The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the lowest rung on the North American minor-league ladder.
The Daytona Tortugas are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Daytona Beach, Florida, and play their home games at Jackie Robinson Ballpark; opened in 1914, the park seats 4,200 people.
The St. Lucie Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and play their home games at Clover Park. The Mets have been members of the Florida State League since their founding in 1988. They originally competed at the Class A level before being elevated to Class A-Advanced in 1990. Since the 2021 season, the Mets have been a Low Single-A affiliate.
The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Fort Myers, Florida, and play their home games at the Lee County Sports Complex at Hammond Stadium, which has a capacity of 7,500 and opened in 1991. The park is also used as the Minnesota Twins' spring training facility.
The Sarasota Reds were a professional minor league baseball team, located in Sarasota, Florida, as a member of the Florida State League. The team originally started play in Sarasota as the Sarasota White Sox in 1989. They remained in the city for the next 21 seasons, going through a series of name changes due to their affiliation changes. They were known as the White Sox from 1989–1993, as the Sarasota Red Sox from 1994–2004, and the Reds from 2004–2009. In Sarasota, the team played in Payne Park (1989) and then Ed Smith Stadium (1990–2009). They won two division championships, in 1989 and 1992, and made playoff appearances in 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, and 2007.
The Tampa Tarpons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Tampa, Florida. The Tarpons play their home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field, which is also the spring training home of the New York Yankees and incorporates design elements from old Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, including identical field dimensions. They competed at the Class A-Advanced level from 1994 to 2020 before being reclassified Low Single-A in 2021. Since their inception, the club has won five league championships, in 1994, 2001, 2004, 2009, and 2010.
The Tampa Tarpons were a minor league baseball team based in Tampa, Florida. Their home ballpark was Al Lopez Field, and they were a member of the Class A Florida State League (FSL) from 1957 until 1988, mostly as an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. In 1988, they were sold, relocated, and renamed the Sarasota White Sox. During their run in Tampa, they won three FSL league championships, in 1957, 1959 and 1961.
The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the Senior League, was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had eight teams in two divisions and a 72-game schedule. Pitchers Rollie Fingers, Ferguson Jenkins, and Vida Blue, outfielder Dave Kingman, and managers Earl Weaver and Dick Williams were the league's marquee names; and former big league outfielder Curt Flood was the circuit's first Commissioner. At age 54, Ed Rakow was the league's oldest player.
The Bradenton Marauders are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Bradenton, Florida, and play their home games at LECOM Park, which also serves as the Pirates' spring training facility.
Baseball in the Tampa Bay area, both amateur and professional, has had a long and storied history, even though the Tampa Bay Rays are one of the two youngest franchises in Major League Baseball, the other being the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. state of Florida.
The Charlotte Stone Crabs were a Minor League Baseball team located in Port Charlotte, Florida, from 2009 to 2020. They competed in the Florida State League (FSL) as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball (MLB) team. They played their home games at Charlotte Sports Park and were named for the Florida stone crab, which is indigenous to the Charlotte County region.
The Fort Lauderdale Yankees, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, were an American Minor League Baseball franchise that existed from 1962 through 1992. The team was a member of the Florida State League (FSL) as an affiliate of the New York Yankees and won seven FSL championships during its 31 years of existence.
