Stadium Opened: 1998
Teams Seen: St. Louis Cardinals (Spring Training); Florida Marlins (Spring Training)
1st Visit: 3/7/03
Most Recent Visit: 3/8/03
# Games: 2
Food: N/A
Team Store: 6/10
Stadium: 7/10
My first foray into spring training was an exciting one- I drove down from Atlanta to hang out with Mari & Ian in Miami and catch a game. I ended up seeing three games- one in Vero Beach (more on that next time) and two at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida. There is something different about Spring Training- more laid-back, players are more accessible (AJ Burnett signed my ticket), closer to the action for less money.
And Roger Dean fits those criteria- and it's also unique in that it has two MLB teams sharing the stadium- the Florida Marlins and the St Louis Cardinals. This is becoming more commonplace in the Cactus League in Arizona, but is still a rarity in Florida. So what does this mean? It's great if you're a fan- there is a game every day, because if one team is on the road, the other team is playing at home.
Roger Dean is a nice complex- relatively new (1998), a wide open concourse greets you when you walk in the gate. Scoreboards tend to be small on this level (after Spring Training many Florida stadiums become homes for low-A baseball). The team store was a nice size, bigger than most minor league stores, in order to carry more Major League items for the traveling baseball fan.
One of the big thrills in Spring Training is seeing alot of the younger prospects playing, especially in early March. Unfortunately not too much to report for the Marlins and Cards that year.
My only complaint about the stadium comes after having seen Spring Training in 4 parks- nothing distinguishes it from any other Florida park (except Vero). Not to say that's a horrible thing- they tend to be cleaner, friendlier and more reasonably priced than your average game, but the cookie-cutter-ness of it bothers me a bit. Small thing to complain about when you're enjoying an 80 degree day 1000 miles from snow.
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