The club was established in 1994 as the Tampa Yankees and played for 24 seasons under that name. Before the 2018 season, the team was rebranded as the "Tampa Tarpons", reviving a name that had been used by an earlier franchise in the FSL for over 30 years.[2]
The team is named for the Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus)
Tampa has a long history of amateur and professional baseball. The city was one of the first to host spring training in 1913, and the Tampa Smokers were charter members of the FSL when it was established in 1919. The original Tampa Tarpons played at Al Lopez Field from 1954 through 1988, mainly as an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. The club relocated in 1989 and their ballpark was demolished soon thereafter in anticipation of Tampa being awarded a major league expansion team. However, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were instead awarded to nearby St. Petersburg, leaving Tampa without a professional baseball team or venue.[3]
In 1994, the New York Yankees established a new Class A-Advanced FSL team and placed them in Tampa, replacing their previous Class-A Advanced affiliate, the Prince William Cannons. After operating as the Tampa Yankees for 24 seasons, the club was rebranded as the Tarpons in 2018, reviving the name of Tampa's longest-lasting minor league ballclub.[4] For the 2021 season, the FSL was reconfigured as a Low-A circuit, and the Florida State League name was retired, with the circuit being called the Low-A Southeast.[5][6] In 2022, the Low-A Southeast became known as the Florida State League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization, and was reclassified as a Single-A circuit.[7]
On January 9, 2022, the Yankees announced that Rachel Balkovec has been hired to manage the Tarpons. She is the first woman to manage a minor league team affiliated with Major League Baseball.[8]
As part of a deal with the city of Tampa, the Tampa Sports Authority agreed to publicly finance a new ballpark for the New York Yankees to use during spring training and the Tampa Yankees to use during the summer. Legends Field has the same dimensions as Yankee Stadium and includes some design elements of the previous ballpark in the Bronx. The Tampa Yankees played their first two seasons (1994 and 1995) at Red McEwen Field on the campus of the University of South Florida while their permanent home was under construction. In 1996, the New York Yankees held spring training at newly completed Legends Field, moving from their long-time spring facilities at Fort Lauderdale, and the Tampa Yankees played at the new ballpark that summer. In 2008, Legends Field was renamed in honor of ailing long-time Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who lived in Tampa.
Steinbrenner Field has a baseball capacity of about 11,000 and is located across Dale Mabry Highway from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' home of Raymond James Stadium. The facility has an adjacent parking lot that is sufficient for most minor league crowds, and a pedestrian bridge allows for spring training attendees to park at the football stadium's much larger parking area and safely cross the busy highway to Steinbrenner Field.
In 2025, the Tampa Bay Rays will play at Steinbrenner Field as a result of hurricane damage to Tropicana Field. As a result, the Tarpons will play their home games at Community Field at GMS Field, a smaller practice field located next to Steinbrenner Field. Community Field has a capacity of 1,000.[9][10]
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