Sports Columnist

Our new Braves

First of all, shame on my friend Ben Thrasher for saying that watching baseball and spring training is like viewing a silent movie. SHAME! SHAME! This is just another example of today's youth. They want immediate satisfaction and don't know how to enjoy the real pleasures of life.

Now on to the world's greatest game - BASEBALL! And I won't listen to any arguments about that!

This is the time of year for spring training and, although I will not have the opportunity to visit a spring site this year, I still keep up with this great institution. It is laid-back and easy time when real baseball fans enjoy the freshness of a new and exciting season.

Spring training sites are based in Florida and Arizona and attract thousands of fans yearly. The stadiums are very small and the fans have a chance to get a good view of the action. The players are usually much more accessible so autographs and pictures are much easier to acquire.

In a few weeks I will put together my annual Braves' quiz but this week I will ask a few questions about spring training. Since this one is not multiple choice, it could be pretty tough so give it some serious thought.

1. Which spring training stadium has no dugouts?

2. What are the two names given to the spring training leagues in Florida and Arizona?

3. What major league team has been training at their present training site longer than any other team and where is the site?

4. At what training site is Cracker Jack Stadium located?

5. What team's spring training stadium is only about one mile from their regular season stadium?

6. What spring training city housed two teams during spring training for 51 years?

7. What was the first team to go to spring training in Florida, what was the year, and in what city did they train?

8. What present spring training site was a former naval base?

9. At how many different sites has the Braves' franchise held spring training?

10. What was the economic impact of spring training on the state of Florida in 2002?

Now let's check out the answers.

1. Holman Stadium, the spring home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has no dugouts. The players sit on aluminum benches, sunk one foot below field level, against the stands located on both sides of the diamond.

2. Florida's league is called the Grapefruit League and Arizona's is the Cactus League.

3. The Detroit Tigers have been training in Lakeland, Fla. since 1946, a total of 58 years. Their spring training stadium home is Joker Marchant Stadium.

4. Cracker Jack Stadium is the new title given to the Atlanta Braves' spring home at Walt Disney World's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista.

5. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays play their spring games at Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg which is about one mile from their regular season Tropicana Field home.

6. St. Petersburg housed two spring teams for 51 years. The St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees both trained there from 1938-42,1946-50, and 1952-61. Then the Cardinals and New York Mets trained there from 1962-87 and the Cardinals were joined there by the Baltimore Orioles from 1992-95.

7. The first major league team to train in Florida was the Washington Capitals who ventured south to Jacksonville in 1888.

8. Dodgertown, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, in Vero Beach was a former naval training base which the Dodger organization purchased in 1948.

9. The Braves have trained at 19 different sites since they first went to Norfolk, Va. in 1901. Some of those sites were Thomasville, Ga.; Augusta, Ga.; Athens, Ga.;

Macon, Ga.; Columbus Ga.; and Washington, D.C. Their longest stint was in West Palm Beach, Fla. Where they trained from 1963-97.

10. It is estimated that spring training had a $500 million economic impact on Florida in 2002.

Well, how did you do? I'll admit that it wasn't easy but at least now you have some important spring training information to impress your baseball friends with.