Tampa Tarpons

Tampa Tarpons
Founded in 1994
Tampa, Florida
Team logo
Class-level
Current Advanced-A (1994–present)
Minor league affiliations
League Florida State League (1994–present)
Division North Division
Major league affiliations
Current New York Yankees (1994–present)
Minor league titles
League titles (5)
  • 1994
  • 2001*
  • 2004**
  • 2009
  • 2010
*Co-champions with Brevard County Manatees
**Co-championss with Daytona Cubs
Division titles (6)
  • 1994
  • 2001
  • 2004
  • 2009
  • 2010
  • 2016
Team data
Nickname Tampa Tarpons (2018–present)
Previous names
 Tampa Yankees (1994–2017)
Colors Legends navy, Tarpon silver, Gulf blue, white[1]
                   
Ballpark George M. Steinbrenner Field (1996–present)
Previous parks
 Red McEwen Field (1994–1995)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
 New York Yankees
Manager Pat Osborn
General Manager Matt Gess

The Tampa Tarpons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Tampa, Florida. They are members of the Florida State League (FSL) and are the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the New York Yankees Major League Baseball team. Home games are played at George M. Steinbrenner Field, which is also the spring training home of the New York Yankees and incorporates design elements from old Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

The team was established in 1994 as the Tampa Yankees and played for twenty-three 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 FSL franchise for over thirty years.[2] Since their inception, the club has won five league championships, in 1994, 2001, 2004, 2009, and 2010.

History

The city of Tampa has a long history of minor league and spring training baseball. However, when the original Tampa Tarpons of the Florida State League (FSL) were sold and relocated in 1988 and Al Lopez Field was demolished soon thereafter, Tampa was without a professional baseball team or venue. In 1994, the New York Yankees established a new team in the Class A-Advanced FSL and placed them in Tampa. Prior to the 2018 season, the team rebranded as the Tampa Tarpons, in reference to the previous FSL team.[3]

Notable major league players to once play for Tampa are Derek Jeter, Rubén Rivera, Mariano Rivera, David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, Ramiro Mendoza, Tim Raines, Eric Milton, and Luis Sojo.

Playing field

As part of a deal with the city of Tampa, the Tampa Sports Authority agreed to finance and built a new baseball park for the New York Yankees to use during spring training and the Tampa Yankees to use during the summer. 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, they moved to Legends Field, where the playing field had the same dimensions as the major league Yankee's then-home of Yankee Stadium and included some design elements of the ballpark in the Bronx. In 2008, Legends Field was renamed George M. Steinbrenner Field in honor of ailing long-time Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who lived in Tampa.

Steinbrenner Field seats 10,000 fans, and sits across Dale Mabry Highway from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' home of Raymond James Stadium. A pedestrian bridge allows for baseball attendees to easily use the football stadium's much larger parking lot.

Playoffs

Current roster

Tampa Tarpons roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 36 Albert Abreu *
  • 47 Braden Bristo
  • -- Will Carter
  •  4 Deivi Garcia
  • 22 Rony Garcia
  • 12 Nick Green
  • 23 Hobie Harris
  • -- Connor Jones
  •  8 Justin Kamplain
  • 48 Christian Morris
  • 27 Nick Nelson
  • 30 Kaleb Ort
  • 37 Freicer Pérez
  • -- Brian Trieglaff
  • 34 Greg Weissert
  • 19 Garrett Whitlock
  • 28 Kyle Zurak

Catchers

  • 25 Kevin Deglan
  •  3 Jason Lopez
  • 16 Gabriel Mora
  • 15 Donny Sands

Infielders

  •  7 Angel Aguilar
  • 10 Daniel Barrios
  •  2 Diego Castillo
  •  1 Hoy Jun Park

Outfielders

Manager

  • 13 Pat Osborn

Coaches

60-day disabled list

  • 18 Alexander Palma

7-day disabled list
* On New York Yankees 40-man roster
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated August 13, 2018
 Transactions
→ More rosters: MiLB • Florida State League
 → New York Yankees minor league players

Notable alumni

Hall of Fame alumni

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ "Splash from the past". Minor League Baseball. December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  2. ↑ Norris, Josh. "Tampa Yankees Announce Name Change". Baseball America. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  3. ↑ Hill, Benjamin (December 11, 2017). "With Tarpons, Tampa throws back to the future". milb.com. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.