Gulf Coast League

The Gulf Coast League is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Together with the Arizona League, it forms the lowest rung on the North American minor-league ladder. GCL teams play at the minor league spring training complexes of their parent Major League Baseball clubs and are owned by those parent clubs. Admission is not charged and no concessions are operated at the teams' games.

Gulf Coast League
SportBaseball
Founded1964
No. of teams18
CountryUSA
Most recent
champion(s)		GCL Tigers West (2018)
Most titlesGCL Yankees (12 titles)
Official websiteOfficial website

The regular season is 56 games, with a 35-player roster limit. The rosters consist primarily of players chosen in the Major League Baseball draft two to three weeks before the league begins its season along with players promoted from the parent club's Dominican Summer League affiliate. Players must not have more than three years of previous minor league experience to be eligible to play.[1] Major league players on rehabilitation assignments may also appear in the league.[2][3]

History

Prior to the formation of this league, three separate leagues used the Gulf Coast League name, a 1907–1908 Class D league, a 1926 class D league and a 1951–1953 Class C League.

The 1907 founding members were the Alexandria White Sox, Lafayette Browns, Lake Charles Creoles, Monroe Municipals, Opelousas Indians and Orange Hoos-Hoos.[4]

The 1951-53 version featured the Brownsville Charros, Corpus Christi Aces, Galveston White Caps, Harlingen Capitals, Lake Charles Lakers, Laredo Apaches, Port Arthur Seahawks and Texas City Texans. All three leagues operated around the Gulf coasts of Texas and Louisiana.[5][6]

Complex-based baseball leagues, which played before sparse crowds and often scheduled morning games to avoid the summer heat and afternoon thunderstorms, were adopted after the drastic shrinking of minor league baseball during the 1950s and 1960s. MLB teams needed an entry level to professional baseball for 18- and 19-year-old players graduating from high schools or signed from Latin America. They are considered the lowest rung on the minor league ladder.

The current league was founded in 1964 as the Sarasota Rookie League with four teams playing in Sarasota. It was originally intended to be the Gulf Coast division of a statewide rookie league, with the eastern division based in Cocoa.[7][8] However, the eastern and western teams never played each other. The SRL's four teams consisted of squads sponsored by the Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Braves, New York Yankees, and St. Louis Cardinals. The SRL Braves, managed by Paul Snyder, future Atlanta farm system director, won the championship with a 36–23 record.

The league added teams in Bradenton in 1965 and changed its name to the Florida Rookie League.

The league adopted its current name, Gulf Coast League, for the 1966 season. It expanded to Florida's east coast in the 1990s.

On June 21, 2016, the GCL hired Jen Pawol, the first female umpire in Minor League Baseball since 2007, and the first in the GCL since 1978.[9] In 2017 the GCL hired another woman umpire, Emma Charlesworth-Seiler.[10]

The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30.[11][12]

League format

The league plays a 52- to 56-game season that runs from mid-June to late August. Following the relocation of the Atlanta Braves spring training complex in 2019, teams in the league were divided into three divisions: East, North, and South (down from four in 2018). The three division winners plus a wild-card team (the remaining team with the best overall winning percentage) play in a one-game semifinal; the team with the best regular-season record plays the wild-card team, while the division winner with the second-best record plays the division winner with the third-best record. The semifinal winners meet in a best-of-3-game series for the Gulf Coast League championship.[13]

Current teams
Locations of teams in the Gulf Coast League

GCL teams are not referred to by their home city, but simply by their parent club's name, the prefix "GCL" or "Gulf Coast" if necessary to differentiate between them and another club sharing the nickname, and a cardinal direction if the parent club operates more than one team in the league. Some of these teams share stadiums with their club's Class A affiliate in the Florida State League, which can lead to confusion, as FSL teams do use the city name (e.g. the Tampa Tarpons, distinct from the Gulf Coast League Yankees, who also play in Tampa).

The New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and Philadelphia Phillies began fielding two teams in 2013, 2016, and 2018 (respectively), the first time since 1981 when the Houston Astros (1980—1981) and Kansas City Royals (1974, 1979–1981) did so.

Division Team MLB Affiliation City Stadium Capacity
East GCL Astros Houston Astros West Palm Beach, Florida FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches 6,500
GCL Cardinals St. Louis Cardinals Jupiter, Florida Roger Dean Stadium 7,200
GCL Marlins Miami Marlins Jupiter, Florida Roger Dean Stadium 7,200
GCL Mets New York Mets Port St. Lucie, Florida Clover Park 7,160
GCL Nationals Washington Nationals West Palm Beach, Florida FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches 6,500
North GCL Blue Jays Toronto Blue Jays Dunedin, Florida Bobby Mattick Training Center at Englebert Complex 5,500
GCL Phillies East Philadelphia Phillies Clearwater, Florida Carpenter Complex 500
GCL Phillies West Philadelphia Phillies Clearwater, Florida Carpenter Complex 500
GCL Tigers East Detroit Tigers Lakeland, Florida Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium 8,500
GCL Tigers West Detroit Tigers Lakeland, Florida Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium 8,500
GCL Yankees East New York Yankees Tampa, Florida George M. Steinbrenner Field 11,000
GCL Yankees West New York Yankees Tampa, Florida George M. Steinbrenner Field 11,000
South GCL Braves Atlanta Braves North Port, Florida CoolToday Park 9,500
GCL Orioles Baltimore Orioles Sarasota, Florida Ed Smith Stadium 8,340
GCL Pirates Pittsburgh Pirates Bradenton, Florida Pirate City 7,500
GCL Rays Tampa Bay Rays Port Charlotte, Florida Charlotte Sports Park 7,000
GCL Red Sox Boston Red Sox Fort Myers, Florida JetBlue Park at Fenway South 8,000
GCL Twins Minnesota Twins Fort Myers, Florida Lee County Sports Complex 7,500

Past teams

League champions

References
  1. "FAQs: The Business of MiLB - MiLB.com Official Info - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  2. McManaman, Bob (June 30, 1991). "Lansford set to report to rookie league team to start rehabilitation". Arizona Republic.
  3. Rogers, Phil (July 11, 2004). "Slump ruins Williams". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on February 5, 2018.
  4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?code=GULF&class=C
  5. "Gulf Coast League Encyclopedia and History". Baseball Reference. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?code=GULF&class=B
  7. Bender, Bob (1964-07-07). "Rookie League Should Aid Sarasota Economy". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  8. "Special Ceremonies Mark League Opening". St. Petersburg Times. 1964-06-27. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  9. Rivera, Joe. "Minor League Baseball hires first female umpire since 2007". Sporting News. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  10. http://www.espn.com/espnw/features/article/19956500/another-crack-major-league-baseball-glass-ceiling
  11. "A Message From Pat O'Conner". Minor League Baseball. March 13, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  12. "2020 Minor League Baseball Season Shelved". Minor League Baseball. June 30, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  13. "Gulf Coast League playoff procedures". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  14. "Davenport, Florida Minor League history". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  15. Gulf Coast League (August 28, 2019). "GCL cancels remainder of 2019 season". milb.com. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
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