Jacksonville Suns
Encyclopedia
The Jacksonville Suns are a minor league baseball
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 team based in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

. The team is currently a member of the Southern League
Southern League (baseball)
The Southern League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the Southern United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The original league was formed in , and shut down in . A new league, the Southern Association, was formed in , consisting of twelve teams...

 and is the class Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 (MLB) team. Two teams named the Suns have played in Jacksonville since 1962: a class Triple-A International League
International League
The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

 team from 1962–1968, and the current Double-A team from 1970 to the present. From 1985–1990 the team was known as the Jacksonville Expos, when they were affiliated with the Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...

 MLB team.

The modern Suns club has played in the Southern League longer than any other, and its 41-year association with its city is the longest in Double-A baseball. The Suns won the International League
International League
The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

 title in 1968 and the Southern League championship in 1996, 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2010. They currently play at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville
Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville
The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville is a baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida. It is the home stadium of the Jacksonville Suns, who play in the Class Double-A Southern League. The facility opened in 2003....

, an 11,000-person capacity, $34 million park that opened in 2003. Since moving to the facility the Suns consistently have been top selling franchise in the Southern League.

History

Jacksonville has had minor league baseball nearly every year since the early 20th century. From 1904 to 1961 the city was home to minor league teams such as the Jacksonville Jays, the Jacksonville Tars, and the Jacksonville Braves
Jacksonville Braves
The Jacksonville Braves were a minor league baseball team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They played in the South Atlantic League for eight seasons, from 1953 to 1960, and were the Class A affiliate of the Milwaukee Braves Major League Baseball team during that time...

, as well as the Jacksonville Red Caps
Jacksonville Red Caps
The Jacksonville Red Caps were a team in Negro League Baseball in 1938 and 1941-1942, playing in Jacksonville, Florida at J. P. Small Memorial Stadium in the Negro American League. They moved to Cleveland in 1939 and became the Cleveland Bears. They returned to Jacksonville in 1941 for two seasons...

 of the Negro Leagues. The former three teams all played in the South Atlantic League
South Atlantic League
The South Atlantic League is a minor league baseball league based chiefly in the Southeastern United States, with the exception of three teams in the Mid-Atlantic States...

 (the "Sally League"), which became the modern Southern League
Southern League (baseball)
The Southern League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the Southern United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The original league was formed in , and shut down in . A new league, the Southern Association, was formed in , consisting of twelve teams...

 in 1964.

The first team known as the Jacksonville Suns began play in the Triple-A International League
International League
The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

 in 1962. The team had been founded in Havana, Cuba, where it was known as the Havana Sugar Kings
Havana Sugar Kings
The Havana Sugar Kings were a Cuban-based minor league baseball team that played in the Class AAA International League from 1954 to 1960 . They were affiliated with Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds, and their home stadium was El Gran Estadio del Cerro in Havana, Cuba.-History:The Sugar...

. Following the Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...

 in 1959 the team relocated to Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...

, but soon folded; the franchise was bought by the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

, who moved it to Jacksonville as the Jacksonville Suns in 1962. The president was local baseball fixture Sam W. Wolfson, previously the owner of the Jacksonville Braves
Jacksonville Braves
The Jacksonville Braves were a minor league baseball team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They played in the South Atlantic League for eight seasons, from 1953 to 1960, and were the Class A affiliate of the Milwaukee Braves Major League Baseball team during that time...

; the Suns replaced the Jacksonville Jets Sally League club. During this period a number of later Major League
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 stars played for the Suns, including Tommy John
Tommy John
Thomas Edward John Jr. is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball whose 288 career victories rank as the seventh highest total among left-handers in major league history...

, Nolan Ryan
Nolan Ryan
Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. , nicknamed "The Ryan Express", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is currently principal owner, president and CEO of the Texas Rangers....

, and Tom Seaver
Tom Seaver
George Thomas "Tom" Seaver , nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "The Franchise", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched from 1967-1986 for four different teams in his career, but is noted primarily for his time with the New York Mets...

, and the team won the International League championship in 1968. That year, however, the team's then Major League affiliates, the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...

, decided to relocate the team to Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, where they became the team now known as the Norfolk Tides
Norfolk Tides
The Norfolk Tides are a minor league baseball team in the Triple-A International League. They play at Harbor Park in Norfolk, Virginia. Since 2007 they have been a farm team of the Baltimore Orioles; prior to that, they had a 38-year affiliation with the New York Mets.-Franchise history:The...

.

Jacksonville was without baseball in 1969, but in 1970 a new Suns team began play in the Double-A Southern League
Southern League (baseball)
The Southern League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the Southern United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The original league was formed in , and shut down in . A new league, the Southern Association, was formed in , consisting of twelve teams...

. The team was affiliated with both the Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...

 and the Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

 in its inaugural season, with the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

 in 1971, and then with the Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...

 from 1972–1984. Affiliation switched back to the Expos from 1985–1990, during which period the team was known as the Jacksonville Expos. Since then it has been affiliated with the Seattle Mariners
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in , the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July...

 (1991–1994), the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

 (1994–2000), the Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...

 (2001–2008), and most recently the Miami Marlins (2008–present). The Suns have appeared in the Southern League playoffs fourteen times, and won the championship in 1996, 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2010. The 2009 and 2010 championships were only the third time in Southern League history that a championship won the year before had been successfully defended, both other times were by the Montgomery Biscuits
Montgomery Biscuits
The Montgomery Biscuits are a minor league baseball team based in Montgomery, Alabama. The team is the Class AA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and plays in the Southern League. The 2004 season was the team's first in Montgomery...

. The Suns have played in the Southern League longer than any other team, and their 41-year period in Jacksonville has become the longest consecutive association between any city and a class Double-A team.

The Suns played at Wolfson Park from 1962 until it was demolished in 2002. Since 2003 they have played at Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville
Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville
The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville is a baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida. It is the home stadium of the Jacksonville Suns, who play in the Class Double-A Southern League. The facility opened in 2003....

, an 11,000-person capacity, $34 million field created as part of the Better Jacksonville Plan
Better Jacksonville Plan
The Better Jacksonville Plan is a growth management plan implemented by the city of Jacksonville, Florida. It was the signature project of Mayor John Delaney. It was approved by Jacksonville voters on September 5, 2000...

. Since moving to the Baseball Grounds the Suns have consistently led the Southern League in attendance, drawing over 1 million fans in its first four years. The Suns' success has led to speculation that the team may move to class Triple A in the future.

Notable former players and coaches

  • Nolan Ryan
    Nolan Ryan
    Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. , nicknamed "The Ryan Express", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is currently principal owner, president and CEO of the Texas Rangers....

    , pitcher
  • Tom Seaver
    Tom Seaver
    George Thomas "Tom" Seaver , nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "The Franchise", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched from 1967-1986 for four different teams in his career, but is noted primarily for his time with the New York Mets...

    , pitcher
  • Jerry Koosman
    Jerry Koosman
    Jerome Martin Koosman is a former left-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies between 1967 and 1985...

    , pitcher
  • Amos Otis
    Amos Otis
    Amos Joseph Otis is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Mets , Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates . He batted and threw right-handed....

    , outfielder
  • Tug McGraw
    Tug McGraw
    Frank Edwin "Tug" McGraw Jr. was a Major League Baseball relief pitcher and the father of Country music singer Tim McGraw and actor/TV personality Mark McGraw and Cari McGraw...

    , pitcher
  • Mike Stanton, outfielder
  • Frank White, infielder
  • Gabe Kapler
    Gabe Kapler
    Gabriel "Gabe" Stefan Kapler is an American Major League Baseball outfielder.He has played portions of 13 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and the Tampa Bay Rays...

    , outfielder
  • Steve Yeager
    Steve Yeager
    Stephen Wayne "Steve" Yeager is an American right-handed former major league baseball catcher. Yeager spent 14 of the 15 seasons of his Major League Baseball career, from through , with the Los Angeles Dodgers. His last year, , he played for the Seattle Mariners...

    , hitting coach
  • Brandon Inge
    Brandon Inge
    Charles Brandon Inge is an American professional baseball infielder for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball. He bats and throws right-handed....

    . 3rd Baseman

See also

  • Current and former players (1962–1984,1991–present)
  • Former players (1985–1990)

External links

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