For a quarter century, they stuck to it — even as Vacchelli, a lifelong New York Mets fan, moved from St. Petersburg, Fla., to South Carolina to Colorado Springs, Colo., where she lives now. But in 2020, the tradition paused when the coronavirus pandemic stopped spring training midstream. Then in 2021, they decided to skip another year because of travel fears and attendance restrictions.
“This was supposed to be when things turned in the right direction,” Vacchelli said. “It really felt like, after the last two springs, fans had earned a fun spring training with our teams. But I guess the powers that be had other plans.”
Friday night, after another day of negotiations in Jupiter, Fla., MLB announced that spring training games are canceled through at least March 7. If a deal isn’t reached soon, that date will be pushed back again. Vacchelli turns 50 on March 13, and still has tickets, with a big group of friends and family, to see the Mets the day before and after. She’s trying to hold out hope.
But it’s easy to fret about how hope is supposed to feel different this time of year. In Port St. Lucie, Fla., Mets fans like Vacchelli should be hoping for an early glimpse of Max Scherzer or Starling Marte. In Jupiter, St. Louis Cardinals fans should be hoping for a promising start under new manager Oliver Marmol; while Miami Marlins fans should be hoping that this is the year — because isn’t it always the year? — their young rotation turns the corner, making real noise in the National League East. And in West Palm Beach, Fla., Washington Nationals fans should be hoping for flashes from a number of young players (and maybe the sight of Juan Soto shuffling).
Instead, they’re all bound by more uncertainty, hoping something gives.
Laura Peebles, a Nationals fan who has regularly attended spring training snice 2013: “It’s ultimately in both sides’ best interest to actually have spring training and play baseball games … what a concept. On the other hand, they all knew that on Dec. 5 and Dec. 6 and did bupkis, which is Yiddish for ‘nothing,’ about it for months. So I am not surprised, just annoyed, disappointed.”
Will Sepulveda, a lawyer in West Palm Beach and converted Mets fan: “The last time we did before the pandemic as a family was go to spring training. This spring, I was really excited to bring my three-year-old son, since he’s now glued to the TV whenever I have the sport on. I can’t wait to show him a game up close, but we’ll have to wait some more.”
Chase Blake, a Boynton Beach, Fla., resident who goes by Loud Marlins Fan: “It’s depressing, really. After the last two springs, we should be watching baseball. It’s simple as that.”
Blake had tickets for Sunday’s Marlins-Houston Astros exhibition that was canceled. Sepulveda had tickets for next Saturday’s Mets-Nationals exhibition that was … yes, canceled, too. Peebles held off on purchasing any when the stoppage began in December, thinking there could be a delay. But she admits to often checking prices and hotel rates, just in case.
On Feb. 18, a few days after pitchers and catchers should have reported, Peebles was daydreaming about a lockout-less world. In her head, she was driving to the auto train in Lorton, Va., where metal palm trees remind customers of their final destination. Soon, the dusting snow on her windshield would be irrelevant, a distant memory, for two weeks in the Florida sunshine. Then when she made it down there, she would immediately have her car washed, clearing away the northern road salt.
Peebles’s ride is sparkling once exhibitions begin. It’s just another way spring training adds a rhythm to her life.
“Some of my best memories in West Palm have come from players you never heard of or may never hear from again,” Peebles said. “That’s really the beauty of it. Or Max Scherzer yelling ‘Oh f—!’ when his first pitch of the spring didn’t go where he wanted, then apologizing to the fans nearby. Or when I brought a Venezuelan friend, we met Wilson Ramos’s mom and she called over all the Venezuelan players in Spanish and had them sign my friend’s baseball. Those are ‘only at spring training’ moments.”
Most fans who’ve seen games in Florida or Arizona have them. Jacob deGrom once asked Vacchelli if her young cousins would like a photo with him, and she keeps a copy of it on her desk at home. Blake, a.k.a. Loud Marlins Fan, was once so loud at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter that a few co-workers heard him while listening on the radio.
Maybe there will be more memories made this spring. Maybe Emerson, Sepulveda’s three-year-old son, will get to the Mets up close, making them larger than life. If nothing else, one can always hope.
“We were optimistic going into this year,” Sepulveda said. “Not so much anymore.”