Library News

This edition of Collection Selections comes from Elisabeth Jimenez, archivist at the Sarasota County History Center. Read on to learn how Sarasota’s baseball history is about more than just the majors!

Collection Selections: The Minors had Major History

Did you know Sarasota once had several minor league baseball teams? With Minor League season in full swing, I want to highlight a few items we have in our collection in honor of America’s favorite pastime.

I was inspired to take a closer look at Sarasota’s long and fascinating baseball history while conducting inventory in the textile collection, specifically on the “Sarasota Reds” banner pictured above. While it seems minor league baseball has not always been consistent, it has certainly been memorable.

Sarasota’s first known minor league team appears to be the Sarasota Gulls, which debuted in 1926 as a Class D member of the Florida State League. Unlike many minor league teams today, they were not affiliated with a Major League team. The next season, the team became the Sarasota Tarpons and continued playing through 1928. Soon after, the Florida State League folded for several years, before eventually reorganizing into the league many fans are familiar with now. Still, Sarasota would go more than 30 years without another minor league team appearance.

The Minor League returned to Sarasota in 1961 when the Major League Kansas City Athletics brought the Sarasota Sun Sox. They would play at Payne Park; Sarasota’s earliest baseball diamond located in current-day downtown Sarasota. Although the Athletics only stayed for one season, another team quickly stepped in – the Chicago White Sox, who would call Sarasota Spring training home for decades. Throughout 38 seasons of playing ball, the White Sox operated a minor league team twice! The first as the Sarasota Sun Sox from 1962 to 1965 (adopting the previous name under the Kansas City Athletics) and later as the Sarasota White Sox from 1989 to 1993. During their tenure in Sarasota, the White Sox would play at Payne Park before moving to Ed Smith Stadium in 1989 for their second sweep at having a minor league team.

While researching the varied history of the minors, I also found the fields themselves, including Payne Park and Ed Smith Stadium, fascinating! Payne Park was a 60-acre tract of land that was donated to the City of Sarasota by winter residents Calvin and Martha Payne. When the Payne’s donated the land in 1923, they had one condition – the land had to remain a park indefinitely. However, space was available for a baseball diamond if a Major League team agreed to conduct their spring training in town. After 65 years of hosting games, Payne Park could not accommodate the growing number of spectators, which ultimately led to the decision to build a more modern sports complex. So, in 1989 the Ed Smith Stadium was opened and ready to welcome fans!

In 1994, the Boston Red Sox debuted with their minor league team at Ed Smith Stadium, the Sarasota Red Sox, who would play in Sarasota until 2004. Last at bat, though no less important, was a Minor League team affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds, who played at Ed Smith Stadium from 2005 to 2009. When the Cincinnati Reds moved their Spring training to Goodwill, Arizona, the franchise was sold in 2011 to the Pittsburgh Pirates and moved just north to Bradenton, who now play as the Bradenton Marauders. Since then, Sarasota’s chapter in Minor League baseball history has ended…for now.

Visit SarasotaCountyHistory.org and select “Archives Catalog” to explore the archival collections of Sarasota County Libraries and Historical Resources.