very soon, can someone shed some light on the spring training sites that allow the easiest access to the players? I plan on attending a spring training practice on Sunday or Monday with my sons. I've been the Tigers practice in Lakeland and it's very crowded. Braves is out of the question. Astros will probably be the least crowded but I'm not sure my kids will know a player on their team. They're interested in seeing the Pirates or Nationals which are both about 2 hrs. away. Has anyone been to either place(Bradenton or Viera). Thanks in advance!

alifaxwa2

Never been to any spring training, but since the pirates and nats are my 2 favorite teams, I have read enough to know that both should be pretty good oppurtunities. I think either would be worth the visit.

LarkinCollector

<< <i>With pitchers and catchers reporting very soon, can someone shed some light on the spring training sites that allow the easiest access to the players? >>


Arizona

WhiteTornado

I used to live in the Tampa Bay area and went to several spring training games. My favorites were the following:

Pittsburgh Pirates – Brandenton. Always liked their stadium because it is one of the older, smaller stadiums. It’s actually in a residential neighborhood, so when you first reach the area, you may think, is there really a stadium here? There was (maybe still is) a trailer park over the left field wall so if someone really jacks one, you may hear it bang off the roof of someone’s home! You can get pretty close to the players as they are going to/from the clubhouse. This is about 45 min south of Tampa along the coast.

Toronto Blue Jays – Dunedin. Another cool stadium, older, but a bit larger than the one in Bradenton. Dunedin is north of St. Pete and part of the greater Tampa Bay metro area. Neat little town, kitschy and cool. Not sure about access to the players at this one, as I never really tried or noticed. Perhaps not quite as accessible as Bradenton, and perhaps a bit larger crowds as Canadians escape the snow to hang out and watch baseball. Plenty of Canadian beers available!

Philadelphia Phillies – They’re in Clearwater, also north of St. Pete and along the Gulf of Mexico. They played in Jack Russell stadium when I was going to games, which was one of the older, smaller facilities. They’ve since moved into a new stadium, so I don’t have any experience to relate on that new ballpark.

Hope this helps and have a good time.

DoctorK

Houston uses several practice fields behind the actual field they use for Spring Training games. Sometimes the gates are closed to get back to the practice fields and other times they are not. This was back when Biggio, Bagwell, Clemens were on the team. Not sure if this has changed since then.

76collector

It would be a bit of a drive from that area, but I will mention it since I have had great experiences there. Jupiter is home of both the Marlins and Cardinals. You can catch practices or games, and will have ample opportunity for autographs, and to be up close by the players. It's a cool place to be during spring training. If you go to a game, sit in the outfield grass over flow section. I think it is only for sale on the day of the game, but it's very cheap, and you sit on the lawn within arms reach of the bullpen pitchers. In between innings, they turn around and sign for kids.