Sarasota White Sox
January 11, 2021
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.
