Best spring training facilities: Readers' Choice winners

MLB fans swung for the fences in the latest 10Best Readers' Choice contest, and a southwest Florida ballpark has landed top honors as the favorite place for spring training. Charlotte Sports Park, in sunny Port Charlotte, Florida, secured the #1 slot at our contest's conclusion, after a hard-fought battle against other Florida and Arizona ballparks.

Port Charlotte, spring home of the popular Tampa Bay Rays, is located an hour and a half south of Tampa, making it an easy trip for hometown fans to catch Grapefruit League games. Charlotte Sports Park underwent a $27,000,000 renovation in 2009 which is obviously pleasing its patrons. Once spring training concludes, the baseball complex is utilized by the minor league Charlotte Stone Crabs. Four other southwest Florida ballparks also made the list of winners, as did a complex on the east coast.

Port Charlotte lies at the confluence of expansive Charlotte Harbor, and the broad Peace River: its tropical water-oriented lifestyle gives fans loads of warm-weather recreation options before and after games.

In this hotly contested category, second place was solidly landed by Goodyear Park in Goodyear, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. Ohio-based fans flock in droves to toasty Goodyear for the opportunity to watch Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds in the ball complex they share. Goodyear Park was designed by the acclaimed architecture firm HOK Sport of Kansas City.

Two other cactus league ballparks also made the top 10: Scottsdale's inviting new Salt River Fields (spring home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies) and Mesa Arizona's Cubs Park, which draws Chicago fans in droves.

Nominees were chosen by USA TODAY's baseball writers Bob Nightengale, Ted Berg and Paul White. Here's a full list of winners for "Best Spring Training Facility":

1. Charlotte Sports Park - Port Charlotte, Fla.
2. Goodyear Ballpark - Goodyear, Ariz.
3. Salt River Fields - Scottsdale, Ariz.
4. McKechnie Field - Bradenton, Fla.
5. Bright House Field - Clearwater, Fla.
6. Ed Smith Stadium - Sarasota, Fla.
7. Tradition Field - Port St. Lucie, Fla.
8. Cubs Park - Mesa, Ariz.
9. JetBlue Park - Fort Myers, Fla.
10. Osceola County Stadium - Kissimmee, Fla.

10Best and USA TODAY congratulate the winners! To vote in more contests, and see all previous winners, visit 10best.com/awards/travel.