The pro baseball teams that come to Florida for spring training are known as the Grapefruit League. You might be wondering how the League got its unusual name. In 1915, aviator Ruth Law had taken to throwing golf balls out of her plane to market a new golf course. Someone suggested that she promote spring training by throwing out a baseball when she passed over a field. But a baseball, unlike a golf ball, really should be caught. And so Wilbert Robinson, manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agreed to give it a try when the plane flew over the team’s practice location in Daytona. When the time came for the drop, Law couldn’t find the ball and threw a grapefruit instead. Of course Robinson wasn’t privy to this change in the plan and gamely stood on the field with glove on hand waiting for a ball to drop 525’ from the sky. Imagine his shock when a grapefruit landed on his face!

The Grapefruit League is alive and well in Sarasota today. Since 2010, the Baltimore Orioles have conducted their spring training in Sarasota’s Ed Smith Stadium. But there have been many teams that have trained here over the years. John Ringling is credited with bringing the New York Giants to Sarasota from 1924-1927. The Boston Red Sox were up next, honing their game in Payne Park from 1933-1958 (with a four year hiatus during World War II). The Brooklyn Dodgers then moved in from 1960-1997 and enjoyed the transition from Payne Park to Ed Smith Stadium in 1989. And then came the Cincinnati Reds, who called Sarasota their spring training home from 1998-2009.