One way or another, there’s going to be baseball this week. A look at the 28 spring training camps as pitchers and catchers prepare to report, starting Thursday: (Note: 1995 ticket prices, in most cases, are based on replacement players being used):
American League
Baltimore Orioles
Site: Workouts in Sarasota, Fla. Games in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Ballpark: Al Lang Stadium.
Capacity: 7,227.
Tickets: $2-$6.50 (last year: $3-$7).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 17.
Full squad: Feb. 23.
Notable: Owner Peter Angelos vows he will not field a team of replacements. So who will show up when Baltimore opens the exhibition season March 3 against Philadelphia in Clearwater?
Boston Red Sox
Site: Ft. Myers, Fla.
Ballpark: City of Palms Park.
Capacity: 6,850.
Tickets: $4-$5 (last year: $5-$9).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 21.
Full squad: Feb. 24.
Notable: Manager Kevin Kennedy will be among the new arrivals in camp; Jose Canseco, whom Kennedy helped bring from Texas, will not be.
California Angels
Site: Tempe, Ariz.
Ballpark: Tempe Diablo Stadium.
Capacity: 9,785.
Tickets: $3-$8 (last year: same).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 17.
Full squad: Feb. 22.
Notable: Mitch Williams, Pedro Guerrero and Leon Durham are among those in minor-league camp. The Angels play this year’s first exhibition game, with or without replacements, March 1 vs. Arizona State.
Chicago White Sox
Site: Sarasota, Fla.
Ballpark: Ed Smith Stadium.
Capacity: 7,500.
Tickets: $5-$10 (last year: same).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 18.
Full squad: Feb. 22.
Notable: Oil Can Boyd is most prominent strikebreaker so far. But Michael Jordan, in camp with minor leaguers, may be baseball’s best draw in 1995.
Cleveland Indians
Site: Winter Haven, Fla.
Ballpark: Chain O’ Lakes Park.
Capacity: 6,100.
Tickets: $5-$10 (last year: $5-$8).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 18.
Full squad: Feb. 23.
Notable: Always a nice sight around Cleveland camps: Bob Feller, now 74, playing catch in front of the dugout before home exhibition games.
Detroit Tigers
Site: Lakeland, Fla.
Ballpark: Joker Marchant Stadium.
Capacity: 7,027.
Tickets: $5-$7, $8 boxes sold out (last year: same).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 17.
Full squad: Feb. 22.
Notable: This year will be a little different for Detroit fans at Tigertown: Graceful Al Kaline, who taught young right fielders like Kirk Gibson how to play the position, has retired as a spring training coach.
Kansas City Royals
Site: Haines City, Fla.
Ballpark: Baseball City Stadium.
Capacity: 8,000.
Tickets: $5-$9 (last year: same).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 20.
Full squad: Feb. 23.
Notable: Bob Boone, a big union man when players struck in 1981, becomes a big-league manager for the first time.
Milwaukee Brewers
Site: Chandler, Ariz.
Ballpark: Compadre Stadium.
Capacity: 5,000.
Tickets: $5-$9 (last year: $4-$9).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 21.
Full squad: Feb. 26.
Notable: Gorman Thomas, the hero of Harvey’s Wallbangers in 1982, hopes to get back into the swing at age 44 as a star strikebreaker.
Minnesota Twins
Site: Ft. Myers, Fla.
Ballpark: Lee County Spors Complex.
Capacity: 7,500.
Tickets: $3.50-$5 (last year: $7-$10).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 20.
Full squad: Feb. 25.
Notable: Among those still trying to earn a job, but not as a replacement, is Don Carman. He started his pro career in 1979, pitched in majors from 1983-92.
New York Yankees
Site: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Ballpark: Ft. Lauderdale Stadium.
Capacity: 8,340.
Tickets: $4-$9 (last year: $6-$12).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 16.
Full squad: Feb. 21.
Notable: Matt Stark prepares to become Don Mattingly’s pinstriped replacement at first base. Stark, 30, had brief shots with Toronto and White Sox several years ago.
Oakland Athletics
Site: Phoenix.
Ballpark: Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Capacity: 8,500.
Tickets: $2-$3, kids under 14 for $1 (last year: $5-$7).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 19.
Full squad: Feb. 20.
Notable: Former A’s prospect Ron Witmeyer, reporting with the minor leaguers, says he reluctantly would be a replacement player. His wife, Marianne Werdel Witmeyer, recently reached the semifinals of the Australian Open.
Seattle Mariners
Site: Peoria, Ariz.
Ballpark: Peoria Stadium.
Capacity: 10,000 (including 3,000 lawn seating).
Tickets: $4-$15 (last year: same).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 16.
Full squad: Feb. 21.
Notable: Green Bay Packers cornerback Terrell Buckley, an outfielder who stole 22 bases in the independent Texas-Louisiana League last season, will be in the minor-league camp, not as a strikebreaker.
Texas Rangers
Site: Port Charlotte, Fla.
Ballpark: Charlotte County Stadium.
Capacity: 6,026.
Tickets: $6-$8 (last year: same).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 17.
Full squad: Feb. 17.
Notable: New manager Johnny Oates takes over a team coming off its first-ever first-place finish, sort of.
Toronto Blue Jays
Site: Dunedin, Fla.
Ballpark: Dunedin Stadium.
Capacity: 6,218.
Tickets: $4-$5 (last year: $7-$9).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 19.
Full squad: Feb. 19.
Notable: Toronto gets a second chance to try for its third straight Series title. But manager Cito Gaston will be working with the minor leaguers because management doesn’t want him near the replacements.
National League
Atlanta Braves
Site: West Palm Beach, Fla.
Ballpark: Municipal Stadium.
Capacity: 7,370.
Tickets: $4-$7 (last year: $6-$12).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 18.
Full squad: Feb. 22.
Notable: The Braves plan to treat spring training as a minor-league camp. Replacement players will not practice on the main stadium field and will be housed in the smaller, back clubhouse, not the one the big leaguers use.
Chicago Cubs
Site: Mesa, Ariz.
Ballpark: HoHoKam Park.
Capacity: 8,963.
Tickets: $3-$4 (last year: $5-$10).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 20.
Full squad: Feb. 25.
Notable: New lineup for ’95 includes manager Jim Riggleman, General Manager Ed Lynch and President Andy MacPhail.
Cincinnati Reds
Site: Plant City, Fla.
Ballpark: Plant City Stadium.
Capacity: 6,700.
Tickets: $4-$7 (last year: same).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 17.
Full squad: Feb. 22.
Notable: Always a highlight of spring training in Plant City: The annual Strawberry Festival, where the fresh fruit may be the only thing big-league this year.
Colorado Rockies
Site: Tucson, Ariz.
Ballpark: Hi Corbett Field.
Capacity: 9,500.
Tickets: $4-$8 (last year: same).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 17.
Full squad: Feb. 22.
Notable: The Rockies already have sold out a couple of exhibitions at new Coors Field in Denver. Of course, no telling who’ll be playing in those games.
Florida Marlins
Site: Melbourne, Fla.
Ballpark: Space Coast Stadium.
Capacity: 7,200.
Tickets: $1.50-$6 (last year: $3-$12).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 18.
Full squad: Feb. 23.
Notable: A nice story, among the chaos: Keith Brown, who missed last season while being treated for lymphoma, gets a chance to pitch. The former Reds prospect will report in March as a minor leaguer, not a replacement.
Houston Astros
Site: Kissimmee, Fla.
Ballpark: Osceola County Stadium.
Capacity: 5,130.
Tickets: $2-$6 (last year: $4-$8).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 17.
Full squad: Feb. 22.
Notable: After making a 12-player trade with San Diego in December-baseball’s biggest deal in 37 years-the Astros have to wait a while to see if it helps.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Site: Vero Beach, Fla.
Ballpark: Holman Stadium.
Capacity: 6,500.
Tickets: $1-$3.50 (last year: $5-$8).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 17.
Full squad: Feb. 22.
Notable: Dodgertown is by far the most famous and most open camp in spring training. Any fan strolling along Jackie Robinson Avenue or Vin Scully Way is sure to get a sight of Tommy Lasorda driving by in a golf cart.
Montreal Expos
Site: West Palm Beach, Fla.
Ballpark: Municipal Stadium.
Capacity: 7,500.
Tickets: $4-$7 (last year: $6-$12).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 19.
Full squad: Feb. 21.
Notable: The plan to use strikebreakers has forced a switch in Montreal’s exhibition schedule. Two games at the SkyDome in Toronto were wiped out because Ontario law prohibits replacement workers.
New York Mets
Site: Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Ballpark: St. Lucie County Stadium.
Capacity: 7,347.
Tickets: $3-$4 (last year: $6-$8).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 17.
Full squad: Feb. 22.
Notable: Herm Winningham, who began his career with the Mets in 1984, returns to New York as a replacement player at age 33.
Philadelphia Phillies
Site: Clearwater, Fla.
Ballpark: Jack Russell Memorial Stadium.
Capacity: 7,195.
Tickets: $7-$8 (last year: same).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 17.
Full squad: Feb. 22.
Notable: Even if the games aren’t pretty, this little park is. Hang around late and try to stroll around the warning track, made of crushed seashells.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Site: Bradenton, Fla.
Ballpark: McKechnie Field.
Capacity: 6,562.
Tickets: $3.50-$6.50 (last year: $5.50-$8.50).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 18.
Full squad: Feb. 22.
Notable: Sometime sluggers Sam Horn and Nelson Simmons are rumored to be among Pittsburgh’s top replacement players. Either one could hit 70 home runs in a full season against poor pitching.
St. Louis Cardinals
Site: St. Petersburg, Fla.
Ballpark: Al Lang Stadium.
Capacity: 7,227.
Tickets: $2.50-$6.50 (last year: $3-$8).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 16.
Full squad: Feb. 21.
Notable: Hall of Famers Bob Gibson and Lou Brock have been brought back by their former team as coaches, and will be in camp.
San Diego Padres
Site: Peoria, Ariz.
Ballpark: Peoria Stadium.
Capacity: 10,000 (including lawn seating).
Tickets: $4-$8 (last year: same).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 20.
Full squad: Feb. 23.
Notable: Bruce Bochy begins his first season as manager. Among the replacements in camp will be Daniel Boone, 41, a lefty knuckleballer who last pitched for Baltimore in 1991.
San Francisco Giants
Site: Scottsdale, Ariz.
Ballpark: Scottsdale Stadium.
Capacity: 10,000.
Tickets: $5.50-$12.50 (last year: same).
Pitchers and catchers report: Feb. 16.
Full squad: Feb. 21.
Notable: Willie Mays will be the biggest name in camp this spring, once again helping instruct the minor leaguers.
