More news about Spring Training baseball in John Prince Park. But first a short message to our visitors from the Atlanta Braves:

To everyone in the Atlanta Braves organization, welcome to Palm Beach County and encourage you to spend time in our little City of Lake Worth. Our City would be honored to have your facility so close to us and the support from our community, and others nearby, will be tremendous.

Now for an important message: When this idea was considered last time about a Spring Training facility in John Prince Park (JPP), the community support in the City was off the charts. People attended City meetings, for example, wearing colorful baseball hats and singing, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" (see video below). There was a general sense of excitement throughout the City and those who were here at that time will remember all that.

But. . . there was, and still is, a very small group of malcontents who made a lot of noise opposing this idea. They created rumors and tried to manufacture a panic, using all sorts of lies over the prospect of a baseball facility in JPP. They drew attention to themselves by attacking well-respected public officials and accusing them, and many others, of corruption and other unsubstantiated criminal activity:

County Commissioner Shelley Vana is one of the most well-respected leaders in Palm Beach County. Vana was attacked and maligned simply to draw media attention to those opposed to the idea of a Spring Training facility in JPP.

The point is, DON'T LET YOURSELVES BE DISTRACTED BY THESE TACTICS! Also, these people are very clever at disguising their actual number of supporters. Later on will provide information on the strategies and tactics they use to pull that off (for a clue, go to the top of the right-hand column of this blog).

Please focus on all the outstanding things our community, and others nearby, have to offer. Here is the latest from the Post reporter Joe Capozzi about the Atlanta Braves organization taking a tour of John Prince Park:

     “We met for 45 minutes and I came away with the impression that they really would like to be here,’’ [County Commissioner Hal] Valeche said.
     If the Braves moved to [suburban] Lake Worth, it would make Palm Beach County the Grapefruit League home to five teams. The Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals share Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, while the Astros and Nationals will begin play at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach in 2017.
     That would be the tightest concentration of teams in Florida and rivaled only by Arizona, where 15 teams train within 47 miles.

[and. . .]

     County Commissioner Shelley Vana, who met with the Braves officials Tuesday night at a CityPlace steakhouse, said they told her they had spoken recently with Gov. Rick Scott about returning to Palm Beach County.
     “It’s an amazing opportunity to have a really popular team with a really great following,’’ Vana said.

Now for a short video:

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