Major League Baseball spring training facilities on Florida’s west coast appear to have been mostly spared major damage during Hurricane Milton.
Unlike two years ago when Hurricane Ian caused extensive damage that shut down the Tampa Bay Rays’ spring home in Port Charlotte, no teams have reported Milton causing serious issues that might impact operations this winter.
The Rays continue to assess the situation at their training complex and stadium in Port Charlotte, as well as at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, where Milton shredded the roof of the domed stadium that’s been their regular-season home since the franchise’s inception in 1998.
The damage from Hurricane Ian cost more than $17 million to fix and forced the Rays to split workouts and spring training games between Disney World, near Orlando, and St. Petersburg in 2023.
The Port Charlotte complex, which includes Charlotte Sports Park, reopened in time for spring training last winter.
The Atlanta Braves, who train in the Venice, Florida, area, were still assessing the situation there on Friday.
The Boston Red Sox reported JetBlue Park in Fort Myers suffered minimal wind and water damage and did not lose power at the stadium throughout the storm.
The team said Lee County will stage 2,000 rescue workers at the ballpark over the next two weeks to aid in clean-up efforts in and around the Fort Myers area.
The Pittsburgh Pirates train in Bradenton, just south of St. Petersburg. A portion of the padding on the outfield wall was knocked down at LECOM Park, and a batter’s eye was destroyed at Pirates City, where workouts are held.
“While we appreciate the curiosity, this pales in comparison to what others are facing in the wake of both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton,” Pirates senior vice president of communications and broadcasting Brian Warecki said. “We continue to work alongside Bradenton area first responders … willing to help in any way we can.”
At the New York Yankees complex in Tampa, damage was limited to blown-down foul poles and fences. Seventy-five families used the complex as shelter during the storm.
The Philadelphia Phillies did not report any major damage in Clearwater, but did incur several inches of water in the lower level at BayCare Ballpark. The team is working with the city to repair damage from wind and flooding. The complex was still without power Friday, and there’s no word on when normal operations will resume.
On Florida’s east coast, an initial report out of Port St. Lucie — hit hard by tornadoes ahead of Milton’s arrival — indicated no significant damage to the New York Mets’ spring home. The team said officials were still assessing the situation.
AP Sports Writers Jimmy Golen, Ron Blum, Will Graves, Dan Gelston and Charles Odum contributed to this report.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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