<P> Holman Stadium is a baseball stadium in Vero Beach, Florida, built in 1953 from an abandoned Naval base, to accommodate spring training for the Brooklyn Dodgers as part of a complex now called Historic Dodgertown . In addition to the Dodgers' spring games, it was also the home of the Vero Beach Devil Rays, previously the Vero Beach Dodgers, of the Florida State League, through the 2008 season . Official seating capacity is 6,500 . </P> <P> The then - Brooklyn Dodgers were one of the first major league baseball teams to conduct spring training in Florida, establishing their operations in this quiet beachside town in 1948 . Previously an abandoned Naval base, the complex was transformed for the Dodgers . Historic Dodgertown and Holman Stadium served as their spring home for more than 60 years . In recent decades, Arizona has established itself alongside Florida as the second major center for spring baseball, and the Dodgers were the last western team to still conduct its spring training in Florida . </P> <P> In 2001, the Dodgers seriously considered moving their spring training operations to Arizona, but the city of Vero Beach persuaded them to stay by purchasing the Historic Dodgertown complex from the team and leasing it back for a nominal $1 per year . In 2006, the Dodgers again received offers from several Arizona cities, attempting to persuade them to move . Ultimately, the offers were too lucrative to overcome the burden of having to reimburse Vero Beach for purchasing the complex . With the Camelback Ranch opening in Glendale in 2009, the Dodgers joined the Chicago White Sox to share the new facility . The Dodgers' last spring training game in Vero Beach was on March 17, 2008 . </P> <P> Holman is unique for its open - air dugouts that are literally dug out along the sides of the field . These may have been the inspiration for the dugouts in Johnny Hart's B.C. comic strip . "This place is so different from any other park", states George Betscha, a batboy at Dodgertown from 2005--2008 . "There is so much history here and you can feel it when you walk around ." </P>

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