Senior Professional Baseball Association (1989-1990)
Tombstone
Born: May 31, 1989 – SPBA founding franchise
Folded: Postseason 1990
First Game: November 1, 1989 (L 8-1 @ West Palm Beach Tropics)
Last Game: January 31, 1990 (L 8-1 vs. Fort Myers Sun Sox)
Senior League Championships: None
Stadium
St. Lucie County Sports Complex (7,347)
Ownership & Affiliation
Owners: Joe Sprung
Major League Affiliation: Independent
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Background
The St. Lucie Legends were one of eight original franchises in the Senior Professional Baseball Association, which debuted in November 1989. The SPBA was a Florida-based winter league that played a 72-game schedule between the end of the World Series and the start of spring training. Players had to be 35 years of age or older, except for catchers, who could be as young as 32. The SPBA’s oldest player was 54-year old Ed Rakow of the West Palm Beach Tropics, who last played in the Major League in 1967.
Legit Legends
The Legends had some great names, including 1971 American League MVP and Cy Young Award winner Vida Blue, 1977 National League MVP George Foster, and former Major League All-Star Bobby Bonds. Six-time All-Star Graig Nettles, whose 22-season Major League career concluded one year earlier in 1988, signed on as player-manager.
Despite the pedigree of top stars, the Legends were a league doormat. They lost 20 of their first 23 games and cost Nettles his manager’s post. Bonds replaced Nettles as manager for the remainder of the season.
Box Office Flop
The team also had severe financial struggles. Actually, the entire Senior Baseball concept was a bust throughout Florida. The SPBA averaged just 921 fans league-wide during the 1989-90 season. St. Lucie was one of the worst markets with average attendance of only 607 fans for 36 home games.
Team owner Joe Sprung tried to unload the team midway through the season without success. The Legends ended up bouncing two payrolls towards the end of the season, nearly resulting in a player walkout. The team did manage to complete the 1989-90 season but finished dead last at 20-51. The club folded shortly thereafter.
The SPBA contracted to six clubs – including expansion teams in Arizona and California – and attempted a second season in the winter of 1990-91. The league lasted only a month before folding abruptly in December 1990.
Trivia
Each SPBA team was allowed up to three players with no Major League experience. The Legends signed a 31-year old ex-minor league catcher named Chuck Fick. The pinnacle of Fick’s playing career was 19 games in triple-A in 1983. Fick then went Hollywood, playing bit parts as ballplayers in films like Mr. Baseball and The Sandlot. Prior to joining the Legends in 1989, his most recent catching experience was as the perplexed California Angels backstop dealing with Leslie Nielsen in the 1988 hit comedy The Naked Gun.
St. Lucie Legends Shop
Downloads
1989-90 Senior Professional Baseball Association standard player contract
Senior Professional Baseball Association Standard Player Contract
Links
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One Response
As most of you know, I worked for the St.Petersburg Pelicans in ’89-90, the only SPBA Champion. My roommate in St.Pete, was our radio broadcaster and former Orioles play-by-play man Jack Weirs. To show you how bad attendance in St.Lucie was Jack took note of it during the FIRST series the Pelicans played in St.Lucie…”I don’t know how many people are here today,” he began, “but the stadium is completely empty; like nobody told the people here there is a game today,” the color man and former MLB pitcher Dick Bosman chimed in “It’s almost like there’s a boycott going on”. The Jack replied, “yeah it’s like the Legends told the people of St.Lucie – Hey folks, we have real big league baseball here, with future Hall of Famers playing and we don’t want you to come to any of our games, so stay away no matter what happens.” Well the game was a day game and we had the broadcast in the Pelicans office. My desk was right in front of team owner and SPBA founder Jim Morley and we looked at each other. Jim had a sad look on his face. I could only think that he was thinking was “what have i done?” he didn’t say it, but I know he was thinking it.
As a side note, the General Manager and face of the organization was Ray Negron, the former batboy for the ’77 and ’78 Yankees, who still works for the Yankees and is in many documenteries talking about his days with the “Bronx Zoo” one hell of a great guy. I joined him for breakfast one mornig and sat between Viad Blue and George Foster. Vida and I talked the whole time…not just about baseball, but about life. He seemed to be interested in me as a person (and at 21 I sure hadn’t lived a life yet) and George was reading Watchtower. Hardly said a work…nice guy though.