On Friday, December 9th, individual tickets for the Baltimore Orioles Spring Training games at Ed Smith Stadium will go on sale. While this might seem like an innocuous announcement, as the games being played are merely of the Grapefruit League and not of regular season Major League Baseball, it is not for a variety of reasons.

The first of which is that Spring Training baseball – and the ensuing Florida Complex League games occurring over the remainder of the spring and summer – are the lifeblood of baseball on Florida’s gulf coast in every town other than Tampa Bay. Nine out of the thirteen Grapefruit League stadiums span the gulf coast, making it the perfect region to catch an early springtime ball game.

The second reason is that Spring Training is a place of new beginnings, where teams and fans alike generate excitement for what lies ahead. In 2022, the Baltimore Orioles showed plenty of reason for fans to be excited this coming season. This year, the Orioles made one of the most improbable turnarounds in recent MLB history. They finished the year at 83-79, their first winning season since 2016, and far better than their 52-110 record in 2021. Adley Rutschman, the first overall selection in the 2019 MLB Amatuer Draft, had a breakout season, proving to be a superstar in the making. Perhaps even more exciting are the prospects that will be prominent at this year’s Spring Training games – third baseman Gunnar Henderson, the second-best prospect in the country according to MLB.com, and starting pitcher Grayson Hernandez, the fourth-ranked prospect in America.

The 2023 Spring Training will be the Orioles 14th season at Ed Smith stadium and will feature 17 games, twelve of which will be in the afternoon and five held at night. The promotional schedule spans the length of the season and features several special event days such as Heroes Day and Youth Sports Day in addition to various giveaways. Kids Run the Bases will occur after every Sunday home game and Seniors Stroll the Bases will return after every Monday home game.

Ed Smith Stadium, 2700 12th St, Sarasota, 941-893-6300.

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