In its place now rests a smallish grass field filled with parking spaces, which is designated as "outfield parking." While the price is highest there and spaces are quite limited, you can pick and choose from plenty of places to park elsewhere thanks to local businesses and homeowners. This had been the only stadium in the Grapefruit League without an official parking lot but that changed in 2014, when space was created behind left field following the demolition of a building that had long housed the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County. Continue on 41 South towards Bradenton/Sarasota until 17th Avenue West, where you turn right. Take the Sunshine Skyway Bridge ($1.25 toll) to the 19 South exit. Take the Route 64 exit (220 from the South 220B from the North) and travel west to 9th Street West. The ballpark is at the intersections of 17th Avenue West and 9th Street West. LECOM Park is shoehorned into a Bradenton neighborhood, where it's bordered by homes and businesses in a setting appropriate for the era in which it was originally built. To receive spring-training information and schedule updates via email, please sign up for the Spring Training Online email newsletter.Pirates Spring Training 2023 First Practice Dates A previous tenant, the Charlotte Stone Crabs, was contracted during MLB’s takeover of Minor League Baseball. If you visited during the Rangers era, you won’t recognize it. For the Rays, the ballpark was stripped down to its concrete base and rebuilt. In 2007 it served as the home of the best-drawing team in the independent South Coast League, the Charlotte County Redfish. Ballpark HistoryĬharlotte Sports Park was formerly the spring home of the Texas Rangers from 1986 through 2002, when the team shifted operations to Surprise, Arizona. Petersburg’s Al Lang Field since the team’s inception in 1998 through 2008. The ballpark was stripped down to its concrete base and was remade with new seating, a center-field Tiki bar, outfield berms, a restaurant, new suites, 360-degree concourse, new entrance, and family picnic areas down each line.
Over $27 million was spent on a complete makeover of the ballpark and the rest of the complex. And the move of the Atlanta Braves to nearby North Port has created a natural rivalry. The fanbase in Port Charlotte is largely made up of locals, but there are enough folks driving down from the greater Tampa Bay area to keep things interesting. Petersburg to being one of the hottest draws in spring training, selling out every seat in Charlotte Sports Park and being back some solid enthusiasm to the franchise.
The Rays went from being a nothing draw in St. So the decision was made to relocate operations where a more receptive audience would turn out in droves for spring baseball. Plus, major-league teams want to locate everything – practice fields, spring ballpark, multiple clubhouses, year-round minor-league operations – in the same facility, and the split nature of Rays spring training at Al Lang Field and the Naimoli Complex put operations under several roofs.Īnd then there’s the issue of the Rays being taken for granted because spring training wasn’t considered by locals to be too special: why make a point of heading for an afternoon game in March when the team would be safely ensconced at Tropicana Field for the season? It was at the point where the Rays weren’t even the biggest draw in their own town, as both the Yankees and Phillies outdrew the Rays in spring training. Petersburg for a spring-training site once abandoned by the Texas Rangers.īut appearances can be deceiving, and there’s a reason why teams like to get away from home for spring training: it’s hard for a team to bond when everyone is heading for home after each practice and game. Tampa Bay Rays Spring Training: Southern ExposureĪt first, it seems like an odd move for the Tampa Bay Rays to abandon one of the cushiest spring-training setups in baseball and leave scenic Al Lang Field in downtown St. You’ll go on El Jobean for almost seven miles. Turn left onto Highway 769/Kings Highway, and then things get a little complicated: you’ll want to turn left at Peachland Boulevard, right at Birchcrest Boulevard, right at Bachmann Boulevard, and then a left on Veterans Boulevard, which will turn into El Jobean Road. Tampa Bay Rays Spring Training Home | If You Go … | More Photos | 2023 Schedule | Minor League Schedule | RosterĢ300 El Jobean Road, Port Charlotte, FL 33948įrom I-75, take Exit 170 for Highway 769/Kings Highway toward Port Charlotte.
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