Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Could Spring Training baseball come to John Prince Park? Keep the faith folks and sing along with Mel and Vinnie in the video below!

This article by the Post's Joe Capozzi also appears in the print edition of today's (3/22) print edition, page B2, above the fold. Here are two excerpts:
      The Braves have been negotiating with Sarasota County for at least two weeks, but team Chairman Terry McGuirk is scheduled to meet this week with several Palm Beach County and municipal leaders to discuss the chances of the team opening a spring training camp here in 2018.
      “It’s going to take lot of cooperation from a lot of people to get this to happen,’’ said Palm Beach County Commissioner Shelley Vana. “This is kind of we-want-you meeting. Let’s talk about how we can do it.’’
      Vana said she and several city leaders, including Lake Worth City Commissioner Scott Maxwell and City Manager Mike Bornstein, will meet with McGuirk Tuesday night [TONIGHT, 3/22; emphasis added].
[and. . .]
     Bornstein said he will push John Prince Park, a county park just west of Lake Worth. In 2015, the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros rejected John Prince Park because it was too small. Bornstein said it would be perfect for one team.
Read this blog post from back in December 2014, that refers to this article by Joe Capozzi published on 12/21/2014. You'll learn why the idea of a 2-team Spring Training facility was challenging given the configuration of John Prince Park. It was noted back then how a 1-team facility would have been ideal. The Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, however, were committed to sharing the same facility (which is now under construction in West Palm Beach).

Here is an excerpt from the Capozzi article in December 2014:
     The southern site would require filling in “navigable waterways” including those connecting Lake Osbourne [sic] to Square Lake, something the teams said in a Dec. 5 letter would take “an enormous permitting effort,” including permits from the Army Corps of Engineers.
     But if the park does come up again, the teams might ask Call [Eric Call, director of Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation] about his baseball background. He said it never came up during meetings earlier this year.
For those who strongly supported Spring Training in John Prince Park keep up the faith! Go grab those colorful baseball caps and be ready for a celebration somewhere with Mel and Vinnie singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame!":

"It ain't over till it's over." --Yogi Berra