City of Palms Park is a stadium in Fort Myers, Florida primarily used for baseball, although the City of Fort Myers uses the venue for the occasional concert. It served as the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox from its opening in 1993 to 2011. Former Boston Red Sox left fielder Mike Greenwell is from Fort Myers, and was instrumental in bringing his team to the city for spring training. The stadium was built in 1992 for that purpose and holds 8,000 people. It was also the home of the Red Sox Rookie team, the Gulf Coast League Red Sox, from April through June. The stadium's name is taken from the city's official nickname.
A crew of six is on hand during spring training to groom the Ballfields/Common grounds. Every effort is made to ensure that the players have access to the best spring training facility in Major League Baseball. Since Lee County Parks and Recreation has taken this facility over from the City of Fort Myers in 2003, the Grounds Crew has won the Ground Crew of the year award for the Red Sox Gulf Coast League in 2005 and 2007.
City of Palms Park is one of four spring training facilities in Fort Myers. The Minnesota Twins train in Hammond Stadium on the Southern end of town. Terry Park Ballfield (also known as the Park T. Pigott Memorial Stadium) in East Fort Myers is currently not in use, however, it is the former home of the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals. In February 2012, the Boston Red Sox moved their spring training operations into the newly constructed jetBlue Park at Fenway South located on County Highway 876 (Daniels Parkway) in Fort Myers. It is also located very close to Southwest Florida International Airport.
On March 20, 2012, Lee County Commissioners voted to begin negotiations with the Washington Nationals about moving their spring training operations to the park. The Nationals, who currently train at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Florida, are looking for a new spring training location due to the fact that their stadium is too far away from other teams' locations for away games. The Nationals could potentially begin training at City of Palms Park as early as the 2014 season if the deal goes through.
Read more about City Of Palms Park: Boston Red Sox Player Development Complex, Move To JetBlue Park
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