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
.
Spring training
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In
1913
, the
Chicago Cubs
moved their
spring training
site to the city of
Tampa
.
St. Petersburg
soon followed, becoming a spring training host for the first time in
1914
when the
St. Louis Browns
came to town.
Since
1914
, more Major League spring training games have been played in St. Petersburg than any other city.
*Note: In
1951
, the
New York Giants
, whose normal spring training site was in
Phoenix, Arizona
, swapped locations with the
New York Yankees
so Yankees' co-owner
Del Webb
could oversee both his team and a growing real estate business concurrently. The teams returned to their typical training sites in
1952
.
Tampa has hosted spring training for seven teams: the
Boston Red Sox
, Chicago Cubs,
Chicago White Sox
,
Cincinnati Reds
,
Detroit Tigers
,
Washington Senators
, and the New York Yankees, who currently call Tampa their spring training home.
Dunedin has been the only spring training home to the
Toronto Blue Jays
since the franchise's inception.
Minor leagues
[
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]
Past
[
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]
The Tampa Bay area has had a long association with
minor league baseball
. The first modern example was the 1919
Tampa Smokers
, a charter member of the original Class D
Florida State League
(FSL). The expansion
St. Petersburg Saints
joined the FSL in 1920. After the Smokers folded in 1954, the
Tampa Tarpons
played in the FSL from 1957 until 1989.
Tampa, St. Petersburg, and other nearby communities also fielded teams in a variety of defunct minor leagues, including the
Florida International League
, the Florida State Negro League, and the short-lived Florida West Coast League.
Present
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]
The Tampa Bay area is currently home to five teams in
Low-A Southeast
, a Low-A circuit which effectively replaced the
Class-A Advanced
Florida State League
following the 2021 reorganization of Minor League Baseball: the
Tampa Tarpons
,
Clearwater Threshers
,
Dunedin Blue Jays
,
Bradenton Marauders
, and
Lakeland Flying Tigers
. Several major league organizations also field squads in the
rookie-level
Gulf Coast League
and the
Florida Instructional League
.
Besides hosting actual baseball games, the corporate offices of
Minor League Baseball
have been located in St. Petersburg since 1973.
[2]
Other professional leagues
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]
St. Petersburg was the home of the
St. Petersburg Pelicans
in the short-lived
Senior Professional Baseball Association
in 1989?1990. The league featured former major league players who were age 35 or older. The Pelicans won the only league championship.
College baseball
[
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]
Several notable ballplayers have come from the
college
and
university
baseball programs in the Tampa Bay Area. Players and managers have reached the Major Leagues from the
University of South Florida
,
University of Tampa
,
St. Petersburg College
and
Eckerd College
. Other schools in the area with baseball programs include
Pasco-Hernando Community College
,
Saint Leo University
, and
Hillsborough Community College
.
The University of Tampa Spartans baseball program has won eight
Division II
national championships: 1992, 1993, 1998, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2015, and 2019.
[3]
Amateur baseball
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]
Amateur baseball also has a long tradition in the Tampa Bay area. This tradition began in the ballfields of
Ybor City
and
West Tampa
, two neighborhoods founded in the late 1800s by immigrants from Cuba, Spain, and Italy. The neighborhoods were home to many social clubs, many of which sponsored highly competitive teams that inspired much local support.
Today, high school and
AAU
baseball in the area is very competitive, with many players drafted out of high school into the major leagues every year.
Little League Baseball
teams from the area have excelled in the
Little League World Series
, finishing as Runners-Up in the
1948
,
1975
,
1980
&
1981 Little League World Series
tournaments.
[4]
Tampa Bay area teams have won the state Little League tournament in 1967, 1969?1975, 1977, 1980?1981, 1988?1991, 1994, 2006, 2008, 2011, and 2012.
[5]
In addition, local teams have won
Junior League
championships in 1982, 1985, 2004, and 2011.
[6]
Little League Baseball's headquarters for the Southern Region was located in
Gulfport
until 2009.
Notable baseball players from the Tampa Bay area
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]
Al Lopez
, the first area native to play and manage in the major leagues and the first to be enshrined in the
Baseball Hall of Fame
, came out of the leagues of Ybor City in the early 20th century. Since then, many current and former major league players and managers such as
Lou Piniella
,
Fred McGriff
,
Gary Sheffield
,
Tino Martinez
,
Luis Gonzalez
,
Dwight Gooden
,
Howard Johnson
,
Brad Radke
,
Craig Lefferts
,
Tony La Russa
,
Matt Joyce
,
Chone Figgins
,
Ryan Raburn
, Hall of Famer
Wade Boggs
and Steve Garvey (among many others) have gotten their start on local baseball programs around the area.
Tampa Baseball Museum
[
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]
The
Tampa Baseball Museum
is being developed by the Ybor City Museum Society and will cover more than 130 years of Tampa's baseball history. It will be a place to celebrate the Tampa Bay area's rich baseball history with memorabilia and exhibits. The museum building was once the childhood home of Al Lopez, Tampa's first Major League player, manager, and Hall of Fame inductee. The house was moved to its present location across the street from the
Ybor City State Museum
and has been completely rehabilitated. The
Tampa Baseball Museum
will open once exhibits are completed and installed.
References
[
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]
Further reading
[
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]
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Franchise
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Ballparks
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Culture
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Lore
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Rivalries
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Key personnel
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American League pennants (2)
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Division titles (4)
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Wild-Card berths (5)
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Retired numbers
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Minor league
affiliates
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Seasons (27)
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1990s
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- 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 ·
1998
- 1999
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2000s
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2010s
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2020s
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