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SPRING TRAINING ESSENTIALS

Charlotte Sports Park

Charlotte Sports Park Address: 2300 El Jobean Road, Port Charlotte FL 33948
General Information Phone: (941) 235-5025
Box Office Phone: 1-888-326-7297

Directions: From the Tampa area, take Interstate 75 south to Exit 179, Toledo Blade Boulevard, and take a right toward Port Charlotte. Travel about 61/2 miles on Toledo Blade Boulevard, crossing U.S. 41, and turn right on El Jobean Road (State Road 776). Charlotte Sports Park is a little over a mile on the left.

Tickets: Reserved seats are sold out for all spring training games at Charlotte Sports Park. Four games are completely sold out: Feb. 27 and March 7 versus the Red Sox, March 12 versus the Phillies and March 22 versus the Yankees. Tickets for grass berm seating at other home games are available for $9. Tickets for Rays road games are available except for these games, which are sold out: Feb. 28 versus the Phillies at Clearwater and March 8 versus the Red Sox at Fort Myers.

Parking: About 1,600 spaces are available behind the stadium, with 500 more across the street at the county fairgrounds. The charge for on-site parking is $7.

Workouts: Fans can watch the Rays work out daily through Feb. 24. Aside from today's practice, which likely will begin about 1 p.m., the team will be on the fields behind Charlotte Sports Park from about 9:30 a.m. until noon. There is no charge for admission or parking those days.

AUTOGRAPH ALLEY
An autograph from your favorite player is easier to obtain in the laid-back spring training environment than during the regular season, and the place to be inside Charlotte Sports Park for signature seekers will be the area down the right-field line. The Rays and the visiting team will enter the stadium through a gate in the outfield fence near the right-field foul pole and walk to their respective dugouts. The grass berm area along the first-base line should be a prime spot for those hoping to snag an autograph.

TREAD LIGHTLY
There is no easy-on/easy-off route from Interstate 75 to Charlotte Sports Park, but using Toledo Blade Boulevard to make the connection to El Jobean Road seems to be the most straightforward. Unfortunately, it's also a ticket-writer's paradise. The posted speed limit of the seven miles of Toledo Blade Boulevard that must be traveled is 35 mph, which feels 10 or 15 mph low for the road. To be fair, there is construction along the route, but don't be surprised if you find yourself driving at what you feel is a reasonable speed and look down to find you're at 45. You don't want to do that here, as local law enforcement is known for its vigilance in writing speeding tickets. Take it slow and you could save yourself some cash.

GO THE DISTANCE
Despite the Rays' move from St. Petersburg, the driving distance between their spring training and regular-season ballparks is the second-shortest among major league teams. Here are the shortest and longest trips, calculated using Google Maps:
Shortest
Florida Marlins: Jupiter, 71 miles
Tampa Bay Rays: Port Charlotte, 81 miles
Arizona Diamondbacks: Tucson, Ariz., 118 miles
San Diego Padres: Peoria, Ariz., 355 miles
Los Angeles Angels: Tempe, Ariz., 365 miles
Los Angeles Dodgers: Glendale, Ariz., 367 miles
Longest
Cleveland Indians: Goodyear, Ariz., 2,075 miles
Milwaukee Brewers: Phoenix, 1,878 miles
Chicago Cubs: Mesa, Ariz., 1,821 miles
Chicago White Sox: Glendale, Ariz., 1,801 miles
Minnesota Twins: Fort Myers, 1,712 miles
Seattle Mariners: Peoria, Ariz., 1,505 miles

BY THE NUMBERS
6,823: Capacity of the park, including 5,028 fixed seats and grass berm seating for about 1,050 fans
27.2: Millions of dollars spent on renovating and expanding the facility
13: Restrooms available to fans in the regular seating areas (five women's, four men's, four family)
51/2:Number of practice fields beyond the main stadium
5: Number of luxury suites — four for the Rays and one for Charlotte County

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