Detroit Tigers

2014 marks the Tigers 78th season in Lakeland, extending the longest-lasting relationship between a major league baseball team and a current Spring Training host city. The Detroit Tigers began coming to Lakeland for Spring Training in 1934 and have been coming back each year ever since.

The 2014 spring season also marks the club's 49th consecutive season of exhibition play at Joker Marchant Stadium in Tiger Town. Tiger Town is the Spring Training headquarters for the Detroit Tigers and the regular season home of its minor league farm team in the Class A Florida State League, the Lakeland Flying Tigers.

Tiger Town is owned and operated by the City of Lakeland. The City of Lakeland's Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for maintaining the facilities.

Named in honor of the late Joker Marchant, Lakeland's former parks and recreation director, Joker Marchant Stadium was used by the Detroit Tigers for Spring Training for the first time in 1966 at which time it contained seating for 4,900 spectators. Expansion projects undertaken in the early 1970's and the addition of new grandstands in 1988 and further enhancements in 2003 brought the stadium capacity to its current capacity of 8,000 seats. This does not include an estimated 1,000 lawn seats out on the berm.