ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — Spring training is officially over, but baseball is here to stay in South Florida.
The St. Lucie Mets minor league affiliate will play its home opener at Clover Park on Friday.
Clover Park continues to be an economic driver for St. Lucie County long after spring training. It's not uncommon for the Mets to send their major league players here while they recover from injuries, and that tends to bring in a lot of fans.
Perhaps the biggest change to the stadium is that Clover Park is now a cashless facility. So when it comes to ballpark beverages, Cracker Jacks, and everything in between, only debit and credit cards will be accepted.
Parking is also only available to be purchased with a card or mobile payment.
Within the last couple of years, the park has also added new fan hang-out spots in left and right field. In addition, the bullpens have been moved from near the dugout to behind the left field fence.
Friday night's home opener is against the Daytona Tortugas. First pitch is at 6:10 p.m., but the gates will open early at 5:30 p.m.
There's now a pitch clock for both batters and pitchers and it's meant to speed up the pace of play.
Between pitches, there is a 15- to 20-second countdown between each pitch, depending on if runners are on base. Batters need to be in the batter's box with at least eight seconds left on the clock.
