BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
Over the years, I’ve been to three different Spring Training Venues with the Atlanta Braves.
First, I saw them in West Palm Beach when they played in West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium. This was back in the 1980’s.
Second, the Braves played in Orlando at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Stadium. They played there from 1997-2019. The ballpark held approximately 7,500 and was located in Kissimmee, FL.It’s called Champion Stadium. The major issues the Braves had was travel as there were very few teams in Central Florida. The most common opponent was the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland, FL off of I-4.
The Braves moved into their current Spring Training Park on March 24, 2019 as Atlanta defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2. The Rays train down the road off of I-75 in Port Charlotte. CoolToday Park also serves as the Braves year-round rehabilitation facility.
On Saturday, August 14, I made my first trip to CoolToday Park and the Braves crushed the Boston Red Sox 10-1. The ballpark is located in Sarasota County, has 6,200 fixed seats, and 8,000 total. Left Field is 335 feet, Left-Center 385 feat, Center Field 400 feet, Reight-Center 375 feet and Right Field is 325 feet.
The Press Box is very spacious and is one of the best that I’ve ever been in covering Spring Training through the years.
In this story, I recorded a short video of this Spring Training gem which I encourage everyone to see at least once. I’m looking forward to making return trips here in the future.
Also, My photographer Candy Ebling did a sensational job taking photos as she made her way around this place.
The Braves $140 Million project was funded by private and public sources. The Braves signed a 30-year lease so they’re not going anywhere for a while.
Sarasota County contributed $21.2 million through hotel and bed dollars. The state of Florida put in $20 Million after showing the Braves arrival would add $1.7 billion economic impact over the 30 year lease.
Mattamy Homes, a private developer donated the land and $4.7 million. The city of North Port contributed $4.7 million and Wellen Park, the planned community within North Port that houses the facility, ran the construction and the development.
The biggest advantage for the Braves is their proximity to teams located off of I-75.
The Minnesota Twins and the Boston Red Sox play in Fort Myers Florida. The Pittsburgh Pirates are located in Bradenton, the Baltimore Orioles in Sarasota and the Tampa Bay Rays are in Port Charlotte. There are five teams located within two hours which was a challenge when they were in Disney.
The Braves Public Relations and Comminications staff were great hosts and I look forward to working with them when we make our way to Truist Park in Atlanta.
The Braves Staff were instrumental in helping me land Coach Tony Diaz for the Motor City Mad Mouth Show and had a Media Availability with Manager Walt Weiss. You can also find those videos in this story. I wrote a separate article on Diaz that you might want to check out. I predict that Diaz will manage in the Big Leagues one day.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the short video and the photos. This is definitely a place which is NOT a ONE and DONE!
It’s a bucket list item for those that want to chase ballparks and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of watching the Boys of Summer during the Spring.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloriudatribune@gmail.com and you can see his broadcasts on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel. There is no cost to subscribe. Also, Scott wrote a book “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes and Noble. There is also an Audio Book that you can get as well.
My next story of Spring Training, I took a trip to Bradenton, Florida and I’ll go over that experience.
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