We begin our celebration of a century of great ballparks with a visit to Joker Marchant Stadium, one of the grand dames of spring training. Tiger Town dates back to the end of World War II, when the former Lodwick School of Aeronautics was converted to a training complex; Joker Marchant Stadium opened in 1966 as the spring home of the Detroit Tigers. Together the pair make for a prototypical Florida spring-training experience.

We launch our new weekly promotions column with a look at the most notable ways teams are bringing fans into the ballpark. This week: the Madison Mallards go small with MiniKISS; the Northwest Arkansas Naturals go big with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders; and the Albuquerque Isotopes bring back 50-cent hot dogs.

Cheney Stadium, the home of the Tacoma Rainiers, is set for a total makeover for the 2011 season, complete with new freestanding exterior, redesigned covered concourse, a right-field grass berm with an attached children’s play area, new bleachers beyond the left field wall, 300 club seats behind home plate, a 5000-square-foot club/restaurant, and 16 luxury suites. Read on for more details and renderings.

This year is an important one in the history of ballparks, as it was a century ago that Birmingham’s Rickwood Field opened. Patterned after what was then the state of the art in ballparks -- Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field -- Rickwood Field was a center of baseball in the South and is now the oldest ballpark in continuous use in the minor leagues: the Birmingham Barons (Class AA; Southern League) play one game annually in their old home, the Rickwood Classic. And this year’s Rickwood Classic will mark something very special: the 100th anniversary of the opening of this legendary facility. Inspired by the big plans from the Barons and the Friends of Rickwood Field to mark the occasion, we decided to use the anniversary of Rickwood Field as part of our own celebrated summer: Visiting 100 ballparks during the course of the season.

The plans for a new Lee County spring-training complex include a replica of the Green Monster, but the rest of the design is pure Florida: light and airy, with plenty of room for fans to move about. We have renderings of the project, slated to open in 2012.

All pitchers and catchers are now at their MLB camps, and position players will be reporting to most teams in the next few days. A look ahead to the coming workouts.

With the last of the pitchers and catchers reporting this week, spring training is the big news in the baseball world. One cool part of spring training won't happen until the beginning of April, but requires some planning now: watching the big leaguers play an exhibition game at a minor-league ballpark. Here's a look at the scheduled games and how to score tickets.

Janet Marie Smith and the Baltimore Orioles unveiled their vision of a renovated Ed Smith Stadium, provided the plan clears legal hurdles. On the table: a second-level concourse, new entryway, extended canopy and 1,500 more seats, all built in what's known locally as the Sarasota style of architecture.

Maybe we were a tad hasty in proclaiming the Cubbies firmly ensconced in Arizona, as several Cactus League teams and Commissioner Bud Selig have spoken out against a funding plan for a new Mesa spring-training facility that calls for a ticket surcharge on all Cactus League teams -- and the opposition may give new owner Tom Ricketts an occasion to reexamine what could be a better funding plan in Florida.

The next stop on our spring-training tour: McKechnie Field, the spring home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. McKechnie Field is authentically old, without the faux sheen of retro features so prevalent in new spring-training complexes these days. Built in 1923 for the St. Louis Cardinals and still known by many oldtimers as the former spring home of the Milwaukee Braves and Atlanta Braves, McKechnie Field is basically the same ballpark where Roberto Clemente gracefully patrolled the outfield, where Willie Stargell engaged the fans, and where Henry Aaron awed onlookers with his sheer power and determination. It's not the gaudiest of ballparks and the Pittsburgh Pirates aren't exactly crammed with superstars these days, but spring-training aficionados know McKechnie Field is a throwback to how spring training used to be: an intimate affair played in a neighborhood ballpark.