During spread break most college kids who went away spent it on the beach on an island with a cold drink in their hands. Being the sports fanatic that I am, I decided to go make my way down to Florida to feed my baseball obsession to catch some spring training baseball games. Along the way, I decided to also get into a World Baseball Classic game as well as the beginning round of the March Madness tournament. Since I needed an excuse to make this an educational trip, I decided to rate the stadiums and experiences. Here’s my thoughts:

1. Jet Blue Park (Home of the Boston Red Sox) C+

Being a Red Sox fan, I expected more from this ball park. The stadium itself was beautifully designed and the Green Monster adds a nice regular season touch to a pre-season game. However it was not very interactive. You could not get very close to the players, could not watch BP and they did not have many other things to do besides watch the game. The highlight of the trip to pre-season Fenway was watching Andrew Benintendi continue to show how major league ready he is.

2. Hammond Stadium (Home of the Minnesota Twins) A+

This was by far my favorite stadium of the trip. When walking into the complex there are four other parks before you even reach the Twins stadium. In two of them, you can watch the Twins prospects take batting practice before the game. Also for all of you baseball-seekers, it is almost guaranteed you get some type of home run ball in BP. If you are not into watching batting practice in the hot sun, go underneath the bleachers of Hammond Stadium to see the Twins starters taking batting practice from right outside the cages, feet away from their best players. The actual stadium is gorgeous and there is not one bad seat in the place. Food and tickets are also relatively cheap compared to other parks.

3. Ball Park of the West Palm Beaches (Home of Houston Astros and Washington Nationals) B

For a new stadium, I had high expectations. However it seemed very average. There was not much to see or do until you got into the actual ballpark. But when you did enter, it was very fan friendly. I stood for 20 minutes before game time right about Jacob deGrom watching him take his full bullpen session. Coaches and players talked and interacted with players as the bullpen was right underneath the fans in right field. The scoreboard was great, showing both lineups from both teams as well as interactive fan events in-between innings. Since the Astros did play the Mets I did get to witness the almighty Tim Tebow in action which was also something to behold.

4. Roger Dean Stadium (Home of St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins) A-

This was our last spring training game of the trip. By far the most player/fan friendly park. The bullpens benches are lined up on the left and right field lines making it easy for fans to interact with all the players. If you are looking for autographs, this is the stadium. For an hour before the game I watched as fans would fill up baseballs with signatures from the players as well as others who would have long conversations with players. Unfortunately there is no outfield seating so catching a home run ball, or watching a game from the outfield lawn is out of the question. Once again, Tim Tebow was in the lineup for the opposing Mets and actually got two hits with a diving catch. Never thought I would be saying that.

5. World Baseball Classic; Marlins Park (Regular season home of Miami Marlins) A

This is more about the game then the stadium. If you call yourself a baseball fan, this is an event that should be on your bucket list. Especially for some countries such as Japan and the Dominican Republic, this game is close to World Series crowd level. The atmosphere is unbelievable and the talent is equivalent to a competitive all-star game if you pick the right event. The USA vs Dominican Republic game has the feel of a World Series game 7 with two star-studded rosters that you can not miss. You get to see the best baseball players in the world play a competitive game of playoff baseball. Great event. The Marlins stadium was also gorgeous. Not very interactive, but it might be the best architecture job in the MLB. Once again there is not a bad seat in the house and the retractable roof adds a bit of flare to the ballpark in Miami.

6. NCAA March Madness; Amway Center (Home of Orlando Magic) A-

The final stop of the trip before going back to Boston. The first round of the NCAA Tournament features four games throughout the day. This is a basketball fans haven. Four consecutive games of hard-hustle, competitive basketball featuring some of the most promising young stars in the tournament. The event of March Madness surely lives up to the hype. The Orlando Magic Stadium however, was not the greatest of places. On a positive note, it was the only stadium I have been to that has padded seats all the way up to the last row of the nosebleed seats. On the other hand, it seemed like a college set up. The scoreboard consistently showed the wrong scores and stats and the announcer seemed like it was a seventh grade rec-league game. Stadium aside, the event was awesome and would recommend to any basketball fan.