February 20, 2025 • 4 mins
The Grapefruit League plays its first game Friday, and major league baseball teams that spend spring training in Florida are starting games over this weekend. Teams on Florida's west coast include the Yankees, Pirates, Orioles, Braves, Rays and Red Sox. We speak with Jennifer Grondahl, VP of Communications with the Baltimore Orioles, about spring at Ed Smith Stadium and how the O's bring year-round economic impact to Sarasota.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News Spring training back
across the state of Florida, major League Baseball teams getting
to work on the West Coast. Of course, that includes
the Yankees, the Pirates, the Red Sox, the Braves, the Rays,
and the Orioles who train in Sarasota. To talk about
what's going on for the fans and the local impact,
we have Jennifer Grondahl. She is Senior VP of Communications
(00:23):
for the Baltimore Orioles and joins us on Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Jennifer Grondhl, Welcome, Gordon, Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Well as we are recording. Of course, the first game
is going to be Saturday at ed Smith Stadium. And
are there still any tickets available to games this season?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah? Absolutely. We look forward to welcoming fans here to
ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. We're playing the Pirates on Saturday,
February twenty second, our home opener. Have a great giveaway
magnet schedule for all of our fans and a lot
of good giveaways this year. There are still tickets available
at Orioles dot com.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
And you've got, of course a number of events going
on with all of the spring home games this season.
Between now and Saturday's first game, you're inviting people to
watch workouts at ed Smith Stadium. How's that workout?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Not only are we inviting fans to watch workouts, we've
expanded fan access. We've created more space for people to
get closer to the action, so they can get a
little bit closer to their favorite players, perhaps grab an autograph,
a photo, and have that interaction that is really, you know,
creating some of those memories that bind people to baseball.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Are there any sort of enhancements this year, anything new
that the fans should be aware of during the spring games.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
We're really excited to have some great giveaways, whether it's
the plush cow on March first from our friends at
Chick fil A. We'll be honoring veterans and other heroes,
as we've seen how important our firefighters are to what's
happening on the West coast of this country. And also
we're inviting mister Splash to come down from Camden Yards
(01:57):
on March eighth and ninth and splash down the fan
in that section, but also to do meet and greets
with the fans prior to the game.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Now, of course we know that players and coaches, the
manager and the support staff, and all those fans are
brought down to Sarasota every year. But the economic impact
of the Orioles and all the teams that train here
in the spring go beyond February in March. If you
could talk about how the Orioles organization is involved in
Sarasota around the calendar.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
We're so proud to call Sarasota a home. We've been
here for more than sixteen years, and not only are
we playing spring training baseball here, but we play extended
spring training. We have other leagues that play here. We
house players and hotels here in Sarasota year round, create
more than seventy six million dollars in annual impact, but
also creating jobs, more than a thousand jobs. A lot
(02:46):
of people don't realize that the Orioles play here year round.
We also send our rehab Any of our major league
players are doing extended rehab assignments come to Sarasota to
receive their rehab treatment. We do other things in the
community as well. We do host the orchestra in May
for a couple of nights of great music on the field.
We are potentially bringing in one other large group this year.
(03:08):
We're excited to announce soon and then tournaments and other
charitable events throughout the year.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
And do you have a new player development complex that's
coming online at Smith? As I understand, we've.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Been really proud of not only the major league team
making the playoffs last three years in a row, but
also the strength of our farm system because we want
sustained success on the field. And part of our commitment
to not just the player development program but also Sarasota
is that we're going to be investing more than twenty
million dollars of team funds to build in its entirety
(03:42):
a complex for player development. It's going to create more technology,
all the things that we need to keep our farm
system strong and our players performing at peak levels.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Well, I'm sure that there's an exciting spring ahead and
that people will be looking forward to of the games.
As you mentioned, there are still tickets available, and we'll
be looking forward to the spring training with your team
and all the others involved. And of course, if you're
anywhere near ed Smith Stadium and it's a little after
(04:14):
one o'clock on an afternoon, don't be surprised if you
hear very loud, oh, during the performance of the national anthem.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Exactly, And we appreciate you saying that, and we hope
everybody comes out to see us this spring, and like
you mentioned, all of our neighbors here at for spring training.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Jennifer Grondahl, Senior vice president of Communications for the Baltimore Orioles,
talking about spring training in Sarasota. Thank you for joining
us on beyond the news
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News Spring training back
across the state of Florida, major League Baseball teams getting
to work on the West Coast. Of course, that includes
the Yankees, the Pirates, the Red Sox, the Braves, the Rays,
and the Orioles who train in Sarasota. To talk about
what's going on for the fans and the local impact,
we have Jennifer Grondahl. She is Senior VP of Communications
(00:23):
for the Baltimore Orioles and joins us on Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Jennifer Grondhl, Welcome, Gordon, Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Well as we are recording. Of course, the first game
is going to be Saturday at ed Smith Stadium. And
are there still any tickets available to games this season?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah? Absolutely. We look forward to welcoming fans here to
ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. We're playing the Pirates on Saturday,
February twenty second, our home opener. Have a great giveaway
magnet schedule for all of our fans and a lot
of good giveaways this year. There are still tickets available
at Orioles dot com.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
And you've got, of course a number of events going
on with all of the spring home games this season.
Between now and Saturday's first game, you're inviting people to
watch workouts at ed Smith Stadium. How's that workout?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Not only are we inviting fans to watch workouts, we've
expanded fan access. We've created more space for people to
get closer to the action, so they can get a
little bit closer to their favorite players, perhaps grab an autograph,
a photo, and have that interaction that is really, you know,
creating some of those memories that bind people to baseball.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Are there any sort of enhancements this year, anything new
that the fans should be aware of during the spring games.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
We're really excited to have some great giveaways, whether it's
the plush cow on March first from our friends at
Chick fil A. We'll be honoring veterans and other heroes,
as we've seen how important our firefighters are to what's
happening on the West coast of this country. And also
we're inviting mister Splash to come down from Camden Yards
(01:57):
on March eighth and ninth and splash down the fan
in that section, but also to do meet and greets
with the fans prior to the game.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Now, of course we know that players and coaches, the
manager and the support staff, and all those fans are
brought down to Sarasota every year. But the economic impact
of the Orioles and all the teams that train here
in the spring go beyond February in March. If you
could talk about how the Orioles organization is involved in
Sarasota around the calendar.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
We're so proud to call Sarasota a home. We've been
here for more than sixteen years, and not only are
we playing spring training baseball here, but we play extended
spring training. We have other leagues that play here. We
house players and hotels here in Sarasota year round, create
more than seventy six million dollars in annual impact, but
also creating jobs, more than a thousand jobs. A lot
(02:46):
of people don't realize that the Orioles play here year round.
We also send our rehab Any of our major league
players are doing extended rehab assignments come to Sarasota to
receive their rehab treatment. We do other things in the
community as well. We do host the orchestra in May
for a couple of nights of great music on the field.
We are potentially bringing in one other large group this year.
(03:08):
We're excited to announce soon and then tournaments and other
charitable events throughout the year.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
And do you have a new player development complex that's
coming online at Smith? As I understand, we've.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Been really proud of not only the major league team
making the playoffs last three years in a row, but
also the strength of our farm system because we want
sustained success on the field. And part of our commitment
to not just the player development program but also Sarasota
is that we're going to be investing more than twenty
million dollars of team funds to build in its entirety
(03:42):
a complex for player development. It's going to create more technology,
all the things that we need to keep our farm
system strong and our players performing at peak levels.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Well, I'm sure that there's an exciting spring ahead and
that people will be looking forward to of the games.
As you mentioned, there are still tickets available, and we'll
be looking forward to the spring training with your team
and all the others involved. And of course, if you're
anywhere near ed Smith Stadium and it's a little after
(04:14):
one o'clock on an afternoon, don't be surprised if you
hear very loud, oh, during the performance of the national anthem.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Exactly, And we appreciate you saying that, and we hope
everybody comes out to see us this spring, and like
you mentioned, all of our neighbors here at for spring training.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Jennifer Grondahl, Senior vice president of Communications for the Baltimore Orioles,
talking about spring training in Sarasota. Thank you for joining
us on beyond the news
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