Welcome to sunny and considerably warmer Dunedin, home for the Blue Jays for their entire 32-year existence and near one of the finest municipal shuffleboard courts these eyes have ever been graced with. Also, before the game the locals like to let everyone in the park know that Knology Park was voted one of Sports Illustrated's five favorite places to watch a spring training game in Florida. However based on attendance it's not one of the more popular destinations in the Grapefruit League, but there's going to be a good crowd today with it being the Jays' home opener and with a large population of Tigers fans in the area (the parking lot has as many Michigan plates as a Red Wings playoff game).
We all should be in for a treat today as the starting pitchers are two fantasy heavyweights, Roy Halladay and Justin Verlander. In addition to Vrlander, the Tigers have a good compliment of regulars on their travel team including Curtis Granderson, Edgar Renteria, Placido Polanco and Jacque Jones.
John Gibbon's lineup is most likely the way it'll look when the Jays open the season at Yankee Stadium on March 31 with David Eckstein, Alex Rios, Vernon Wells, Frank Thomas, Scott Rolen, Matt Stairs, Lyle Overbay, Aaron Hill and Gregg Zaun playing in support of Halladay.
For the record, here are my five favorite Grapefruit League sites. (Unfortunately nos. 5 and 1 are not long for this league and the Orioles are moving to Dodgertown):
5. Progress Energy Park, Home of AL Lang Field, St. Petersberg, home of the Rays
4. Bright House Network Field, Clearwater, home of the Phillies
3. Dodgertown, Vero Beach, home of the Dodgers
2. Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter, home of the Marlins and Cardinals
1. Fort Lauderdale Stadium, home of the Orioles
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Good analysis, haven't been to any of those. I have been to the Atlanta Braves spring training home, and that is a good stadium.
Dyhard- Stop…
Germantown, WI
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