I was watching the Nats game yesterday (I live outside DC) while waiting for the Braves game to come on.  Stupid time zones.  When the Nats game was coming back from commercial they showed the Nats shops and were focusing in on all the Strasburg jerseys. 

Now after reading about Heyward mania on opening day where the Braves weren't allowed to sell Jerseys until the bottom of the 5th(official game).  And from reading the stories of the people who obviously didn't know that there would ever be another time to buy a Heyward jersey.  I am wondering why the Nats are allowed to sell Strasburg jerseys before he throws a pitch in the big leauges.  My best reasoning is he signed an MLB contract last year and Heyward's minor league contract was only bought by Atlanta prior to the Opening day game.  Anyone have a better reasoning?

Ok, this is only my 2nd(ish) post on TC, so be nice.  I took my first trip to Spring Training this year.  It didn't disappoint, we went all over Florida, and actually traveled too much.  We started out by going to the RussMatt Invitational in Winter Haven, the old Indians Spring Training site, this was pretty cool and had college teams from the Junior College to Division 1 levels.  From there we ventured on to see the Nats and the Braves in Viera at Space Coast Stadium, which seemed like a cool little area.  We also talked to some locals and found it odd that the Nats Spring Training complex is where the Brewers rookie league team plays.  Martiiiiiiiin hit a nice homer(btw except for Heyward he puts on the best BP show and its not even close).  Braves won 5-2 on a very chilly Florida Night.

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I've been a long time reader of TC, however this is my first time posting anything.  My dad and I have plans to go to Spring Training to see the Braves for a week this year.  Neither of us have been to Spring Training before, and its long been a dream of my father, as his grandfather would go every year when he was a kid.  We're both finally at a point in our lives and careers where this is attainable.  I was hoping you fellow TC'ers could help me out with some ideas that a First Time Spring Traning visitor wouldn't think of.  Such as maybe some minor league info, as I know early in ST they mainly work on the back fields in the morning.  We're looking to go March 15-20 and watch mostly Braves games, however we will also check out some other games that are close in proximity.  We haven't planned much of the trip, other than this is the year we're going and a few ideas could really help with some of the planning.  TIA