Spring Training in Bradenton and Sarasota

by Raymond Sinibaldi

McKechnie Field in Bradenton, Florida, is the oldest active major-league spring-training facility in the country. Opened in the spring of 1923 with Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis in attendance, it has played host to six different major-league teams, with the Pittsburgh Pirates calling it home since 1969. The New York Giants traveled to Sarasota in 1924 as the first of five teams to venture to its confines. These two cities, both situated on the Gulf Coast of Florida, boast nearly a century of baseball history and have seen the game's all-time greats.

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 18, 2013

Reviews

[Glenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Living in Lakewood Ranch, FL I am familiar with and have visited many of the Spring Training stadiums in Florida. This book was a fun quick read with some great pictures, but I wish the author had gone into greater detail about the local stadiums and the surrounding communities. Now we need a book that includes a history of all the old and current Spring Training sites in Florida and the great players and teams who have played in the ballparks.