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Spring Training News
Judge Upholds Sarasota's Deal With Orioles
It took over half a year, but Sarasota County prevailed in the lawsuit that was filed against them in December by a pair of citizens groups. Citizens for Sunshine and Sarasota Citizens for Responsible Government had jointly filed suit in Sarasota Circuit Court believing open meeting and public records laws were violated during Sarasota's pursuit of a spring training tenant to replace the Cincinnati Reds. On July 8, Circuit Judge Bob Bennett disagreed. "There was clearly no attempt to subvert the law by avoiding public debate," wrote the judge in his 16-page ruling, which was issued six days after he concluded listening to a week of testimony in a Venice, FL courtroom. Last July, the Baltimore Orioles agreed to move to Sarasota from Fort Lauderdale in a deal that was contingent upon $31.2 million worth of renovations being completed at Ed Smith Stadium and the 11-mile away complex at Twin Lakes Park, where the Orioles' minor leaguers have been training since 1991. Renovations at both sites were to begin in April, but the litigation forced a two-month delay as the county culled funds "from a variety of different sources" to fund the project that could not be bonded out as planned. Bennett's ruling means that Sarasota can now legally issue the bonds required to pay for the renovations, assuming the plaintiffs do not appeal the judge's decision. Regardless, Ed Smith Stadium is on schedule to be significantly rebuilt by mid-February, but the legal wranglings and their associated delays mean its scoreboard, lighting and player clubhouses will stay as is until the following spring.

Pros Perfect Against College Foes in 2010
Once upon a time, professionals clashed with amateurs in exhibitions to kick off spring training. That explains why it wasn't uncommon for an inaugural game at a ballpark to pit a local nine against a Major League squad. Such was the case in 1991 when Edison Community College and the Minnesota Twins christened Hammond Stadium. Ditto for the stadium six miles from it, City of Palms Park, which made its debut two years later with the Boston Red Sox hosting Boston College. Seventeen years later, BC still makes their annual pilgrimage to Fort Myers to play the BoSox, but spring training games involving college teams are becoming increasingly rare. In 2010 there were seven such match-ups, all played in Florida, where an eighth non-traditional exhibition was hosted by the Yankees in Tampa against their "Future Stars." All eight games were won by the pros, by an aggregate score of 89-19, which translates into an average score of roughly 11-2. The kids fared better in 2009, when Manatee Community College upset the Pirates 6-4, which was the lone blemish by the pros in a mere five games. The group of collegians that went 0-7 in 2010 hailed from Boston College, Florida Southern, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Northeastern and the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, which changed its name from Manatee Community College shortly after obtaining glory in Bradenton in 2009.

Spring Training Features
2010 Spring Training Schedules
Schedules for all 30 teams plus the day by day league schedules (Cactus and Grapefruit) with results are available on the Spring Training Schedules page.

Let's Watch Two
Ernie Banks famously said "Let's play two!" and while there are no doubleheaders during spring training there are plenty of opportunities for fans to watch two games in one day. With 43 games scheduled to be played at night in 2010 fans can enjoy a day/night DH at different ballparks. Check out the list of 2010 Spring Training Night Games to plan your creative double dip.

Planning For Spring Training
What do you need to know before you go? Joe Connor helps you answer that question in his article, 5 Questions to Ask Yourself When Planning Your 2010 Spring Training Trip. Joe follows that piece up with a little recent history about each team training in Arizona and Florida to explain why the sport's playoff parity has been good for Spring Training ticket sales.

Things To Do In Arizona and Florida During Spring Training
Fans of all ages have plenty to experience and see in the Grand Canyon and Sunshine States besides watching their favorite team train in their winter home. Joe Connor details a “starting nine” of sports and recreation things to do when you're not at your favorite team’s ballpark.

To Dine For: Ranking the Ballparks Based on the Food They Offer
Peoria and Lakeland top our list by having the best ballpark concessions fare in their respective leagues. Which other ballparks also do a good job at satisfying appetites? See the rankings and explanations for all 26.

Tips For Getting Autographs
How do you get autographs in Spring Training? Joe Connor answers that question. Read his article, How to Get Autographs During Spring Training, to learn about the three important factors autograph seekers must be aware of in their quest.

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2010 Spring Training Recap

For the first time in spring training history, 2010 saw as many teams training in Arizona as in Florida. The Cincinnati Reds' became the 15th member of the Cactus League when they moved from Sarasota, FL to Goodyear, AZ. The Reds' departure meant just 15 teams now hold spring training in Florida, the fewest amount of teams to train in the Sunshine State since 1965, when "only" 15 of 20 teams prepared for the regular season there.

With parity between the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues finally achieved, the two spring training circuits will now generally host an equal number of exhibition games. In 2010, there were a collective 432 games played in 25 ballparks, which combined to draw 2,873,880 fans.

In the Cactus League, 219 games were played by 15 teams in 11 ballparks. Total attendance was 1,470,722, an average of 6,716 per game. Seven games were rained out, one of which was made up (Giants at Royals). The league's single-game attendance record, which had stood at 13,366 for six years, was broken six times in ten days. Just as before, the record still belongs to the Peoria Sports Complex for a Cubs-Mariners game but the mark is now 13,629, which was reached on March 28.

In the Grapefruit League, 213 games were played by 15 teams in 14 ballparks. Total attendance was 1,403,158, an average of 6,588 per game. Nineteen games were rained out, one of which was made up (Red Sox at Cardinals). Additionally, another 33,786 paid to watch eight games that were played by Major League clubs against collegiate or minor league all-star teams.

The average attendance for a spring training game in 2010 was 6,653, which was up 619 fans per game from 2009, when 536 games drew a total of 3,234,439 fans to Cactus and Grapefruit League ballparks.

No new ballparks opened in 2010, although one was abandoned as the Baltimore Orioles left Fort Lauderdale Stadium, where they had trained since 1996, and moved to Sarasota's Ed Smith Stadium, which was available when the Reds left town following the 2009 season. Fort Lauderdale became the fourth Florida city in two years to lose its team after St. Petersburg, Vero Beach and Winter Haven were all abandoned in 2009.

2010 Attendance Rankings

(home games only, ranked by per game average)

Grapefruit League City Average Total 1.  Yankees 2.  Phillies 3.  Twins 4.  Braves 5.  Red Sox 6.  Tigers 7.  Cardinals 8.  Orioles 9.  Rays 10. Mets 11. Blue Jays 12. Marlins 13. Pirates 14. Nationals 15. Astros Tampa Clearwater Fort Myers Orlando Fort Myers Lakeland Jupiter Sarasota Port Charlotte Port St. Lucie Dunedin Jupiter Bradenton Viera Kissimmee 10,574 9,102 8,055 7,557 7,411 7,198 6,922 6,814 6,060 4,838 4,777 4,678 4,670 4,538 3,986 158,611 136,523 104,712 105,795 133,393 115,170 96,910 102,207 84,838 87,091 52,550 74,853 70,053 54,454 59,784

Cactus League City Average Total 1.  Cubs 2.  Giants 3.  Dodgers 4.  Mariners 5.  Angels 6.  Diamondbacks 7.  Rangers 8.  White Sox 9.  A's 10. Padres 11. Brewers 12. Royals 13. Rockies 14. Indians 15. Reds Mesa Scottsdale Glendale Peoria Tempe Tucson Surprise Glendale Phoenix Peoria Phoenix Surprise Tucson Goodyear Goodyear 10,892 10,388 8,893 8,597 6,940 6,647 6,465 6,280 5,966 5,691 5,310 5,283 5,243 4,374 4,170 152,493 155,819 124,502 120,358 111,038 99,698 90,513 81,634 89,493 79,671 79,651 79,249 78,638 61,240 66,725

2010 Grapefruit League Standings   W L GB Rays 20  8  - Tigers 18 12 3 Braves 17 12 3½ Phillies 15 12 4½ Red Sox 17 14 4½ Twins 16 14 5 Cardinals 15 14 5½ Marlins 14 14 6 Blue Jays 12 13 6½ Mets 14 16 7 Astros 13 15 7 Yankees 13 15 7 Orioles 12 17 8½ Nationals 10 20 11 Pirates  7 21 13

2010 Cactus League Standings   W L GB Giants 23 12  - Indians 19  9 ½ Padres 18 10 1½ Cubs 18 12 2½ Rockies 17 13 3½ Brewers 16 14 4½ Royals 14 13 5 D-backs 15 17 6½ Angels 13 15 6½ White Sox 12 16 7½ Reds 12 16 7½ A's 12 17 8 Mariners 12 18 8½ Dodgers 11 17 8½ Rangers 10 19 10

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"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."
- Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby

"It's the fans that need spring training. You gotta get 'em interested. Wake 'em up and let 'em know that their season is coming, the good times are gonna roll.”
- Harry Caray

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