Spring Home of the Yankees

Exterior of Legends Field, from the west, Aug-1998.

A good look at the seating bowl.

Since this photo was taken, Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL Buccaneers, was built across the street.

Chronological Tour: Stop 135

• Location: Dale Mabry Highway (US 92) between Tampa Bay Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Tampa, Fla. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1996 as Legends Field
• Additional names: George M. Steinbrenner Field (2008)
• Home team: Tampa Yankees (1996-2017), Tarpons (2018-present), Florida State League; spring training, New York Yankees (1996-present)
• Capacity: 10,386

Rating: 3 baseballs

The park’s capacity was designed so that transplanted New Yorkers could see their heroes in Grapefruit League action. While I’ve never been to spring training, I did attend an August 1998 Florida State League game here.

Alas, the park appeared to be overkill for the level of play of summer ball, a problem shared by much of the Florida State League. I paid an unusually low $3 for a general admission ticket, but was only the 36th person to do so that day. At no point during the twilight-night doubleheader did the head count in the stands exceed 250. In addition, the public address system was balky, shifting from full power to a whisper and back of its own free will.

There’s no question, though, that Steinbrenner constructed a spring training showplace, which was his aim. There’s enough room for you if you go down to Florida in March – you and the luxury-box-demanding fans. For the rest of the season, there’s room enough to stretch out and perhaps snag an easy souvenir foul ball.

Legends Field – officially renamed George M. Steinbrenner Field in March 2008 – is worth a look. When you look at it is up to you.

Following spring training in 2016, much of the stadium received a major renovation. While the Tampa Yankees continued to play there, parts of the ballpark and surrounding grounds were blocked off as part of an overhaul, financed partly by the Yankees and partly by the City of Tampa, that was ready for spring training in 2017.

As part of a recent wave of differentiating Minor League teams from their parent franchises for marketing purposes, the Florida State League Yankees affiliate rebranded as the Tarpons for 2018. A previous FSL club called the Tarpons had played in Tampa from 1957-87, across the street at a site now occupied by Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The tarpon is a large fish common to the Tampa Bay area; there is a city called Tarpon Springs along the Gulf Coast northwest of Tampa.

On a 2021 visit, on a warm Sunday afternoon (the temperature reached 94°F during the game), I was quite dismayed to see that Yankees staff would not permit a patron to carry in a sealed water bottle. Most clubs allow that, especially in Florida, and that includes the Tampa Bay Rays, who play in an air-conditioned dome.