Rick Scott Promotes the 'Gem' of Grapefruit League Baseball

The Boston Red Sox will open the 2013 Grapefruit League season with a pair of games against college teams -- Northwestern and Boston College -- on Feb. 21 in Fort Myers.

The next day, the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves will meet in Lake Buena Vista for the first actual head-to-head contest between Major League squads -- at least for the first three or four innings -- this spring.

The 38-day schedule, while individually announced previously by the clubs, was unveiled Tuesday by the governors office, which noted this will be the 125th season of Major League Baseball Spring Training in Florida.

Go here to visit the full schedule.

Major League Baseballs Spring Training in Florida is one of our nations gems, Scott stated in a release.

Every spring, athletes come to Florida to train and baseball fans throughout America visit Florida to enjoy great games, our wonderful climate and many tourist destinations. Spring training also generates more than $700 million for our communities ever year, meaning more jobs and opportunities for Florida families. With the 2013 training season almost here, I encourage families everywhere to attend a game in Florida, and take the time to enjoy one of Americas greatest pastimes.

The governors office noted that with 1.5 million fans annually attending the games, a 2009 Economic Impact Survey of Spring Training Baseball showed a $753 million annual benefit to the state.