CHICAGO (AP) -The Chicago White Sox’s new $100 million spring training complex in Glendale, Ariz., which they will share with the Los Angeles Dodgers, still needs some fine-tuning but is expected to be ready for workouts when players report next month.
That was the word Tuesday from Terry Savarise, senior vice president of stadium operations for the White Sox. Chicago pitchers and catchers are scheduled to hold their first workout Feb. 15 and the first spring training game is set for March 1 in a stadium that seats 10,000 and has 3,000 lawn seats.
“The clubhouse, the practice fields will be ready. The batting tunnels and cages, the pitching mounds, all ready to go,” Savarise said.
Most of the work to be done between the players’ reporting and the first game, he said, is “stadium-related.” Workers will be testing the scoreboard and broadcast cabling and perhaps applying some paint and hanging signs.
“I have no doubt we will be ready to go. I’m not saying it will be easy. We’re trying to cram a lot of work in these last few weeks,” he said.
complex has 13 full fields and three half-fields to be used by the two teams.
The complex also features ponds, a small river, a waterfall, different kinds of trees and desert plants and a walking path, giving it the feel of a resort.
“Fine-tuning, I would expect we’ll be doing that the next couple of years,” Savarise said. “Wholesale (changes), I just can’t imagine we’d need it.”
The White Sox had trained in Tucson since 1998 but were able to break their lease at Tucson Electric Park, one that was slated to expire in 2012, by paying Pima County a $5 million buyout.
Add A Comment