Spring Training: What to expect?

You will have a great time, especially with three generations of baseball fans. I have gone the last three years and had a blast. In 2009 I wrote a recap with some tips:

Arrive at 9am to maximize the experience: you can get in and walk the grounds, walk to the minor league fields, take it all in.

The Major league workout is usually begins around 10am (for a 1pm gameday), which you can watch for free, and after that is when you can get autographs from the players and/or coaches as they walk back to the clubhouse.

Bring sunscreen and lots of it. There aren’t many spots for shade.

This is 3 years old, but is probably mostly still applicable:

I know JJ24 had a great fan post about spring training either last year or the year before; I will try to find it. And I’m sure others will chime in.

It’s a ton of fun. You will have a really good time. My suggestions for maximizing the trip would depend on your goals. If you want to get autographs, take photos, meet players, etc., the number one thing is to get there early. You can watch them get their instruction from the coaches up close (the bullpen work especially), see them hit BP, etc. When they complete their workouts (I want to say around 10:30 or 11:00), they are very accommodating to fans with their time.

You can sit anywhere in the stadium and get a great view, but if you sit closer to the dugout, you can see the guys goofing off and being very relaxed (last year, even in ST, they were clowning on Velez pretty bigtime).

Here is JJ24’s wonderful Fan Post and spring training guide from last year. Hope that helps.