Astros, Nationals journey to World Series began on same field in West Palm Beach

WEST PALM BEACH — When Washington’s Max Scherzer gave up a leadoff home run to Houston’s Jake Marisnick at the FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches eight months ago, it was just the start of another spring training.

Those same two teams now meet with much higher stakes on the line.

The Nationals and Astros open the World Series in Houston on Tuesday, marking the first time in history teams that started the season by sharing the same spring training complex for workouts and games will compete in October for baseball’s supremacy.

“This is a remarkable and historic moment for the Palm Beach County sports scene,” said George Linley, executive director of the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. “I think Palm Beach County can take credit for having an incredible spring training facility complex that has now elevated the teams play on the field.”

The Yankees and Cardinals met in the 1942 World Series after playing their spring training games at Waterfront Park in St. Petersburg. But the teams did not share the facility with the Yankees holding their workouts about two miles north of the stadium.

The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches opened in 2017. The complex was built on 160 acres and includes offices and six practice fields for each team along with the 7,700-capacity centerpiece stadium. It is one of seven complexes that house two major league teams, five in Arizona and the other in Jupiter where the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals call Roger Dean Stadium their spring home.

“I think it’s so exciting,” said the former mayor of West Palm Beach, Jeri Muoio, who was instrumental in the stadium being approved in 2015. “We were talking about how hard we worked to get that ballpark up and running and approved and through all of the other hurdles we had to jump to have this happen.

“It’s very cool.”

The Astros and Nationals faced each other six times during the spring with the Astros winning five. They did not meet during the regular season.

Gerrit Cole, the Astros starting pitcher for Game 1, has been with the team for two seasons. Cole has gotten to know some of his Washington counterparts during spring training.

“I know a lot of the guys on the team, and I know how they prepare,” Cole said late Saturday. “I know a few guys in their rotation and I'm personally excited that they're in this position, and I'm just very excited to get in there.”

The Astros had the best record in baseball (107-55) and advanced to the World Series after defeating the New York Yankees in six games in the American League Championship Series. Houston is seeking its second World Series title in three years.

The Nationals (93-69) had a more difficult road to the World Series having to win a wild-card game in which they overcame a 3-1 deficit in the eighth inning to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers. They swept the Cardinals in the National League Championship Series to advance to their first World Series.

“The first time you hear about spring training every year is when pitchers and catchers report,” said Matt Slatus, general manager of the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. “Then you get another blip when full squads report. And maybe you get a blip when you play that first opening-day spring training game.

“For the first time, opening day of spring training really means something. It will be a rematch of the World Series.”

Said Steven Abrams, a Palm Beach County Commissioner when the park was approved: “The eighth game of the World Series will be played Feb. 22.“

The teams meet Feb. 22 to open their 2020 spring training schedule.

Before starting his job at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in early September, Slatus worked for six years at two different facilities in Arizona in which teams shared the complex. He always wondered what it would be like to have both teams in the World Series.

Now, he will find out.

“It’s great for West Palm Beach, it’s great for FITTEAM ballpark and it’s fantastic for the county,” he said.

While Houston and Washington, D.C., will feel the impact over the next five to nine days, the biggest boon for our area will come in February and March. Pitchers and catchers typically report about 10 days before the opening game and the teams will play games in the area deep into March.

“The reason behind spring training is to increase tourism,” Abrams said. “Certainly, as popular as the Nationals and Astros are they’re going to be that much more popular to the national fan base.”

A study commissioned by the Sports Commission found spring training baseball in Palm Beach County provides a $70 million economic impact. It creates more than 50,000 hotel room nights from the teams and fans and 54 percent of those who attend games are people from out of state and almost 60 percent from outside the county.

The Astros saw an increase of 21 percent in attendance in 2018 from the previous year after winning the 2017 World Series. The team drew 55,881 fans in 2017, its first spring training in West Palm Beach, and 67,931 fans in 2018.

“We had the World Series trophy here, we had a parade, did all kinds of things,” Muoio said. “I think it’s going to be a huge celebration (next spring) no matter who wins.”

Slatus and his staff now have about three months to figure out how to promote and take advantage of this unique opportunity.

“No matter what, we have to highlight what was so incredible about these two seasons,” he said. “These two teams that call Palm Beach County their southern home have emerged from the pack of the other 28 to face each other.”

Abrams knows what he wants to see on Feb. 22.

“I think the commissioners should get a ring,” he said. “And the beauty of it is it doesn’t matter which team wins.”

tom_dangelo@pbpost.com

@tomdangelo44