by Randy Kambic

In Southwest Florida, the words “spring training” often conjure up images of the Boys of Summer limbering up under our warm sun, getting their swings and pitches in before it really counts. Sluggers like the Boston Red Sox’s David Ortiz (or Big Papi as he’s also known) and the Minnesota Twins’ Joe Mauer, the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 2009, sign autographs in a setting that’s much more laid-back than the regular season.

“It’s a relaxed, intimate environment where the fans can get closer to the players than during the regular season,” says Todd Stephenson, director of Florida operations for the Red Sox. “The players are in a very friendly mood, as the games are exhibition and they’re getting in shape.”

It’s all part of a rich tradition going back to the early days of our national pastime. Yet with counties competing mightily to entice and retain baseball teams for the revenue and exposure they generate, there’s more to it than what happens on the field. One almost needs a scorecard to keep track of teams, stadiums, and cities.

Like following a hotly contested pennant drive, the area media closely covered for most of last spring the selection process for a new Boston Red Sox springtime home beginning in 2012. The team has been training at the City of Palms Park in Fort Myers since 1993, but it was looking for a larger, more modern stadium. A move to Sarasota was a possibility, but in the end the team chose the 126-acre Watermen-Pinnacle site in Fort Myers, off Daniels Parkway east of Interstate 75. Construction is planned to begin in June, and the new stadium will have approximately 2,200 more seats plus standing room for spectators.

Lee County was determined to keep the team, as the stakes are tremendous. Various recent state, county, and private studies have estimated that the Red Sox and Twins each annually generate between $20 million and $25 million in spending and revenues. The Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau works with both teams in selling vacation packages, which yielded more than 1,200 hotel-room nights in the area last year, nearly double what the bureau sold for the 2008 season.

“We’re busiest in March when the team is here,” says Art Baker, owner of the Hideaway Sports Bar in downtown Fort Myers, a proud member of “Red Sox Nation.” “We see many of the same Boston-area customers every year.” Baker started shuttle-bus service to and from City of Palms Park three years ago on Fridays during spring training; the Downtown Redevelopment Agency now has trolleys doing the route before, during, and after many home games.

Then there’s the value-added exposure of hosting teams, especially one that has won two world championships in the last five years. A 60 Minutes segment on Red Sox executive Bill James last May included several mentions of Fort Myers, while many Japanese and national media outlets covered Daisuke Matsuzaka’s spring-training debut with the Red Sox in 2007.

And even after the next Red Sox stadium site was selected, there was little letup in spring-training news. There was the pursuit by Lee County of the Baltimore Orioles, who opted not to return to Fort Lauderdale in 2010. Last May, local officials went to Maryland to meet with the team, which was also being pursued by Sarasota (which had lost the Cincinnati Reds to Arizona). When it was announced last July that the Orioles had decided on Sarasota, aided partly by a state grant to help renovate the city’s Ed Smith Stadium, Lee County officials began talking to the Milwaukee Brewers and the Washington Nationals, who currently train in Phoenix and Melbourne, respectively.

Collier County, headed by the Naples-based Fifth Avenue Advisors group, also stepped up to the plate to try to lure the Chicago Cubs away from Mesa, Arizona. Team executives looked at several potential sites for a new complex via helicopter last summer and returned for meetings last December.

Sluggers and the Sunshine State
Spring training in Florida dates back to the 1880s, when the Washington Capitals held a four-day camp in Jacksonville. In 1913, the Chicago Cubs set up in Tampa, and by the next spring several other teams came to Florida.

In 1925, the Philadelphia A’s came to Fort Myers to train at the Lee County Fairgrounds (now Terry Park). They spent twelve years in our area, many of them with legendary coach Connie Mack, the great-grandfather of our area’s current U.S. Congressman Connie Mack. Thomas Edison, Southwest Florida’s most famous snowbird, even took in a few games. Later, the Cleveland Indians (1940), Pittsburgh Pirates (1955-1968), and Kansas City Royals (1969-1987) also did their spring training at the site.

The Red Sox first came to the Sunshine State in 1919 and returned several times during the next four decades to places like Bradenton, Pensacola, and Sarasota. In 1966, they finally settled on Florida for their spring-training operations, spending more than two dozen years in Winter Haven before moving to Fort Myers.

Prior to moving to Fort Myers in 1991, the Twins had trained in Orlando since 1936. With one exception: During World War II, they prepared in Maryland to save resources for the war effort.

With two major-league teams now in the same area, local bragging rights are earned each year with the Mayor’s Cup, which goes to the team with the best record in head-to-head matchups. The Red Sox prevailed for the third year in a row in 2009.

The Home-Team Crowd
Year-round and seasonal residents, along with tourists who plan trips here to take in Red Sox and Twins spring-training games?which begin in late February and continue into early April?often feel like they’re going to regular-season home games, even before they take their seats.

Installed in 2007, the statue of Ted Williams outside City of Palms Park, a replica of one outside Boston’s Fenway Park, is a popular photo backdrop. The Fenway feeling is further recreated acoustically, as Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” is played during the traditional seventh-inning stretch, and the classic rock song “Dirty Water” (featuring the line “Oh, Boston you’re my home”) can be heard when the team wins.

The jersey numbers of many retired Red Sox stars and pennants from Twins’ championship seasons (they topped the American League Central Division last year) adorn the facades of the team’s respective parks. And in the parking lot at the Twin’s Hammond Stadium at the Lee County Sports Complex, many rows are named after such former Twins stars as Rod Carew, Earl Battey, and Bert Blylevan.

But even though it may feel like it’s the regular season, fans should remember that it’s still spring training. Which means they might see some differences out on the field. For example, don’t be surprised if pitchers are changed often. “Some fans would like to see a certain pitcher out there for six, seven, eight innings, but that just doesn’t happen,” says Brian Colleran, sports director at NBC2 in Fort Myers. Some pitchers may have undergone off-season surgery, and coaches want to make sure re-injuries don’t occur while they determine the starting rotation for the regular season.

If your favorite player isn’t in the lineup, amble over to the practice fields adjacent to each park, as he might be working out there. Then again, he might be playing elsewhere; teams sometimes split up their rosters to afford more games and maximize spring training.

Off the Diamond and into the Community
Both teams are known for their support of the local community, and their annual golf events tend to be big draws. This year, players from the Twins will be swinging golf clubs, not bats, at Fiddlesticks Country Club on February 25 to benefit the Lee Memorial Health System’s Regional Cancer Center. On February 26, Red Sox players will tee up at Forest Country Club in support of the Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. “We are honored to have the continued support and partnership of two of the greatest Major League Baseball franchises in the country,” says Ken Shoriak, director of operations for the Lee Memorial Health System Foundation.

On March 1, the fifth-annual An Evening with the Red Sox, at the Crowne Plaza Fort Myers Hotel at the Bell Tower Shops, will feature current and former players at a dinner and silent auction to benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lee County. The thirteenth-annual Diamond Dinner with Red Sox players at City of Palms Park, held on March 10 this year, benefits the Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. And throughout the spring training season, the Twins hold raffles to raise funds for local organizations and collect non-perishable food items and cash donations for the Harry Chapin Food Bank.

And the community supports the teams right back. Sure, the area’s gorgeous beaches and sunny climate may be what helps draw residents and visitors to the area. But most don’t hesitate to take in some of the other local sights, which during springtime just might include a game-winning grand slam or a spectacular diving catch.

Randy Kambic is an editor for Times of the Islands, RSW Living, Bonita Living, and Gulf & Main.