DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As Major League Baseball had Opening Day around the country on Thursday, the Daytona Tortugas minor league team prepared for its season that starts in May.
The team’s first home game here will be on May 11.
“Our main part of our business are those Tortugas home games,” General Manager Jim Jaworski said.
A missed season was a huge drop in revenue for the franchise as a business last year. Jaworski said their business model changed and turned into an event space.
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“We were able to host 70 events here at the ballpark since the end of May. We were able to do as much as we possibly could,” he said.
Jaworski said that will have a lasting effect on how they operate.
They’re working with the county health department to determine how many of the 4,200 seats they can fill this year and what precautions still need to take place.
“There are different policies and procedures regarding cleaning and sanitation not only before and after games but during games,” he said.
A season off last year left many players with dreams of hitting the big leagues soon in a lull, too.
“You can only do so much training, you can only do so much hitting in a cage, throwing as much as you possibly can,” he said.
Jaworski said depending on where they were in their career, some stuck with it and others dropped out.
“As far as our roster, we’ll find out, but it’ll be great to receive that roster. It’ll be great to see the guys back on the field,” he said.
The players are in Arizona at spring training right now. He said they expect to get the roster within the next two to three weeks.