NY Yankees Baseball - Opening Day of Spring Training at Legends Field; Tampa, FL

Spring has sprung! On February 29, Ed & I attended the NY Yankees first game of the baseball spring training season. Legends Field here in Tampa is the home-away-from-home for the New York Yankees for the month of March each year. The stadium is a smaller replica of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York City.



Prior to the game, United States Special Forces parachuted onto the infield, dropped from a plane 5000 feet above the stadium. Each sky diver carried a different flag. First up - the US flag.



Here are two parachutists about to land, including one bearing the Yankees team flag.



Touchdown on the infield!



Here's the Yankees dugout with Derek Jeter standing in the background.



After introduction of the Yankees legends who were present for the occasion (including Yogi Berra), the coaches and the players, both teams lined up for the singing of our national anthem. The opponents are the University of South Florida (USF).



During the singing of the "Star Spangled Banner", the color guard stood by as the giant American flag was unfurled.



Time to play ball! It was a fun game to watch. USF did manage a Grand Slam. Final score was 11-4, Yankees.