Yankees 2013 Spring Training Schedule Revealed

The 2013 spring training schedule was revealed yesterday. The Yankees play a total of 33 games during Spring Training, including 17 in Tampa. New York's first spring training game is a road tilt in Lake Buena Vista, FL versus the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, February 23, at 1:05 P.M., with the first home game the following day against the Toronto Blue Jays. Two MLB teams will visit Tampa for the first time in years: The St. Louis Cardinals will make their first trip since 2006 to Steinbrenner Field, facing the Yankees on March 11, and the ever-sponging Miami Marlins will make their first visit since 2005 on March 15. In other words, it's Rays Appreciation Day in Tampa. "Sure, your ballpark is ugly, but you never knew you had it so good."

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With the World Baseball Classic this year, the Yankees will play the team from the Dominican Republic, which will offer the novelty of Robinson Cano playing for his country. This March 9 game will represent a tune-up game for the actual tournament. The WBC also caused Spring Training to open up nine days earlier than last year, with the February 12 opening the earliest in 65 years for the Yankees.

The Yankees will end Spring Training with a visit to West Point, New York to face off against the Army Black Knights baseball team. The teams have squared off 21 times since 1927, with the last game coming in 1976. The Yankees have never lost to the Black Knights, which you would think they might do once in awhile out of patriotism.