One of the biggest events on the spring-training calendar is St. Patrick’s Day, when fans are especially festive, and the wearing of the green is prominent both on and off the field. Here are some noteworthy matchups for St. Patrick’s Day 2020 in Florida and Arizona spring-training ballparks.
Alas, St. Patrick’s Day is on a Tuesday in 2020. The past three spring trainings St. Pat’s Day was on a weekend, which made for some big party scenes both at the ballpark and within local watering holes. Still, spring-training insiders know that a weekday St. Pat’s Day is still worthy of a day-long celebration, and we expect most–and probably all–of these games to sell out well before March.
GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE
Atlanta Braves at Boston Red Sox. The inevitability of a Red Sox sellout is totally amplified by the potential St. Pat’s Day party at JetBlue Park. This will be one of the hottest ducats in all of spring training 2020; it’s basically a sellout now save some seats in the right-field corner.
New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers. This game would inevitably be close to a sellout anyway—the Detroit fans love St. Pat’s Day and throw quite the party—but the presence of the Yankees and the team’s passionate fan base makes this an extra-special day on the spring-training calendar.
Toronto Blue Jays at Philadelphia Phillies. Look for some sort of green on the Phillies’ uniforms and plenty of green in the stands. As with the Tigers, a St. Pat’s Day game is a big tradition with the Phillies and Spectrum Field.
Philadelphia Phillies at Pittsburgh Pirates. Another instance of a team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, with a long tradition of celebrating St. Pat’s Day both on the field and off. The presence of traditional rival Phillies is just the icing on the cake.
CACTUS LEAGUE
Grand Canyon University Antelopes at Arizona Diamondbacks / Chicago White Sox at Arizona Diamondbacks. A day-night doubleheader at Salt River Fields, with the White Sox by day and the Antelopes by night. Spend the entire day at the ballpark and Talking Stick? Yes please. Just pace yourself.
Cincinnati Reds at Cleveland Indians. These intra-Ohio games have transitioned from snoozefests and small crowds to exciting games and good attendance. St. Patrick’s Day generated a good crowd in 2019 for the same matchup; look for more green on the field and more fans in the stands, although at this point plenty of great seats remain.
Colorado Rockies at Chicago Cubs. Look for a little green in the Cubs’ uniforms and what undoubtedly will be yet another sellout at Sloan Park.
Texas Rangers at San Francisco Giants. Downtown Scottsdale is party central on St. Pat’s Day, and Scottsdale Stadium is definitely an extension of that atmosphere. Lots of folks will begin their day with a Bloody Mary and beer chaser and end it with a margarita on a deck—with plenty of baseball in between.
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