Spring Training Redux

I love the Boston Red Sox.

Living outside of New England sometimes makes it a bit difficult to be a Red Sox fan, but I’ve been creative enough to make it work.

I purchase the MLB.tv package so I have all of the games—in fact I buy the premium package so I can always have the NESN broadcast.

I know two great bars in Chicago where Red Sox fans meet to watch the games.

I purchase Red Sox tickets for any game within a 400 mile radius during the season (Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, and any interleague games).

I make an annual pilgrimage to Fenway Park.

This season, I was fortunate enough to go to Spring Training.

Red Sox fans are known for being fanatical, loud, and borderline committable about the team they love, and spring training is no exception.

City of Palms Park is, for lack of better words: adorable. It doesn’t take much to fascinate me, but palm trees certainly help the situation. Sunshine also helps. The opportunity to see the Red Sox in a ballpark that is smaller than some minor league stadiums I’ve attended made me incredibly giddy.

I wandered around City of Palms Park to take in the sights—the batting cage, the bullpen, LEGO Fenway Park, and the red sox store (proud owner of yet another Banner ’47 Hat). Everything seems so miniature and again, adorable, at a Spring Training game.

It’s like Honey, I shrunk the Major Leagues.

I noticed a vibe that is unique to Spring Training. Fans were laboring over their annuals, Red Sox Magazine, programs, and scoresheets for information on not only their favorite starters and new faces.

Spring Training, to my best estimation, brings out a hyper-geeky-stat-heads not always witnessed during the regular season. These people love baseball, and I felt at home talking with other diehard Sox fans.

These are the fans who laughed at my Papel-Lidge joke because they felt my pain and frustration of Papelbon’s horrendous pitching. These are the same fans who cheered wildly for Nomah’s brother on the opposing team. These fans know baseball.

The most exciting part of the week is the mixture of players witnessed in a given game—team veterans, new faces picked up on trade, rookies, and fan favorites.

The cheap tickets, cold beer, and sunshine are a winning combination that make pre-season baseball well worth the trip to Florida… one I will undoubtedly make next season.

The best part? We even got to sing “Sweet Caroline.”

You can follow Cee on Twitter! @ceeangi

Advertisement