O/T Spring Training advice needed

[blackandgold]

Hello all,
My wife and I are planning on going to Florida for Spring Training. We have never done this before, so I thought I'd post on here to get some advice. Any tips or suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated, and I do have one question in particular.
Should we buy tickets in advance, or can you usually just get them on game day ?
Thanks in advance !
Matt

[frankbmd]

My information is 57 years old, but in 1957 in Clearwater after the 4th inning you could get into the Phillies spring training games free. This policy encouraged me both to stay in school and to save money. The Phillies are still in Clearwater, but there policies may have changed.

[VoodooChild]

I'm a Pirates fan. I went to spring training games a few years ago. We did buy tickets in advance but I don't think it's all that necessary. We saw buccos home games in Bradenton, and also traveled to Clearwater and Dunedin to see them play the phillies and jays. If you plan on attending any Yankee game in Tampa, then you'll need advance tickets for sure.

In 2005 we took our 12 yr old son to Spring Training in Florida . We went to Vero Beach to see the Dodgers, a class act organization he got to meet most of the players and spoke to Tommy Lasorda. Also Port St Lucie Mets he got a ball given to him by Tom Glavine autographed. All I can say just wing it go towards when they first start playing exhibition games.

[gregr2]

I live here in West Melbourne FL and go see the Nationals right up the road quite often. We buy tickets on game day and usually don't have a problem. What part of Florida are you coming to?

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Availability of game day tickets will depend on the matchup. I just moved from Orlando and loved ST. Its a great time. The braves facility is very nice and family friendly.

[dealme]

I agree that the Braves have a great facility. In 2010, I caught a couple of Braves games as well as the Yankees in Tampa and the Phils in Clearwater. I was with a group of several friends, so we had purchased tickets in advance. We had an absolute ball. The Braves provided the most access to players / coaches / etc. Regardless, spring training is a blast.

Several years prior, I did ST in the Phoenix area with a college teammate. We bought all of our tickets at the stadium, and were even given free tickets to an Angels game. My advice would be to buy ahead if you're going with more than a couple of people.

Have fun!

Originally Posted by I Only Smoke 4 the Cards

Availability of game day tickets will depend on the matchup. I just moved from Orlando and loved ST. Its a great time. The braves facility is very nice and family friendly.

[blackandgold]

We will be attending a couple Pirate games, and maybe try to catch a couple others to check out other parks.
Thanks for the advice so far. I knew I could count on the good folks on here.

[gregr2]

So you'll be on the west coast of Florida. There are a bunch of other teams that have Spring training in that area (Tampa) that you could check out as well!

[z28jd]

If you can get down to Pirates City that is a great place to visit. You can stand in the middle of four fields and watch the minor leaguers practice on each field, going through drills, batting practice, etc. If it's a game day, they will have 2-3 games going on at once. The good part is that it's not too crowded, so you can walk around freely and watch whichever field you want. They will give you a roster sheet if you ask, so you can tell the players apart. It's all free too, though there are no concessions, so remember to bring water, beverages, snacks with you if you go there.

The Pirates usually sell out about half their Spring Training games, Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, but Twins, Tigers, Rays Blue Jays and Orioles should have tickets. I say should and usually, because they are coming off their first playoff appearance in 21 years and a lot of fans came out of the woodwork, so this year could be different down there. So you might want to buy ahead of time just in case

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by z28jd

If you can get down to Pirates City that is a great place to visit. You can stand in the middle of four fields and watch the minor leaguers practice on each field, going through drills, batting practice, etc. If it's a game day, they will have 2-3 games going on at once. The good part is that it's not too crowded, so you can walk around freely and watch whichever field you want.

The Yankees do this as well but it is not well advertised. Last time I went was probably 10 years ago. I think there were about 5 spectators including myself. One of the minor league instructors was Reggie Jackson. He was very nice and signed autographs.