West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium, referred to as "Municipal Stadium," is a former

baseball park A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...

in the

southeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

. Located at 755 Hank Aaron Drive, it was the long-time

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

home for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves and

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in ...

. The Braves played spring training games at the stadium from

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, while the Expos played there from 1969 to 1972 and from 1981 to 1997. The stadium was constructed in 1962 to replace midtown Connie Mack Field, which had been the West Palm Beach spring training home of the Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics from 1946 to 1962. The first game was played on Saturday, March 9, 1963, under overcast skies and extremely high winds which blew sand from the outfield areas, directly toward seating area, which were not as yet totally landscaped at that time. Mayor C. Ben Holleman threw out the first ball and the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 sea ...

defeated the Milwaukee Braves 3–0 in front of a medium-sized crowd of 3,265 fans.

Warren Spahn Warren Edward Spahn (April 23, 1921 – November 24, 2003) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-handed pitcher, Spahn played in 1942 and then from 1946 until 1965, most notabl ...

started for Milwaukee and was the losing pitcher. The ballpark later hosted the 1982 and 1992 Florida State League All-Star Games. Atlanta and Montreal played their final spring training game at the ballpark on Wednesday March 26, 1997, which saw Montreal come through with a 2–0 victory. The stadium was later demolished in 2002 and there is nothing to mark its former place, which is now covered by a

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement re ...

location. West Palm Beach would not see spring training again until 2017, with the opening of

The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches is a baseball park located in West Palm Beach, Florida. The stadium has a capacity of 6,500 people in fixed seats with room for 1,000 more on the outfield berm. The stadium hosts the Houston Astros and Washington N ...

, which is the spring training home of the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

and

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

References

External links

Atlanta Braves spring training venues Florida State League ballparks Milwaukee Braves spring training venues Defunct minor league baseball venues Montreal Expos spring training venues Defunct baseball venues in the United States Grapefruit League venues Baseball venues in Florida Spring training ballparks Buildings and structures in West Palm Beach, Florida Sports venues in Palm Beach County, Florida 1963 establishments in Florida Sports venues completed in 1963 2002 disestablishments in Florida Sports venues demolished in 2002 Demolished sports venues in Florida {{Florida-baseball-venue-stub