05/17/2009 - Jupiter Hammerheads - Roger Dean Stadium
On our trip to meet Billy the Marlin last summer, we found ourselves with a free evening in central Florida. And while Florida is best known to baseball fans as a Spring Training destination, those stadiums that welcome Major League stars each spring also serve as summer-long homes to the Florida State League (Single-A). While teams are spread throughout the state, Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, FL is home to two of the teams (Jupiter Hammerheads and Palm Beach Cardinals) which assures that there will be baseball here almost every night of the summer.
I'm not sure if it was the single-A nature of the product of the field or the fact that there is nightly baseball but to say that this is not a tough ticket is an understatement. We pulled up about 30 minutes before first pitch hoping that it wasn't a sellout. What we found was a crowd that paled in comparison to some of my little league games growing up. After we took our seats (5th row behind the dugout and the only people in our row), I decided to start counting heads. Most attendance figures that teams publish are bogus anyway so I started in the right field corner and by the time I got to home plate, I was right around 100 people. And two of them were crash test dummies!
I'm an atmosphere guy so I will admit that the lack of fans was a bit of a disappointment but it did allow for some unique experiences. For instance, we were able to hear the infielders communicate on plays up the middle and could even hear the pitchers back foot drag on the mound as he completed his delivery. Oh, yeah, and the knowledge that the players would be able to hear each and every one of my snarky comments was kind of fun too. We enjoyed some $1 hot dogs, snagged a few free tee shirts and had no problem meeting up with Hamilton R. Head (get it, Ham R. Head) for a picture.
I wouldn't suggest driving a few hundred miles out of way or anything to check out Roger Dean Stadium but if you're a true baseball fan who wants an unobstructed view of the action or dreams of being able to call off the third baseman on a popup and have him actually hear you, its not a bad place to spend a few hours.
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