Baseball Spring Training and a Place Called Home
February is my favorite time of year. It is not because it’s a month we celebrate Valentine’s Day, the Super Bowl, or an extra day away from our job on President’s Day.
February is always meant for baseball and spring training. My first opportunity to ever visit a spring training facility was in 1991, two days after I was hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was a very strange experience. I began my LA Dodgers career one day at Dodger Stadium and the next day I found myself on a chartered plane heading to Vero Beach, Florida.
One cannot say Vero Beach is the ideal destination if you are looking for large beach crowds and college-aged spring break fun. I think the O’Malley’s knew what they were doing when they made Vero Beach home. The family built a first class facility at a place where people could concentrate on the business of baseball.
Some baseball players liked the Florida beach destination so much they called in Vero Beach home during the off-season. I can think of one Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax and outfielder Rick Monday to name two.
Not everyone had the same love for Vero Beach. I was listening to Tony Jackson, the Dodgers beat reporter for the LA Daily News, being interviewed on the radio last night. When asked what he missed about Vero Beach, he answered, “Nothing.”
The legions of dedicated Dodger fans who annually descended on Vero Beach each spring, might beg to differ. Dodgers spring training in Vero Beach was a facility known to media and fans alike as one of the friendliest in baseball. You could actually walk side by side with your favorite player as he made his way from the clubhouse to Holman Stadium for the game.
I remember fans loved to follow Tommy Lasorda, Orel Hershiser, Bill Russell and Brett Butler each day. It was the baseball facility to get an autograph. The O’Malley family did it the right way. Vero Beach, while a bit out of the way, was an experience you would not soon forget.
From the folks that worked there, like Craig Callan who ran the facility to the beat writers and Dodger front office people that made their annual trek across the country. Vero Beach was a special experience. Let’s not forget The Ocean Grill, Bobbys and the bus rides to away games. Inside the dining room, Peter O’Malley (POM) and Tommy Lasorda each had their special table. If you could ever find an open seat at Lasorda’s table, you would find yourself laughing at his stories more than eating the food. It just felt like a second home.
Certainly things have changed. Everyone knows the Dodgers have left Vero Beach for Arizona in a marketing move that better reflects the business of baseball today.
Billy Delury, the Dodgers long time traveling secretary and an old friend, was interviewed by LA Times reporter Dylan Hernandez over the weekend and was asked if he missed Vero Beach. “You’ve got to,” he said. “I spent 45 years in Vero Beach but it’s over with now. You have to turn the page.”
My philosophy has always been to look forward and not behind. Just don’t ever forget where you came from. Enjoy.
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Tony Jackson’s Blog “Inside the Dodgers”
http://www.insidesocal.com/dodgers/2009/02/billingsley-or.html
