Florida State League

Florida State League
Sport	Baseball
Founded	1919
President	Terry Reynolds[1]
No. of teams	10
Country	United States
Most recent; champion(s)	Fort Myers Miracle (2018)
Most titles	Orlando Twins (7)
Classification	Class A
Official website	Official Website

The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. It is one of three leagues classified as Class A, the fourth highest classification of minor leagues. Each team in the league is affiliated with a Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and most play in their affiliate's spring training facility.

The league was founded in 1919 and has continued almost uninterrupted to the present day. Initially, the FSL was classified as a Class D circuit. It was elevated to Class C from 1921 to 1924 before reverting to Class D from 1925 to 1928. The league went dormant from 1929 to 1935, but it was revived as a Class D circuit from 1936 to 1941. After another period of inactivity from 1942 to 1945, it continued at Class D from 1946 to 1962. When the minor leagues were reconfigured in 1963, the FSL was reclassified as a Class A league. There it continued until the next reorganization in 1990 when it was elevated to Class A Advanced.[2] With MLB's reconfiguration of the minor leagues in 2021, the league was made a Low Single-A circuit.[3]

History

The league originated in 1919 with teams in Bartow, Bradenton, Lakeland, Orlando, Sanford, and Tampa, Florida. The league closed down in 1928 and resumed play in 1936. It has continued uninterrupted, except for a four-year (1942-1945) suspension during World War II.

The championship series' first cancellation was in 2001, when playoffs were canceled after the September 11 attacks. Afterwards, the 2004 playoffs were canceled due to the threat of Hurricane Ivan. Years later, the 2017 FSL Championship finals were canceled on September 5, due to the threat of Hurricane Irma. The winners of the division series playoff games were named co-champions.[4] This marked the third time since 2000 that the championship series game was canceled.[5][6] In 2019, the end of the season and playoffs were cancelled due to the threat of Hurricane Dorian.[7]

The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30.[8][9]

Current teams

Current Florida State League team locations:

North Division

South Division

Division	Team	MLB Affiliation	City	Stadium	Capacity
North	Clearwater Threshers	Philadelphia Phillies	Clearwater	Spectrum Field	8,500
	Daytona Tortugas	Cincinnati Reds	Daytona Beach	Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark	4,200
	Dunedin Blue Jays	Toronto Blue Jays	Dunedin	TD Ballpark	8,500
	Lakeland Flying Tigers	Detroit Tigers	Lakeland	Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium	8,500
	Tampa Tarpons	New York Yankees	Tampa	George M. Steinbrenner Field	11,026
South	Bradenton Marauders	Pittsburgh Pirates	Bradenton	LECOM Park	8,500
	Fort Myers Mighty Mussels	Minnesota Twins	Fort Myers	Hammond Stadium	9,300
	Jupiter Hammerheads	Miami Marlins	Jupiter	Roger Dean Stadium	6,871
	Palm Beach Cardinals	St. Louis Cardinals	Jupiter	Roger Dean Stadium	6,871
	St. Lucie Mets	New York Mets	Port St. Lucie	Clover Park	7,160

All-time teams

Teams of the early FSL (1919–1928)

Teams of the modern FSL (1936–present)

League timeline

Current team Former team

Past champions

Awards