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Winter Haven, Fla. — The Indians and Winter Haven were a marriage of convenience from the start.
In 1993, after nearly 50 years in Arizona, the Indians were bound for a brand new spring-training site in Homestead, Fla., until Hurricane Andrew shattered the ballpark and their plans.
And after 27 springs, the Red Sox had just bolted Winter Haven for a snazzy new place in Fort Myers.
So this city had an empty ballpark and training grounds. And the Indians needed a home.
They took their vows and were quickly united.
But after 16 years, the union ends Thursday when the Indians play their final spring training game at Chain of Lakes Park against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Indians haven’t officially killed their contract with Winter Haven yet, leaving a safety net in case Goodyear falls behind schedule. But if all goes as planned, by this time next year, the club will have traded palm trees and a wrinkled, old companion for a custom-built trophy wife in the desert. Goodyear, Ariz., awaits, arms — and purse — wide open.
That the relationship lasted this long is surprising, given the ballclub’s demands, the city’s indifference and the economic realities of spring training.
The Indians, whose 10-year lease with options to extend it expired in 2003, have publicly sought suitors to build them a new home for the past several years. Their finally leaving is more a slow end to a trial separation than a divorce notice suddenly arriving in the mail.
So tears are few — at both ends.
“I am not sorry to see them go,” said 62-year-old businessman Sam Killebrew, who was born and raised in Winter Haven and chairs the city’s chamber of commerce. “It was costing our government a half-a-million dollars. Economically, it was hurtin’ us.”
Gracious in goodbye, Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro said the club appreciated the convenience of Florida and Winter Haven’s support through the years. But what the team needs neither Winter Haven nor any other city in Florida was willing to provide: a state-of-the-art complex where players train, improve and mend year-round.

blog.cleveland.com