2023 Governor's Baseball Dinner Releases Details of Event

Tickets to celebrate the beginning of the 2023 Florida Grapefruit League season at the Governor’s Baseball Dinner, February 16, at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, are only available through February 10. The dinner is an opportunity to be a part of recognizing the 15 Major League Baseball teams that conduct spring training in the Sunshine State. It is also an opportunity to interact with some of the game’s greatest players with World Series-winning manager, Cito Gaston to be recognized as a “Legend of the Game,” along with the 2022 World Series Champions Houston Astros. 

Gaston, who now lives in the Tampa Bay area, was the skipper of the back-to-back Toronto Blue Jays World Series winners in 1992 and 1993.  He spent nine seasons at the helm, from 1989 through 1997 and returned for part of the 2008 season and continued for 2009-10. He won 894 games in his two terms as the Blue Jays manager and was the first African-American manager in MLB history to win a World Series title. 

Prior to his managerial days, Gaston played from 1967-78 for the San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates.  He was named to the 1970 National League All Star team and during his rookie season of 1967 with the Braves, he was assigned to room with Hall of Famer Hank Aaron.

Tickets are available for the 2023 Governor’s Baseball Dinner, through Friday, February 10 at https://bit.ly/3IU2Q6T to purchase individual tickets or a table for eight.  Sponsorship opportunities are also available at the website.
 
Besides the recognition of Gaston, the Governor’s Baseball Dinner, recognizes the success of Florida Grapefruit League teams in the previous season.  The 2023 awardees include the World Series Champions, the Houston Astros, the National League Champions, the Philadelphia Phillies and Division winners, the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves.

Adding to the home team flair of the event, Blue Jays television network play-by-play announcer and former Blue Jays catcher and manager, Buck Martinez, will serve as the emcee of the evening’s festivities. 

The 2023 festivities will begin at 7:00 p.m. on The Pavilion, located on the third base side of TD Ballpark. Gates to the Ballpark will open at 5:30 p.m., on Thursday, February 16.

TD Ballpark, the Spring Training home of the Toronto Blue Jays, and home of the Dunedin Blue Jays, a Single-A Affiliate, is the Florida Grapefruit League’s most-recently renovated Spring Training site, with its new look completed prior to the 2020 season.

The Governor’s Baseball Dinner has a long history of being a precursor of the annual Major League Baseball Spring Training season in Florida, dating back to 1947.  The Dinner was an annual event until the 1990s and was resumed in 2008.

Since 2008, the annual Dinner has been held in St. Petersburg, Fort Myers, West Palm Beach, Lakeland and Sarasota County, all long-time Florida Spring Training sites.