Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
A BIG-LEAGUE DREAM
Astros players excited, impressed by ballpark
The $150 million Ballpark of the Palm Beaches opened its gates Wednesday to the Houston Astros, which will share the state-of-the-art spring training facility with the Washington Nationals. The Astros held their first workout in the absence of fans, as the 6,500-seat main stadium remains not quite ready for prime time. The stands will open Saturday, but construction on the former landfill will continue until the first pitch on Feb. 28.
WEST PALM BEACH — The first day of spring training is baseball’s version of Christmas. This year the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals woke up to the ultimate gift in the brand-spanking-new Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.
Astros pitchers and catchers were appropriately wide-eyed and effusive Wednesday morning as they took the wrapping off of their new toy and held the first formal workout at the $150 million facility.
“It’s unbelievable. State-of-the-art, new facility. I like it a lot better than I did Kissimmee,” said right-hander Brad Peacock, who grew up in Wellington and can now stay at home during spring training.
Just before 11 a.m. the Astros took the field for the first time. The fanfare that usually accompanies the opening of spring training was missing because, well, there were no fans.
That is due to the ongoing flurry of construction as crews continue the 15-month scramble to turn a former landfill into a 160-acre baseball complex south of 45th Street and west of I-95 off Haverhill Road.
The Nationals begin workouts today for pitchers and catchers. Fans will be admitted for the first time Saturday when the Astros’ full squad takes the field. There is no admission charge; parking is at the northwest corner of the complex off Haverhill Road.
This week there are more people in hardhats and construction vests than batting helmets. So the pop of ball in glove was accompanied by the cacophony of saws, drills and hammering.
“It’s unbelievable. State-of-theart, new facility.” Brad Peacock, Astros pitcher
“We play in some loud stadiums, some distractions around,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “When you come to a place like this, even whatever percentage of done it is, it’s impressive. Our guys are excited and they’re very complimentary of their first look. They’re going to be patient.”
Most of the remaining work is on the 6,500-seat main stadium and will continue until the first exhibition game Feb. 28 between the Astros and Nationals. All of the practice fields are ready, and immaculate.
“Not to say anything bad about Kissimmee,” ace starter Dallas Keuchel said, referring to the Astros’ former spring home, “but we’re now in the 21st Century with some of this nice stuff and a little bit better locker room and facility.”
Glancing around the spacious clubhouse, Keuchel noted that it compared favorably to the team’s regularseason home at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
“Maybe a little bigger. It might be a little nicer,” he said.
The Astros’ and Nationals’ clubhouses are laid out in a similar football-shaped configuration as the Marlins have in Miami. The contractor, Hunt Construction Group, also built Marlins Park.
This is a departure from the days when spring training parks had a minor league feel. The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches is big-league all the way, and each team has its own distinct facility with different features.
Each team has six practice fields. The Nationals have two with the same dimensions of Nationals Park in Washington, while the Astros have one that mirrors the layout of Minute Maid Park in Houston.
The Nationals have a 60-foot outdoor pool under construction outside their clubhouse that will be used for resistance running and swimming training exercises. Numerous cameras are mounted around the complex for video coaching.
It’s quite a departure from the defunct West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium that the Nationals, during the franchise’s Montreal Expos phase, shared with the Atlanta Braves until 1997. That was one I-95 exit to the south off Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, now the site of a Home Depot.
The only remnant of the earlier era of spring training in West Palm Beach is Hank Aaron Drive.
Nationals manager Dusty Baker trained there when he began his playing career with the Braves in 1968. He recalls fishing after practices in the nearby canals with teammates Aaron and Ralph Garr.
“We were by that Mount Fuji-looking building,” Baker said, referring to the former West Palm Beach Auditorium, adding that spring training in those days “was totally different. It’s not like you see now. We didn’t have a bunch of fields.”
The opening of the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches does create a cluster of teams in northern Palm Beach County, with the Marlins and Cardinals training 12 miles to the north at Jupiter. The Mets are another 30 miles away at Port St. Lucie.
The new ballpark, funded largely by Palm Beach County tourist tax revenue, ensures that those teams will remain in their spring bases. The close proximity makes shorter trips for exhibition games and enables players to get work done in the morning at their home base.
“It’s great. I think the less travel the better,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “It’s one of the things I liked about [spring training in] Arizona was that everybody was in a smaller area.”
Last spring, the Marlins made their final trips to play the Astros in Kissimmee and the Nationals in Viera only to be rained out both times. Opening Day starter Wei-Yin Chen had to pitch a simulated game in steamy conditions inside the batting cage at Osceola County Stadium to get his work in.
“That happened, and it’s not a lot of fun. The less chances we have of that the better,” Mattingly said.
The new arrangement will also give fans in South Florida more opportunities to see a variety of players. There won’t be as many visits from teams outside the area, but the Yankees will play back-to-back game at West Palm Beach on March 19 (Astros) and 20 (Nationals).
The Nationals are familiar to Marlins fans, led by Bryce Harper and reigning Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer.
The Astros’ best player is Jose Altuve, a diminutive second baseman from Venezuela who has won the American League batting title two of the past three seasons. They are expected to contend in the AL West after adding veteran hitters Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann and Nori Aoki.
Their success may hinge on Keuchel, the 2015 AL Cy Young winner, regaining form after struggling with shoulder inflammation last season.