Baseball in Tampa Bay

Baseball in Tampa Bay has had a long and storied history, despite the area's Major League Baseball team, the Tampa Bay Rays, being one of the youngest franchises.

pring Training

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.

=St. Petersburg=

Since 1914, more Major League spring training games have been played in St. Petersburg than any other city.

=Dunedin=

Dunedin has been the only Spring Training home to the Toronto Blue Jays since the franchise's inception.

Minor Leagues

The area also has been the home to many minor league franchises since 1919 when Tampa entered the Class D Florida State League (FSL). St. Petersburg also fielded a team in the league in 1920. Both cities were mainstays in the FSL, which is now a Class A league, throughout the 20th century. Past local minor league teams included the Tampa Tarpons, Tampa Smokers, and St. Pete Saints.

Today, the Tampa Yankees still play in the FSL. Other cities in the Tampa Bay region, including Clearwater, Dunedin, and Lakeland have also had long histories in the league and still have teams. In addition, several past and present teams in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League have called the Tampa Bay region home.

Other Professional Leagues

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

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, St. Petersburg College and Eckerd College. Other schools in the area with baseball programs include Pasco-Hernando Community College, Saint Leo University, University of Tampa, Hillsborough Community College, and Clearwater Christian College

Amateur Baseball

Amateur baseball also has a long tradition in the Tampa Bay area. This tradition began in the ballfields of Ybor City, a community of mainly Latin immigrants in Tampa. Ybor was home to many social clubs, each of which sponsored highly competitive teams.

Little League Baseball's headquarters for the Southern Region is located in Gulfport.

Notable Baseball Players from Tampa Bay

Al Lopez, the first area resident to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, came out of the Ybor City environment. Since then, many current and former major league players and managers such as Mike Shenk, Louis DeRosa, Gary Sheffield, Tino Martinez, Luis Gonzalez, Dwight Gooden, Brad Radke, Tony LaRussa and Hall of Famer Wade Boggs (among many others) have gotten their start in Little League, PONY League Baseball, and high school baseball programs of the Bay Area.

References

*cite web |title=Tampa Bay Rays Team History |url=http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/tb/history/tb_history_tampabay.jsp |accessdate=2008-04-29 |work=raysbaseball.com |ref=RaysTeamHistory
*cite web |title=All-Time Spring Team |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/10/Rays/All_Time_Spring_Team.shtml |accessdate=2008-04-29 |author=Topkin, Marc |publisher=St. Petersburg Times |work=tampabay.com |date=2008-02-10 |ref=StPeteSpringHist
*cite web |title=Spring Training Baseball in Florida - Our Roots Run Deep |url=http://www.floridagrapefruitleague.com/history.html |accessdate=2008-04-29 |author=Arsenault, Raymond |publisher=FHC Forum |work=floridagrapefruitleague.com |year=1998 |ref=FLSTHist
*cite web |title=Spring Training Sites for all American League Baseball Teams |url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/springtrainingsites-al.shtml |accessdate=2008-04-29 |publisher=Baseball Almanac |work=baseball-almanac.com |ref=ALSTsites
*cite web |title=Spring Training Sites for all National League Baseball Teams |url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/springtrainingsites-nl.shtml |accessdate=2008-04-23 |publisher=Baseball Almanac |work=baseball-almanac.com |ref=NLSTsites
*cite web |title=Tampa's Original Field Of Dreams |url=http://www.tbo.com/life/MGB29OJJF7F.html |accessdate=2008-04-29 |author=Kerstein, Bob |publisher=Tampa Tribune |work=tbo.com |date=2007-10-07 |ref=PlantField
*cite web |title=History of the Cactus League |url=http://www.cactusleague.com/c_history.php |accessdate=2008-04-29 |author=Vascellaro, Charlie |publisher=Cactus League |work=cactusleague.com |year=2006 |ref=NYGNYYnote
*cite book |last=de Quesada |first=A.M. |title=Baseball in Tampa Bay |series=Images of Sports |year=2000 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=Charleston, SC |isbn=0-7385-0058-5 |ref=BBinTBbook