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Joker Marchant
Stadium / Lakeland Tigers / Detroit Tigers
There are two kinds of ballparks in the Florida State League: ballparks that host spring-training games and ballparks that do not host spring-training games. There are pluses and minuses to both. A ballpark built solely for a Class A team, like Jackie Robinson Ballpark, is intimate and feels like part of the community. A ballpark built for spring training is almost always overbuilt for an FSL market -- overkill for a relatively small community. This is certainly the case with Joker Marchant Stadium, the home of the Lakeland Tigers and spring-training home of the Detroit Tigers. Take in a Lakeland Tigers game and there's really no doubt that you're just slumming until the Detroit Tigers return next spring. In the parking lot there are reserved parking spots for various Detroit Tigers personnel, such as owner Mike Ilitch -- as if he will be dropping by for a Lakeland Tigers game any time soon. The tower proclaims the ballpark as the Florida home of the Detroit Tigers, and the emphasis on Detroit is evident throughout the ballpark. Lord help the Lakeland Tigers if the front office ever follows through with a name change
Which, of course, probably will never happen. Tiger Town is indeed one of the institutions of spring training -- only Dodgertown eclipses Tiger Town as a well-known spring training venue associated with a single team -- and should continue to be for many years to come after 2002's $11 million renovation of Joker Marchant. We've covered this renovation in great detail, so we won't rehash the details here. The renovation was sold to local voters as an investment in the spring-training economy, which is true enough. Some of the new features, like an outfield berm in left field, is not occupied by any adults for most Lakeland Tigers games. The stadium seating was upgraded during the renovation from bleachers to individual box seats, and that's perhaps the biggest benefit you'll see during the course of the regular season. However, Joker Marchant is one of the more historically interesting sites in the Grapefruit League. It was built on the site of a World War II flight school, the Lodwick School. Between 1940 and 1945 more than 8,000 cadets, including British Royal Air Force cadets, attended the Lodwick School of Aeronautics and more than 6000 graduated. Some of the remnants of that school still exist, including several hangars that have been renovated and used for various purposes. Sadly, the most recent renovations to Tiger Town included the removal of a runway beyond the outfield wall.
The 800-seat Henley Field, the former spring-training home of the Tigers, still exists and was used by the Lakeland Tigers for the 2002 season. The Cleveland Indians used Henley Field for spring training from 1924 to 1927, and the Tigers used it for spring training between 1934 and 1966. Florida Southern University calls Henley Field home. Tiger Town is always worth a visit, and so is Joker Marchant Stadium, named for the longtime parks and rec director in Lakeland. With comfortable seating and lots of amenities, Joker Marchant Stadium is one of the better ballparks in the Florida State League -- even if it's way overbuilt for the likes of the Lakeland Tigers.
Concessions
Where to Stay
For the Kids
Before/After the Game If you have some time to kill, downtown Lakeland is worth a stroll. It's a typical Florida smaller-town downtown in terms of architecture, and one get the sneaky suspicion that the designers of Celebration, Disney's designed community near DisneyWorld, basically stole the layout and feel of Lakeland and re-created it: there's a small lake and a scenic old hotel on one end of downtown and a slew of lakefronts with antique stores. Much of the downtown was renovated in recent years, to good effect. Artsy types will delight in Lakeland, however. Worth a drive is the campus of Florida Southern College (111 Lake Hollingsworth Drive), where nine buildings (dubbed "Child of the Sun") comprise the largest grouping of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings in the world. Built between 1941 and 1948, the initial buildings were constructed by students and supervised personally by Wright. You can go to the campus student center and pick up a brochure detailing the history of the buildings before you embark on a tour.
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