Spring Training in the Jungle with Baseball Legend Don Zimmer

"[Baseball] follows the seasons, beginning each year with the fond expectancy of springtime and ending with the hard facts of autumn." Ken Burns' Baseball 

Today is the first day of spring training. Pitchers and catchers are reporting to Major League Baseball training camps this morning.

More spring training games have been played in St. Petersburg than any other city. 

"Spring Training, though nearly as old as the game itself, remains a novel adventure. Unparalleled player access, intimate ballparks with distinct personalities, and up-close encounters with veteran stars and blossoming prospects alike make it truly a unique baseball experience. The sights, sounds and smells of spring arrive just in time for fans emerging from the cold and quiet winter. Many who have been there describe it as the best sports has to offer, the embodiment of the hope and promise of a new season." mlb.com

It was spring training that first brought Babe Ruth here to the Jungle. For most seasons between 1925 and 1935 the Babe played golf on the Jungle course. It was an important part of his pre-season conditioning program.

The picture is captioned Spring Training 1925, Babe Ruth and African American fans.
1925 was the first year that the Yankees were in St. Petersburg for spring training. 

The last team to train here was the 2005 Tampa Bay Devil Rays. By here I mean right here in the Jungle at Walter Fuller Park, where workouts were held. 

Pictured: The Google maps satellite view of Walter Fuller Park still has a label showing "Tampa Bay Spring Training." I remember occasionally seeing baseballs floating on the surface of Jungle Lake behind the left field fence. 

During spring training workouts the players are up close and personal with the fans. We had a visitor from Atlanta who was starstruck when she visited a practice and handsome slugger Jose Canseco walked past just a few feet away. On another occasion, my wife Amy was walking a dog past some players. When the dog lunged at a squirrel, the players cheered for the pup shouting "woo hoo, go girl, you get it!" - the players were cheering for the spectators instead of the other way around.

My personal experience: standing just a few feet away, I was able to get this 2004 flip-phone picture of coach Don Zimmer chatting with a young fan.

Photo: Steve of the Jungle

Don Zimmer was active in professional baseball for 65 years as a player, manager and coach. In 2003, as a coach for the Yankees, he was the key figure in of one of baseball's most memorable, some would say comical, moments when he was involved in a "fight" with Pedro Martinez. Coach Zimmer was not hurt.

Video: Pedro Martinez and Don Zimmer.





Major league teams that have trained in St. Petersburg:
1914          St. Louis Browns
1915-18   Philadelphia Phillies
1922-37     Boston Braves (Boston Bees 1936-37)
1925-42     New York Yankees
1938-42     St. Louis Cardinals
1946-50   New York Yankees
1946-97   St. Louis Cardinals
1951          San Francisco Giants
1952-61     New York Yankees
1962-87     New York Mets
1992-95     Baltimore Orioles
1998-2005 Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Fun Facts:
✭ On March 25, 1934 during a spring training game at Waterfront Park in St. Petersburg, Babe Ruth hit the longest home run ever recorded in a major league game - 611 feet in the air. Click here for story
✭ Teams training in St. Petersburg have made it to the World Series 35 times and have won 23 times.
✭ The only spring training city to produce both teams in a World Series is St. Petersburg. In 1942, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series over the New York Yankees 4 games to 1. Both teams played spring training exhibition games at Waterfront Park.

1925 photo colorized

Don Zimmer joined the Rays in 2004 wearing jersey number 56, the number of years he was in baseball. Each year, he added one to his jersey number until 2014 when he died and his last number was retired.