Florida State League games arrive at Ballpark of The Palm Beaches - if only for 2 months
Luke Chillemi, a 12-year-old from Palm City, had a field day in Wednesday's debut game for the Jupiter Hammerheads at The Ballpark of The Palm Beaches.
Luke sat with his father in the first row by the visitor’s dugout but ran a few miles with his glove chasing foul balls in the mostly empty stands. In all, Luke collected six balls.
With Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium undergoing a multimillion-dollar renovation, the Hammerheads, the Marlins' Single A affiliate in the Florida State League, and Palm Beach Cardinals have been displaced from Jupiter.
The teams have resurfaced in West Palm Beach where they will finish out the rest of the season, ending Sept. 10, not factoring in playoffs. Jupiter will play 24 games there and Palm Beach 19.
The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches is the home turf of the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals for spring training.
More: A LOOK BACK: Roger Dean Stadium interns helped keep the fields ready for game time in 2006
For the Hammerheads’ West Palm opener, the few fans who entered the stadium were charged $9 and told to sit anywhere they liked to watch the game against the Clearwater Thrashers.
An announced crowd of 950 showed up at the 7,700-seat stadium to watch history — the first Florida State League game played at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. (The Cardinals will make their West Palm Beach debut Tuesday vs. the Hammerheads.)
Jim Hammond sat with a red Cardinals cap and wondered whether the crowds will get larger as the word gets out. The Greenacres resident attended one game a week in Jupiter, rotating between the Cardinals and Hammerheads.
Hammond also goes to four St. Louis spring training games at Roger Dean. He became a fan in the 1960s when the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn.
“It’s a tough draw," Hammond said. “It’s not Jupiter. They’d rather park in the parking garage right across from the stadium. It’s a long walk from the lot here. And a lot of the fans live in the immediate vicinity with all that housing. It’s ideal to walk to the game. They won’t come here."
It's a shame if that's true, especially since the two rosters are stocked with the 2023 draft picks.
“It’s baseball," Hammond said. “Nothing better than after you’ve put in a long day."
Many of the fans arrived just for the nightcap because of confusion about the starting time.
The time on the tickets called for a 6:30 p.m. single game. A 4:30 p.m. doubleheader was put together late when the Hammerheads couldn’t secure the stadium for Friday because of an amateur baseball event — The Perfect Game.
Those are the quirks when dealing with a rental.
Draft picks on Hammerheads' roster
The Hammerheads received four 2023 Marlins’ draft picks in recent days, including second-round outfielder Kemp Alderman and third-rounder Brock Vradenburg.
“It’s a surreal thing," Vradenburg said of being drafted. “But it’s one step to the journey."
Vradenburg and teammates are still being housed in a Jupiter apartment complex. Some carpooled to West Palm Beach, and others took a shuttle from Roger Dean, where the players can still lift weights.
“Everybody is like — this is what we have," said Vradenburg, who played at Michigan State. “We’re lucky to be playing in a good field like this. So it’s, 'All right, let’s move.' "
In their Miami Marlins caps, Sarah and Fred Vestal of Juno Beach had the best seats in the house — front row behind home plate.
“We’re not happy about it but we like to watch baseball and it’s really high-quality," Fred Vestal said. “We weren’t sure we’d go because we didn’t have a lot of money invested in it."
The Vestals are part of the "Silver Sluggers" ticket group that paid a lump sum of $40 for Wednesday admissions that gets them free hot dogs, drinks and baseball bingo for cash prizes.
“We don’t eat the hot dogs because they’re not that good," Sarah Vestal said. “But we like the baseball bingo."
Kevin and Barbara Kirschner owned the longest commute. They are from Stuart and rotate between watching the St. Lucie Mets in Port St. Lucie and Hammerheads.
“It’s a little extra drive but next year the stadium may be a lot better," Kevin Kirschner said. “I can only hope so after putting all that money into it."
When the Cardinals face the Hammerheads in their first game in West Palm next week, St. Louis will showcase its 2023 first-round pick, Chase Davis, taken 21st earlier this month.
Davis, a native of Elk Grove, California, played three seasons at Arizona, slashing .319/.444/.644/1.088 with 39 HR, 33 doubles and 132 RBIs in 147 career college games. His 39 home runs are the third-most in Wildcat history.
The Cardinals have 10 other 2023 draftees added to the roster, including outfielder Zachary Levenson, a fifth-round pick from the University of Miami.
Behind home plate, 10 scouts from major league teams sat with their radar guns, computers and notebooks.
“I like this stadium," Hammond said. “I like Jupiter, too. I like Jupiter the best because (if) you sit in Section 208 with the press box right behind you. They have the windows open and you feel their air conditioning."
Hammerheads manager Nelson Prada was in no mood to discuss the stadium switch after his squad blew a 2-0 lead in the last inning. The Hammerheads lost in extra innings 5-3 before rallying in the nightcap 4-1 after switching from their white jerseys to teal.
“It’s a nicer stadium, but we’ll see if more fans come," Fred Vestal said from the front row. “We like it here — we got good seats."
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jupiter Hammerheads, Palm Beach Cardinals will call Ballpark of Palm Beaches home
