Sarasota White Sox

Florida State League (1989-1993)

Tombstone

Born: November 18, 1988 – The Tampa Tarpons relocate to Sarasota, FL
Affiliation Change: 1994 (Sarasota Red Sox)

First Game: April 7, 1989 (W 5-2 @ Baseball City Royals)
Final Game: September 5, 1993 (L 4-1 @ St. Petersburg Cardinals)

FSL Championships: None

Stadium

Ed Smith Stadium
Opened: 1989

Ownership & Affiliation

Owner: Chicago White Sox (Jerry Reinsdorf, et al.)

Major League Affiliation: Chicago White Sox

Attendance

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Print Download

Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 2007

Background

Sarasota, Florida hosted spring training for the Chicago White Sox for 38 seasons from 1960 until 1997. For two brief stretches during that era, the White Sox also sponsored a Florida State League Class A minor league team in Sarasota. The first farm entry, the Sarasota Sun Sox, played at the city’s Payne Park from 1962 to 1965. In 1989, Sarasota opened 7,500-seat Ed Smith Stadium to replace aging Payne Park. With the opening of the new ballpark, the White Sox purchased the FSL’s Tampa Tarpons in November 1988 to play at the new facility beginning the next April.

Notable Names

Over the next five seasons, Sarasota hosted a truly eclectic cast of noteworthy ballplayers. The roster of luminaries included:

Jim Morris pitched two games for Sarasota in 1989. More on him in a moment.
Superstar Frank Thomas played 55 games for Sarasota in 1989 in his rookie pro season
21-year Pete Rose Jr. spent a full season as Sarasota’s starting third baseman in 1991
Second baseman Ray Durham (Sarasota ’92) who developed into a two-time All-Star for Chicag
Two-sport superstar winner Bo Jackson appeared in two injury rehab games in 1991 following his devastating – and ultimately career-ending – hip injury suffered in NFL action earlier that year
44-year old future Hall-of-Fame catcher Carlton Fisk dropped in for a 7-game rehab stint in 1992
7-time American League All-Star pitcher Dave Stieb made two starts for Sarasota in 1993

Frank Thomas became the greatest player of the Sarasota White Sox era. He debuted in the Majors in August 1990, embarking a 19-year career, including 16 seasons with Chicago. He hit .301 for his career with 521 home runs and entered the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot in 2014.

Jim Morris, conversely, retired from baseball in 1989 at age 25 after faring poorly in two appearances for Sarasota in 1989. Morris had spent seven unremarkable, injury-plagued seasons in the minors at that point. A decade (!) later, Morris made an unlikely comeback spurred on by a bet with the high school baseball players he coached in Texas. Able to throw 98 miles per hour at age 35, Morris signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in early 1999 and – absurdly – advanced through their entire minor league system and debuted in the Major Leagues as a September call-up that same year.

Three years later, Morris’ insane comeback story was turned into a Disney movie starring Dennis Quaid. The Rookie grossed $80 million at the theatrical box office during 2002.

Changing Sox

Following the 1993 season, the Boston Red Sox replaced Chicago as Sarasota’s Major League parent club. The FSL franchise was accordingly re-named the Sarasota Red Sox for the 1994 season.

The White Sox remained in Sarasota for spring training purposes for four more seasons before shifting their training camp operations to Arizona in 1998.