Florida spring training OK. Vero Beach, St Lucie were best

Growing up in the Northeast, TCPalm columnist Larry Reisman was an avid baseball fan, particularly of the Mets and National League.

He traded and flipped baseball cards, including some taken amid the beautiful background of Florida: green grass, blue skies and palm trees. He played the game in high school and for a year in college, where he might have spent more time during spring on the ballfield than in the classroom.

Reisman often dreamed of heading south each March to attend spring training in a much warmer Florida. He never had that opportunity until he took a job at what in 1985 was called the Vero Beach Press Journal.

More: I started reporting in Vero Beach 40 years ago. What an evolution it’s been | Opinion

Q: How did you end up here?

I had gotten great experience at an afternoon newspaper in Pennsylvania, but I wanted to live in a warmer climate, preferably near the beach. The job offer in Vero Beach was farther north than I’d hoped and wasn’t St. Petersburg, where the Mets trained at the time, but at least it was the spring home of the Los Angeles Dodgers ― my mom’s favorite team before they left Brooklyn. But it was a good career opportunity.

Laurence Reisman, community editor for TCPalm, studies a Jackie Robinson display Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017, at Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach.

Q: What specifically do you love about the Treasure Coast and why?

At first, I could not get enough of the empty beaches and then-clean Indian River (we did not call it a lagoon). I played lots of tennis and learned how to play golf.

But about 45 days in February and March were special. The Dodgers were in town. The worst seats in their Holman Stadium were like the best in any big-league stadium. Dodgers had to walk across the complex and through the stands to get to their dugout. Fans could see and hear everything, usually amid perfect 70-degree weather.

Tickets were like $6. I’d get a hot dog, sauerkraut and a beer for $5 or so. We had season tickets and ― even without an online ticket service ― could easily resell them if we couldn’t go. Foul balls were relatively easy to get. Friends loved to visit.

The Mets came in 1988 to Port St. Lucie, then Viera added the Washington Nationals, and demand to see the Dodgers declined. The Dodgers were sold and baseball became a big business. Prices and access for fans were never the same, but baseball remains fun.

I still like going to the former Dodgertown, now the Jackie Robinson Training Complex. It’s been spruced up and attracts a lot of amateur, high school and college teams. You can still see good baseball. Smaller crowds make it a comfortable and convenient environment.

And I like going to the Mets complex. I still follow the team.

Q: Is there anything you didn’t appreciate, like or realize at first, but grew to love about the area?

I took citrus and its blooms for granted. I had no idea how beautiful the inland area was until I started exploring. Waterways like the St. Johns marsh, Blue Cypress Lake and the area around Headwaters Lake are amazing, as is the wildlife.

Q: Did anything pleasantly surprise you about the area?

When I moved here, people were amazingly friendly. I also was impressed by Indian River County’s longtime commitment to volunteerism and philanthropy, evident in such things as the Vero Beach Museum of Art and Riverside Theatre. It’s only grown.

Q: Is there anything about the area you would like to see enhanced or changed?

We’re growing too rapidly and do not have the roads and utilities to accommodate it all. We need to do a better job of planning, as I noted in a series of 2025 columns reviewing recommendations the Committee for a Sustainable Treasure Coast made in 2005.

And it would be nice if Vero Beach got another spring training or Florida State League team!

LAURENCE REISMAN

This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman.

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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida relocation fruitful. Vero spring training the best | Opinion

Florida spring training OK. Vero Beach, St Lucie were best | Opinion

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