Orioles still searching for permanent spring home
Communities don’t appear to be fighting over the prospect of becoming the permanent spring home for the Baltimore Orioles. This morning, Indian River County Commissioners rescinded an offer to make Dodgertown in Vero Beach the team’s spring home.
The commission is concerned the county had made a final offer, only to have the Orioles return with another proposal that asked for significantly more. That doesn’t mean Vero Beach is out for good, but commissioners want at least a 30-day “cooling off period” from the team to see where things settle.
Meanwhile, Sarasota may emerge as the front-runner to land the Orioles. Sarasota County officials are scheduled to vote Wednesday on a tourism tax increase that could help build a stadium for the Orioles. The team has a minor league complex in Sarasota.
Still, all we know for sure is the Orioles are to train at Fort Lauderdale Stadium this spring. Some still hold out hope the Orioles will remain in Fort Lauderdale in a vastly upgraded stadium, but no one has yet agreed to pay more than $1 million a year to the Federal Aviation Administration for use of the property.
CRAIG DAVIS In more than 33 years at the Sun Sentinel, Craig Davis has written about a wide variety of sports topics from baseball to yachting, fishing to triathlons, and also worked as a copy editor and page designer. Recently he reported on local sports, including running, swimming, cycling, equestrian and beach volleyball. He enjoys sports as a participant as well as a spectator, is active in the South Florida running scene plays in the curling club at Saveology Iceplex. This blog offers a glimpse at the business side of sports in the interest of enhancing enjoyment of the games and sporting options as a spectator as well as a participant.
