Dec 7, 2007 8:04 pm US/Eastern
Red Sox Spring Training Schedule, Prices Released
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Daisuke Matsuzaka warms up at Red Sox Spring Training 2007.
CBS
The Boston Red Sox announced Friday that tickets for all 2008 spring training home games at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Florida will go on sale on Saturday, December 15th.
The club also released its spring training schedule and pricing on Friday.
Boston's 2008 spring schedule will include 13 home games, 11 of those against Grapefruit League opponents.
The Red Sox will open the schedule with a college split doubleheader on Thursday, February 28, hosting Boston College at 1:05 p.m. and Northeastern University at 6:05 p.m. The club concludes its Grapefruit League slate on Wednesday, March 19 against Toronto at City of Palms Park before leaving for Tokyo to play Major League Baseball's 2008 Opening Series against the Oakland A's.
"With the abbreviated Grapefruit League schedule due to our Japan trip, it was our intent to schedule as many spring home games as possible," commented Red Sox President/CEO Larry Lucchino. "Of the 22 games we will play in Florida, 13 will take place at City of Palms Park and three at Hammond Stadium, giving us 16 games in Lee County. We realize the impact that spring training has on this community, and we did everything in our power to maximize the time we have in Southwest Florida." The Red Sox will play five total games in the 2008 Mayors Cup battle with the Minnesota Twins, two at City of Palms Park and three at Hammond Stadium. Additionally, there will be minor league games played at City of Palms Park in late March featuring Red Sox prospects. Admission will be free of charge to those games with more details and dates to be announced at a later date. 2008 prices for Extended Dugout Seats, Reserved Standing Room, Standing Room, and Lawn Seats will remain unchanged for the fourth consecutive year. There will be a $2.00 increase on Box and Reserved Seats, Home Plate Boxes, Right Field Deck Seats, and Bleachers. It is the Red Sox first spring training ticket increase of any type since 2005. Tickets for the Boston College and Northeastern games on February 28 will be half price. The City of Palms Park Box office will be open Saturday and Sunday, December 15-16 from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Beginning Monday, December 17, the Fort Myers box office and the Red Sox Team Store at City of Palms Park will be open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Tickets will also be available beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 15 on redsox.com or by calling (617) 482-4SOX. For accessible seating, please call 877-REDSOX9.
As they did at Fenway Park in 2007, the Red Sox sold out every Grapefruit League game at City of Palms Park last spring, The 15 sellouts increased the club's streak of Grapefruit League sellouts to 62 dating back to 2003.
With the exception of the Northeastern game, all other 2008 games at City of Palms Park will begin at 1:05 p.m. The Red Sox have trained at Fort Myers since 1993 and signed a long-term extension with Lee County in February 2004. The Red Sox are scheduled to play a total of four games in Japan, all at the Tokyo Dome. Boston will play a pair of exhibition games against teams from Nippon Professional Baseball (opponents TBA) on Saturday and Sunday, March 22 and 23 before meeting the A's in Major League Baseball's 2008 Regular Season Opening Series on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 25-26.Boston then returns to the West Coast to close the exhibition schedule with three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, March 28 and 30 at Dodger Stadium and March 29 at Memorial Coliseum, the latter being the home of the Dodgers from 1958-61. The Red Sox then resume their regular season opening roadtrip with two games in Oakland, April 1-2, and a three-game series in Toronto, April 4-6. The club opens its home schedule on Tuesday, April 8 with Detroit. Prior to the start of the exhibition season, Red Sox will hold workouts at the organization's Player Development Complex, which is located at 4301 Edison Avenue in Fort Myers.
Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report on Valentine's Day, Thursday, February 14 and will work out for the first time on Saturday, February 16.
Infielders and outfielders report on Wednesday, February 20 with the first full squad workout on Friday, February 22. All workouts are open to the public free of charge. The Red Sox will also host "Championship Night at City of Palms Park" on Saturday, February 23, when fans will be able to have pictures taken with the 2007 World Series trophy. More details will be announced at a later date.
The Red Sox complete 2008 spring training schedule can be found by clicking here.
Ticket prices are as follows: Standing Room costs $10.00, Reserved Standing Room is two dollars more. Lawn seats are also $12.00, while Bleacher seats are $15.00. Reserved Seats are eight dollars more at $23.00, while seats in the Right Field Deck are $26.00. Sitting in the second row of the Dugout Box will cost you $36.00, while row 1 of the Dugout Box is four dollars more. The most expensive seats at City of Palms Park are the Home Plate Box seats, which cost $46.00 each. If you're looking for a bargain, all tickets are half-price for the Red Sox games against Boston College and Northeastern on February 28th.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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