My husband Jim and I started going down to spring training in the mid-1980s or so, when the Braves were still at West Palm Beach. It was our way to get a head start on the baseball atmosphere and to be all set and ready for the team when they came back home for the regular season.
The facility in West Palm was not the greatest, but the access to the players was. They were right there. They parked in the same parking lot. Early in the morning, they would walk by and speak to you and sign things. Inside the park, along the fence right next to the field, you’d get right next to the players. Most of them were gracious, especially before they got to be famous.
I have a favorite memory of West Palm. I had a photo by Walter Victor, the official team photographer then, that showed Jeff Blauser and Mark Lemke standing on the field at the old stadium in 1993 when the fire broke out. Lemke signed the picture, and then took it in the clubhouse and got Jeff to sign it. That was the neatest thing a player has ever done.
We were heartbroken when the Braves moved spring training to Orlando, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Disney World. It’s a whole different atmosphere. It’s almost antiseptic. The players have almost completely removed themselves. It’s as if a different ballpark means they don’t have to do what they did before. They don’t have to bother with fans.
At Disney, it’s harder to get players to sign autographs, and they tend to ignore fans because they feel they don’t have to be interactive and they can do whatever they want. This does change how I feel about them. I am a season-ticket holder and help pay a little bit of their salary. The least a player can do is sign the autograph. No one should ignore the kids.
Some parts of spring training never change. The younger players are still happy that someone asked them for a signature. Minor-leaguers still always sign.
My husband passed away in 1997. I still go to spring training with about eight to 14 members of the Braves 400 Fan Club. We already have our tickets and hotel reservations for March, and I can hardly wait for next season to start.
