It’s that time of year again – late February, which means Spring Training, a time for autographs, mingling with fans, and actual baseball. There’s nothing quite like the sound of the first crack of the bat. During this time of year, the standings don’t matter, every team has a chance to win it all, the sun is always out and the massive barrier between the fans and the superstars nearly disappears. But even though the games don’t really matter, and the stats are forgotten by the second game of the regular season, every once in a great while, something wild, legendary and unforgettable happens during a Spring game. It might a once in a million moment, a wild brawl, or even a hilarious story. It’s one of the few ways highlights from Spring Training can stick around forever – and today, it’s time for the top 10 Most Memorable Spring Training Moments…so let’s jump right into it…
10. Celebrity Cameos
Only in a Spring Training game would an MLB team ever allow a non-baseball celebrity to take the field – and it has happened on multiple occasions. Life-long Yankee fan Billy Crystal was given a chance to lead off for the Yankees to celebrate his 60th birthday, and he even fouled off a pitch. Then there’s Garth Brooks, who got more than just a celebrity at bat. He managed to convince teams during four separate Spring Training stints to allow him an extended chance to play in order to raise awareness and funds for his "Teammates for Kids Foundation.” He played for the Padres, Mets, and Royals, going 2 for 48 with a couple singles. Personally, I was never a fan of this as it felt like a publicity stunt and I wanted to see Garth Brooks sing, not play baseball. Plus I was super jealous. But a single celebrity at bat could be cool, especially if the celebrity has baseball talent, like Tom Selleck, who spent 3 weeks in Spring Training with the Tigers in 1991 to prepare for his role in the film Mr. Baseball. Sparky Anderson arranged the at bat, and Selleck, a skilled player who had already smashed a home run at Tiger Stadium during a special batting practice in 1986, put together an impressive AB facing Tim Layana, fouling off three tough pitches until striking out a nasty curveball.
9. Will Ferrell Plays for 10 Different Teams
Up next is another celebrity cameo that was so wild, it’s a bit more memorable and belongs in its own category. In one of the most ambitious stunts in sports history, comedian and actor Will Ferrell spent a single day in March 2015 suiting up for 10 different MLB teams across five separate Spring Training games in Arizona. This "barnstorming" tour was both a tribute to Bert Campaneris—the first player to play all nine positions in a professional game—and a massive fundraising effort that raised roughly $1 million for Cancer for College and Stand Up To Cancer. In order to get to the games on time, he traveled via helicopter, and even replaced Mike Trout in center field for the Angels. He went 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts, taking an AB for the Cubs and White Sox, although he did foul off a 92-mph fastball. Ferrell also pitched for the Dodgers, retiring Rico Noel, who laid down a bunt. During Ferrel’s one day Spring Training tour, the Angels traded him to the Cubs for a washing machine, and the Diamondbacks later "acquired" him in exchange for a Churro Dog. By the time he finished his day in right field for the Padres, Ferrell had played every position on the diamond.
8. Mike Piazza vs. Guillermo Mota
Next up is one of the craziest moments ever seen in a Spring Training game. Generally, the atmosphere is relaxed and players don’t take things too seriously, but on this particular day, Mike Piazza was more manically pissed off even than he was when Roger Clemens threw the sharp broken bat towards him. The story goes back to 2002 Spring Training at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, when Mike Piazza was the target of several hit by pitches and he finally had enough after Guillermo Mota beaned him in the back with a 3-0 pitch. Piazza gave Mota an angry look but took his base then was replaced by a pinch runner. Later in the game, as Mota was walking by the Mets dugout, Piazza confronted him and things quickly got heated with Piazza grabbing him by the shirt. Some shoving occurred, but no punches where thrown. Fast forward to Spring Training 2003, and Piazza was facing Mota once again. Mota threw the first pitch uncomfortably inside. Then on the next, he intentionally drilled Piazza with an up and in pitch and that’s when the fuse blew. As the Mets dugout emptied in a blur of blue and orange, Mota scrambled for his life—and for good reason. Piazza didn’t just look angry; he looked unhinged. There was a maniacal, wide-eyed vacantness in his stare, the expression of a man who had transcended logic and was operating on pure, homicidal adrenaline.
7. Kyle Kendrick gets Traded to Japan
During Spring Training, something much more common than all-out brawls is pranks on younger players. During 2008 Spring Training, the Philadelphia Phillies executed what is widely considered the greatest prank in MLB history by convincing rookie pitcher Kyle Kendrick that he had been traded to the Yomiuri Giants in Japan. Orchestrated by teammate Brett Myers with the help of manager Charlie Manuel and Assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr., the scheme was incredibly elaborate: Kendrick was summoned to the manager’s office, presented with a fake contract and a 7:05 a.m. flight itinerary, and even told he had been traded for a player named "Kobayashi Iwamura"—a name made up by combining the names of a famous competitive hot dog eater and a Japanese infielder.
The prank went so deep that even Kendrick's agent was in on the joke, confirming the "deal" over the phone to a stunned Kendrick, who famously responded by asking if the food in Japan was any good. While the locker room eventually erupted in laughter after a mock press conference, Kendrick didn't find it quite as funny in the long run; he reportedly remained bitter about the incident for years and eventually fired the agent who had helped deceive him.
6. The Babe’s 587 Foot Tampa Tank
When it comes to memorable Spring Training moments, it’s hard to make a list without mentioning the Sultan of Swat, who had multiple epic Spring Training moments that sadly were not caught on film, and pretty much every one who witnessed them other than maybe a few babies are no longer with us. Even before Babe Ruth became the home run king, he was a dominant left-handed pitcher whose spring training exploits in Hot Springs, Arkansas, were the stuff of legend. He spent his mornings hiking mountains to lose weight, then dominated hitters in the afternoon, while his nights were spent patronizing the local casinos and bathhouses. It was there, during the spring of 1918, when one swing of the bat basically ended the "Dead Ball Era” after he launched a mammoth home run that cleared the Whittington Park fence, crossed a road, and landed inside a nearby alligator farm. Measured at 573 feet, it was the first authenticated 500-foot drive in history and convinced the Red Sox that his bat was too powerful to keep him on the pitcher's mound.
However, the pinnacle of the Babe's Spring Training power arrived on April 4, 1919, at Plant Field in Tampa, Florida. Facing New York Giants pitcher George Smith, Ruth connected with a 3-1 fastball and sent it on a trajectory that onlookers described as "mesmerizing." The ball didn't just clear the right-field fence; it soared over a perimeter race track and disappeared into the distance. Legend says that a group of astonished sportswriters used a surveyor's tape to measure the distance from home plate to where the ball finally came to rest: a staggering 587 feet. While modern skeptics and physicists often debate the exact distance, the "Tampa Tank" became the cornerstone of Ruthian mythology. It was the shot that officially transformed him from a pitcher who could hit into a global icon, setting the stage for his record-breaking 29-homer season and his subsequent sale to the New York Yankees, where he crushed and unthinkable 59 homers in a season, and then even broke that record with 60 in 1927, a record that stood for 34 years.
5. The Arrival of Ichiro
While elite players from other countries like South Korea and Japan showing up to Spring Training for the first time is not that unusual nowadays, back in 2001, it wasn’t as common. And when Japanese megastar Ichiro Suzuki arrived at the Mariners' spring training camp in Peoria, Arizona, in 2001, he didn’t just bring a glove and a bat—he brought an entire nation’s expectations, a massive fanbase, and 24-hour Japanese media with him. He was also met with intense skepticism from MLB purists who weren’t sure if a 175-pound hitter from Japan could handle big league pitching. Opinion pieces claimed pitchers would knock the bat right out of his hands. Even Mariners manager Lou Piniella wasn’t sold on him as he watched him ground out weakly his first few Spring Training at bats. He asked Ichiro if he ever turns on the ball, to which Ichiro said “sometimes.” Instructed to do it his next at bat, Ichiro proceeded to launch a massive home run onto the hill in right-field, and from that point on, he became one of the best hitters in baseball, becoming only the second player, the first being Fred Lynn, to ever win the Rookie of the Year Award and MVP in the same season. Of course, he went to reach 3,000 hits and was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame.
4. 1995 Replacement Players
While Spring Training is typically a time of optimism and excitement, when we finally after 4 months of winter get to see the greatest baseball players in the world again, things were a bit different in 1995. The "Replacement Player" Spring Training stands as one of the most surreal and contentious chapters in baseball history. With the 1994 players' strike dragging into the following spring, MLB owners took the drastic step of opening camps to anyone willing to cross the picket line—ranging from former minor leaguers and aging veterans to schoolteachers and construction workers. These "Scab" camps created a bizarre parallel universe where names like Oil Can Boyd and Pedro Guerrero attempted comebacks alongside total unknowns, all while the game’s true stars remained on the picket lines. There were even some serious vintage players like Pedro Borbon, who played in the 60’s, suiting back up for the Cininnati Reds. I remember it to this day and it still feels like a dream – or maybe a nightmare – watching players who had completely normal jobs take the field in MLB uniforms. There were truck drivers, High School teachers, firemen, and even an FBI Agent suiting up in big league uniforms, and as far as any one knew, the plan was for these players to take the field Opening Day.
Some managers, like Sparky Anderson, refused to manage the replacements, while stars like Cal Ripken Jr. saw their legendary iron-man streaks threatened by the prospect of "scab" games counting toward official records. Although the strike was eventually settled by a future Supreme Court Justice (Sonia Sotomayor) just before the season began, the 1995 Replacement Player Spring Training remains one of the most unforgettable, albeit regrettable, Spring Training moments.
3. Michael Jordan Makes His Pro Baseball Debut
A professional basketball player deciding to switch to pro baseball and getting a chance to report to Spring Training normally wouldn’t be that big of a deal, except in this case that player was the absolute GOAT. In March 1994, Michael Jordan, the undisputed king of the NBA, stepped onto a baseball diamond in a Chicago White Sox uniform. Following his shocking retirement from basketball, which turned out to be his first of 3 retirements, and the tragic passing of his father, Jordan decided to pursue a childhood dream of playing professional baseball. His debut during Spring Training in Sarasota, Florida, turned the Grapefruit League into a global media circus. For fans, seeing the most recognizable athlete on the planet trade his signature Nikes for metal cleats and a batting helmet remains one of the most surreal and memorable crossovers in history. While many skeptics thought the move was nothing more than a publicity stunt, Jordan’s presence brought a new energy to Spring Training. He took his new job seriously, arriving at the facility before dawn to work on his swing and defense. On April 7, 1994, he played in the Windy City Classic exhibition game at Wrigley Field, where he drove in a run and collected two hits. He spent the regular season with the Double-A Birmingham Barons and played well considering he hadn’t played baseball since High School – a .202 average, 3 homers, and 30 stolen bases. Of course, when compared to his fellow prospects, those stats were not great, and Jordan returned to basketball later that year. But his appearance in 1994 Spring Training and his brief stint in baseball will always be a part of MJ’s story.
2. Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Barrier
While many history books point to April 15, 1947, at Ebbets Field as the definitive moment Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, the true structural shattering of professional baseball's "Gentlemen’s Agreement" occurred a year earlier during Spring Training 1946. Robinson arrived in Daytona Beach, Florida, as a member of the Montreal Royals, the Triple-A affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers. At the time, Jim Crow laws and rigid "gentleman’s agreements" strictly prohibited Black athletes from stepping onto the same field as white players in any organized professional capacity—be it the Major Leagues, the Minors, or even unofficial exhibition games in Spring Training. Robinson’s presence in camp was a direct provocation to the status quo; games were canceled in cities like Jacksonville and Savannah because local officials refused to let a Black man play, forcing the Dodgers to pivot and hold their own intrasquad games just to get Robinson onto a diamond. And a little known fact is Robinson wasn’t the only black player on the team during 1946 Spring Training – pitcher Johnny Wright was his minor league teammate, although he never got called up to the big leagues.
Technically and symbolically, Robinson broke the color barrier during a spring exhibition game on March 17, 1946, at City Island Park in Daytona Beach. By simply taking his position at second base against the parent Brooklyn Dodgers, he ended the era of total segregation in white professional baseball. This wasn't just a "practice" game; it was the first time in the 20th century that a Black player was legally permitted to compete in a game sanctioned by the white professional baseball establishment. By the time he made his famous MLB debut in New York a year later, the precedent had been set in the heat of the Florida sun, proving that the game—and the fans—could handle the integration of the American pastime. Of course, Robinson went on to have a Hall of Fame career with the Dodgers and paved the way for countless great ballplayers who would come after him.
1. Randy Johnson vs. The Bird
While Randy Johnson’s encounter with a doomed feathered friend was nowhere near as socially or historically significant as Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, I still have to put it at #1 as this moment remains the undisputed king of the Spring Training highlight reel. On March 24, 2001, in a seemingly routine Cactus League game against the San Francisco Giants, "The Big Unit" was facing young Giants outfielder Calvin Murray. He released his signature triple-digit fastball just as a dove, flying along, minding its own business, took flight across the diamond. The timing was a "one-in-a-billion" – a mathematical impossibility – but the video, filmed long before AI was a thing – doesn’t lie.
The ball and the bird occupied the exact same space at the exact same time – resulting in the tragic yet painless and instant end to its life. The result was an explosion of feathers that looked more like a magic trick gone wrong than a baseball play, leaving players, fans, and even the umpire in a state of stunned, silent confusion. The clip has since become the most viral moment in baseball history, and even though finding the full game might be impossible, that one clip survives all over the internet. Because it happened during an afternoon exhibition game in Tucson rather than the World Series, it perfectly encapsulates the "anything can happen" absurdity of Spring Training. It wasn't a play for the record books—technically, it was ruled a "no pitch"—but it dominates every "Must-See" countdown ever produced. What makes this moment even more impossible for me, is not just that a pitched baseball happened to hit a bird halfway to homeplate – but the guy that threw it had to be none other than the scariest, most intimidating pitcher of all time and a no doubt Hall of Famer – the great Randy Johnson.