In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of exhibition games preceding the regular season. It serves the purpose of both auditioning players for final positions in the team and giving players practice prior to competitive play.

Spring training has always been a wonderful attraction for the fans, drawing crowds who travel to parts of the country with moderate seasonal climates to enjoy the great weather and watch their favorite teams play at the same time. It is also great time to spend time with the family together enjoying the training of your favorite team. Your kids will definitely enjoy it and will get to see how teams practice prior to actual games. If your child's school schedule allows it, this would be a great experience for him or her. For most of the teams, spring training lasts about a month and a half, from early March to the opening of the season. You can take advantage of the various locations where the teams conduct spring training and take a short vacation. Spring season is the ideal time to enjoy both the games of your favorite baseball team and have a vacation with your family and friends.

For your family and friends to get the most out of spring training, I have prepared some advice and guidelines. To begin with, let me say that the best moments to go see the spring training is in the first few weeks. This is because at the beginning of the training, the players are more relaxed overall and players display more of the spirit of training. After the first few weeks and as baseball season nears, however, the player's attitudes become more serious, and the players won't be so relaxed with the public. Furthermore, some players are sent home before the end of the spring training, so the best time is to go in the first weeks of February. I have also noticed that most of the people only attend the games. If possible, my advice is that you should go to the rookie training camps too.

You can enjoy most of the spring-training facilities at no charge if you pay a few extra dollars to park your car. Why is that? Well, a few years ago my kids bumped into the MLB ball players practicing as we toured the facilities. This is really something that would never happen if we were hanging around at a stadium during regular-season play. So, with a little bit of luck you can get their autograph, shake hands, and talk with some of your favorite baseball players. Be sure to have some autograph-able items like baseball bats, pictures, or magazines handy in case such occasions arise.

There are other small things that you can do too. For example, most of the players are used to signing autographs after the training sessions. While getting autographs, you are also more likely to take close up pictures of the players because of the playing ground that they train on. These opportunities should not be missed.

Michael Shapiro
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