[Déjà Bru]

Are any of you older baseball fans thinking about retiring soon? Well, here are 7 Great Places to Retire if You Love Baseball! Although, the 7th recommendation is a bit weak; how often can you visit the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Tampa, Florida

The Tampa Bay area is a mecca for watching the boys of summer up close every spring. Five teams have their spring training and minor league complexes within a 50-mile radius

Once camps break, there’s big league action at the Trop all through summer and, for the perennially contending Rays, often into fall. If you prefer to maintain that preseason vibe, the class Low-A Florida State League plays from May to September in many of the spring training ballparks.


Phoenix, Arizona

A generation ago, Florida was arguably a bigger draw for spring training play than Arizona. But now 15 teams flock to the Valley of the Sun to prepare for the upcoming season

During the regular season?, the Diamondbacks occupy Chase Field, an impressive downtown stadium with a swimming pool and retractable roof. For a casual alternative to the major league fare, the rookie-level Arizona Complex League operates in the area, with games open to the public free of charge.


Durham, North Carolina

Baseball’s present and cinematic past coexist in Durham, home to what might be the world’s best-known minor league team thanks to one of the best baseball movies.

The Durham Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, play at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened in 1995 about a mile from Durham Athletic Park, the team’s home for nearly 70 years and the filming location where Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins competed for Susan Sarandon’s attention in 1988’s Bull Durham.

Aficionados of the game can enjoy 75 Bulls home games a year or road-trip to visit one of North Carolina’s nine other minor league squads.


Charleston, South Carolina

Like Durham, the “Holy City” offers minor league ball with a touch of Hollywood glamor. Bill Murray, part-owner and designated “director of fun” for the Charleston RiverDogs, can frequently be found in the stands at the Single-A squad’s home field, Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. His antics at “?The Joe” and other local appearances are documented at Bill Murray Stories, a website devoted to Murray sightings in the wild.

Cheering along with a comedy legend isn’t the only reason to get to know the RiverDogs: The team, a Rays affiliate, enters the 2023 season as two-time defending Carolina League champions and Baseball America magazine’s reigning Minor League Team of the Year.


Colorado Springs, Colorado

Who needs extra innings? As members of the 10-team Pioneer Baseball League, the Rocky Mountain Vibes give supporters a dose of innovation to go with a scenic location: Rather than extra frames, games tied after nine innings are decided by a home-run derby. The “Knockout Round” was implemented in 2021 as a way to keep fans engaged after a comprehensive restructuring of the minors relegated the PBL to independent status, with no big?-league parent clubs.

The new format seems to have helped the league weather the storm, with attendance breaking records the past two seasons. Fans in the Springs who want to see the major leaguers in action, or who just pine for extra innings, can swing up to Denver (a 90-minute drive north on Interstate 25) to catch the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.


Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Rated the country’s best place to retire by U.S. News & World Report for its small-town charm and affordability, Lancaster is also hard to beat for access to the national pastime. Southeastern Pennsylvania is awash in minor league action, from Atlantic League teams playing in modern, in-town parks in Lancaster and York (27 miles away) to Double-A squads in Reading (3?5 miles) and Harrisburg (?40 miles), where the classic old ballpark sits on an island in the Susquehanna River connected via pedestrian bridge to downtown.

A bit farther afield in Allentown, the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs are known for bacon-themed promotions and mascots Ferrous and FeFe. For an immersion in baseball Americana, it’s a 2½-hour drive from Lancaster to Williamsport, home of the Little League World Series and the annual MLB Little League Classic, which in 2023 features a quasi-local clash between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals.


Cooperstown, New York

You knew we’d get here eventually, right? The one-stoplight home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame fills up with fans each summer, especially for Induction Weekend in late July (this year’s event is July 21-24, with slugging infielders Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen getting their plaques). Youth tournaments at Cooperstown Dreams Park are another summer highlight; 2022 World Series stars Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Kyle Tucker are among the big leaguers who played here as kids.

The tourist crowds dwindle to a hardy few during the winter months, but the Hall is open year-round. With its centerpiece gallery of inductees and about 20 exhibition spaces over three stories packed with artifacts, images and baseball lore, it’s nearly impossible to take in everything the Hall has to offer in a visit or two. Locals can enjoy the attractions at a more leisurely pace with an annual or even lifetime membership.