Final stop on this year's Spring Training trip was Kissimmee and Osceola County Stadium. The Astros' pre-season home since 1985 is the smallest Grapefruit League Park with capacity of just over 5000. Its small size and simple design brings everyone close to the action. We sat just behind the 1st base (vistors) dugout and loved every minute.
There's a wonderful beauty to baseball, the easy going pace, and at times, a park-like quiet. So unlike the other three major team sports, and at times, refreshingly welcome. Osceola County has a nice enough video board in right field and great food (try the Kona white pale ale -- it goes well with their peppery brats) but doesn't go ga-ga for the "amenities" such as persistent sound effects, canned music and pulsating lights.
I have to single out Osceola's organist who works his magic on the keyboard, with a heavy dose of oldies from the '60s -- when was the last time you heard a live rendition of "Last Train to Clarksville" at a game?
The Astros can also boast some of the game's best young players, such as 2nd baseman Jose Altuve... as well as one of its sillier mascots (his name is Orbit). Sorry to share that the Astros are looking to move after their lease ends in 2017; they'll probably join the Nationals in a mega-complex in the West Palm Beach area. Osceoola County Stadium is a throwback with the gentler, simpler ambiance of 1970s or '80s Spring Training. And as the chase for the money intensifies, places like it (or Vero Beach's Holman Stadium and Fort Lauderdale Stadium) fall into the annals of history.
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