Catching A Ballgame At Roger Dean Stadium

My sister Susan and I attended a Florida State League baseball game at Roger Dean Stadium between the Jupiter Hammerheads and the Palm Beach Cardinals this past Saturday evening. This stadium is located in the Abacoa neighborhood of Jupiter, Florida, which has a town center right across the street from the ballpark with restaurants and a park/event space, where a large crowd was listening to a local band. Many people, including us, were having dinner at the various bars and bistros before heading to the ballpark. The game itself was a speedy one, lasting just over two hours, with the Hammerheads beating the Cardinals 5-0.

I just love Minor League Baseball. For $14 you can sit right up front in the infield with a great view (we were right behind home plate), the parking is free, and it is a very family friendly and fun environment. Between each inning there are various promotions, including the race seen in the photograph on the right. It was both Kids Club and Women Run the Diamond Night, and so I assume that contest was designed to be a combination of the two. There was also a contest involving the most steps pounded out by a group of kids on the top of the dugout within a certain period of time. The winner recorded 64 steps, although I am not sure how those steps were counted. What I do know is that the Jupiter players, over whose dugout the contest took place, must have just loved that event. I suspect it was their pent-up anger that fueled their 5-0 win.

And, of course, like every ballpark, whether minor or major league, the team mascot was the center of attention, in this case Robbie the Redbird, the mascot of the Palm Beach Cardinals. Both the Hammerheads and the Cardinals call Roger Dean Stadium home, but this past Saturday the Cardinals were designated as the home team, which meant Robbie the Redbird had the stadium to himself. During the spring, the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins hold spring training games here, although it has been many years since I last attended a spring training contest here, since our condo has been rented out since 2009 until just last month. 

I have to say, I am looking forward to seeing some spring training games here next year, although my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox (who used to train at Payne Park in Sarasota), as well as the Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies, all train in Arizona. Even the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had trained at Vero Beach since 1949, were lured away in 2008 to Arizona. Arizona has a lot to answer for. But I digress - I once saw a Dodgers spring training game at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, which was an old-time stadium where the players and fans all entered and left the park by the same gate. I even ran into Steve Garvey, one of their star players. I apologized, but Garvey just glared at me and walked away. True to form, as usual.