Holman Stadium (Vero Beach)
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Holman Stadium is a baseball stadium in Vero Beach, Florida, built in 1953 to accommodate spring training for the Dodgers as part of a complex called Dodgertown. In addition to the Dodgers' spring games, it is also the home of the Vero Beach Devil Rays of the Florida State League. Official seating capacity is 6,500.
The Brooklyn Dodgers were one of the first major league baseball teams to conduct spring training, establishing their operations in this quiet beachside town in 1948. The team continued the tradition after becoming the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1958. In recent decades, Arizona has established itself alongside Florida as the second major center for spring baseball, and the Dodgers were the last western team to still conduct its spring training in Florida.
In 2001, the Dodgers seriously considered moving their spring training operations to Arizona, but the city of Vero Beach persuaded them to stay by purchasing the Dodgertown complex from the team and leasing it back for $1 per year. In 2006, the Dodgers again received offers from several Arizona cities, attempting to persuade them to move. The Dodgers will have to repay much of the money Vero Beach laid out to purchase the complex, but the Arizona offers may be lucrative enough to overcome this obstacle. With a new ballpark opening in Glendale, Arizona in 2009 and the Dodgers named to be one of the co-tenants, along with the Chicago White Sox, the Dodgers' last spring training in Vero Beach was on March 17, 2008 [1].
Holman is unique for its open-air dugouts that are literally dug out along the sides of the field. These may have been the inspiration for the dugouts in Johnny Hart's B.C. comic strip.
In addition to baseball, the Holman Stadium complex and conference center have hosted training sessions by the New Orleans Saints, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Miami Hurricanes, the Chunichi Dragons of Japan, the Osaka Buffaloes (Japan) and the LG Twins from Korea.
The Baltimore Orioles are expected to move up to Vero Beach from their former home in Fort Lauderdale [2]. There is no word on whether nearby Dodgertown Elementary School will change its name.[3]
- Dimensions-
Left and Right - 340 ft. Center - 400 ft.
[edit] External links
- www.dodgertown.com
- Vero Beach's Dodgertown page
- Ballpark Digest visit to Holman Stadium
- Holman Stadium Views - Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues
- ESPN feature on the history and Charm of Dodgertown
- Farewell, Dodgertown
[edit] References
Los Angeles Times, 19 April 2006, "Vero Would Be 'Heartbroken'" by Bill Shaikin
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