The Boys of Spring

In Florida the middle of February through the month of March means baseball is back. Big League baseball comes to Florida for spring training. Teams have been coming to Florida since the late 1800's to train in the warm weather. The Philadelphia Phillies were the first team to train in Florida when they came to Jacksonville in 1889. In Tampa spring training began in 1913 when the Chicago Cubs came to town. 

 

35 Florida cities have hosted teams in the Grapefruit League over the years with Tampa and St Pete having hosted teams the most at 87 years.

During those years all of the greats of the game have played on spring training fields in Florida

Mickey Mantle in St Pete

Yogi under the same tree at Huggins Stengle Field 

They don't come any greater than this...Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig under the palm trees in St Pete

Tampa has hosted several teams over the years including the Cincinnati Reds during the Big Red Machine years. Nowadays the New York Yankees call Tampa home in the spring playing at beautiful George Steinbrenner Field

The practice fields outside Steinbrenner Field

There's even a monument park out front to honor the Yankee greats

The atmosphere in the spring is casual and laid back. More fan friendly as players are more willing to interact with the fans in the intimate stadiums. Steinbrenner Field is the largest stadium holding 11,000 but most stadiums hold 7,000 or less

The Blue Jays stadium in Dunedin is one of the smallest and is a great place to watch a game as you are right on top of the field

Brighthouse Field in Clearwater home of the Philadelphia Phillies

  

Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland home of the Detroit Tigers

One of the oldest...beautiful McKechnie Field in Bradenton home of the Pittsburgh Pirates

Where do the Atlanta Braves go in the spring ? They go to Disney World !!  Disney Sports Complex

Last but certainly not least..Port Charlotte...home of OUR Tampa Bay Rays

Florida...beaches..beautiful weather...and baseball

Tampa Joins the Big Leagues

A city without professional sports is the Tampa I grew up in during the 60's and early 70's. Most of us were Miami Dolphin fans. In baseball we listened to the Atlanta Braves on the radio. In basketball my best friend Steve was a huge Boston Celtics fan so I followed them too. Nothing in our town...

In 1966 construction began on Tampa Stadium...Al Lopez Field where the Cincinnati Reds trained is in the background. The NFL encouraged the city to build a stadium and pursue a franchise. In the meantime the University of Tampa would play home games in the stadium

In November 1967 Tampa Stadium hosted it's first event. The University of Tampa played the Tennessee Volunteers. Tennessee won the game 38-0 and the stadium received high praise

Beginning in 1968 and into the early 70's Tampa hosted several NFL pre season games. The photo above is from a game between the Lions and the Jets

I remember going to the Dolphins and Patriots game. Note the Patriots were not always called the New England Patriots. This game in 1969 was unique...it was an AFL game before the merger

Then in 1976 Tampa changed forever...we had made the big time

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were our team. It's fun being a sports fan. It takes on a new level when you have a team in your town...your home town team
The Bucs endured much futility in the early days but we loved them just the same

Soon things began to change and the Buccaneer franchise became good...real good and in 2002..The very best

Super Bowl Champs !! 

Tampa became a big league city that has now hosted four Super Bowls...the first was Super Bowl XVIII between the Raiders and Redskins. Super Bowls in 1991, 2001, and 2009 were also played in Tampa

The Bucs now play in beautiful Raymond James Stadium. Tampa now has three pro teams with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Tampa Bay Rays now also home teams. 1976 seems a long time ago now...

Florida Cruising

If you want to go on a cruise...come to Florida.With the longest coastline in the lower 48 at over 1,350 miles Florida offers multiple choices for cruisers.  There are 5 ports in Florida that cruise ships sail from, more than any other state. Four are shown on this map and the port of Jacksonville also has limited cruise ships operating from it. 

The port of Miami is the largest cruise ship port in the world. Over 4 million people cruised from this port last year. All major cruise lines sail out of Miami.

Just up the road in Fort Lauderdale is Port Everglades

A little farther north is Port Canaveral. When you sail out of Canaveral you can see the launch towers at the Cape.

 Of course I am very biased towards the port below...the Port of Tampa

The Florida Aquarium right outside the door

Ride the streetcar to downtown Tampa or Ybor City.

Sailing out of Tampa is absolutely beautiful

Under the Skyway Bridge and out to sea...thanks to my daughter Andrea for the idea !!

Gasparilla Day

Today is Gasparilla Day
Nothing says Tampa more than Gasparilla Day. It's been a Tampa celebration since 1904. The pirate ship Jose' Gaspar, filled with "pirates" invades Tampa and takes over the city.

Legend has it that Jose' Gaspar operated in the Tampa area and plundered ships on the west coast of Florida. In the old days when I was young the invasion and parade always coincided with the Florida State Fair. 

If you have lived in Tampa for any length of time chances are you have participated in Gasparilla Day. It is a day long festival with parties everywhere.

There be pirates

Hundreds of boats follow the Jose' Gaspar across the bay to her dock on the Bayshore

Thousands line the street for the parade down Bayshore and into downtown Tampa

Even the Mayor shows up

The ship and many of the floats are manned by "Krewes" which are clubs that operate throughout the year and many of the Krewes are very involved in charity work in the area

Gasparilla Day...a Tampa tradition