Daytona Beach Islanders

• Location: Daytona Beach, FL

• League: Florida State League 1920-1924, 1928, 1936-1941, 1946-1966, 1977, 1985-1986

• Affiliation: St. Louis Cardinals 1936-1941; Brooklyn Dodgers 1946; Cleveland Indians 1950-1953; St. Louis Cardinals 1954; Cleveland Indians 1956; St. Louis Cardinals 1957-1960; Chicago White Sox 1961; Kansas City A's 1962-1964; Detroit Tigers 1965-1966; Kansas City Royals 1977; Co-op 1985; Texas Rangers 1986

• Ballpark: City Island Park

Team History

The Daytona Beach Islanders were Catfish Hunter's first pro team in 1964, although he didn't appear in a game for them.

1985-1986

In 1985 the Daytona Beach Astros were renamed the Daytona Beach Islanders after the Astros moved to Kissimmee, FL and became the Osceola Astros. Owned by Texas Rangers VP Larry Schmittou, the Daytona Beach, FL team was a co-op with players from the Rangers and Baltimore Orioles. Managed by Jim Hutto, it was a weak club, like most co-ops, finishing 53-87, last in the Florida State League. Next-to-last in the FSL in attendance (30,736), the Islanders had no All-Stars and were outscored 649-474. Hitting only 14 homers in 140 games, Daytona Beach still had enough talent to produce a few big-leaguers, such as Bob Kipper (6-10, 2.85), Kenny Rogers (0-1, 7.20, 23 baserunners in 10 IP) and catcher Jeff Tackett (.194/~.284/.282).

The 1986 Islanders became an official Rangers farm team, but actually got worse, going 40-97 to finish last once again. They just missed becoming the second 100-loss team in FSL history, yet improved attendance more than any other team, going up to 42,774 and 8th of the league's 12 teams. Managed by Chino Cadahia, they allowed 840 runs (worst in the league) while scoring 526 (also worst). They produced no notable major league players.

In 1987, the Rangers moved the team to Port Charlotte, FL, and the FSL put a new team in Daytona Beach, the Daytona Beach Admirals.

Sources: 1986 and 1987 Baseball America Statistics Report, 1988 Almanac

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs	Notes
1920	58-45	3rd	Rudy Hulswitt	none
1921	55-60	4th	Jack Martin	none
1922	53-58	3rd	Jack Martin	none
1923	50-66	5th	Red Ames / Bob Munn	none
1924	26-55	--	Bill Holloway / Tom McMillan	--	Team moved to Clearwater (11-10) July 15
1928	26-36	5th	Therman "Cy" Simmons	League disbanded July 4
1936	62-54	2nd	Arnold Anderson	Lost League Finals
1937	67-72	7th	Jimmy Sanders
1938	72-67	4th	Jimmy Sanders (56-49) / Harrison Wickel (16-18)	Lost in 1st round
1939	87-48	2nd	Tommy West	Lost League Finals
1940	86-53	1st	Dickie Kerr	Lost in 1st round
1941	57-70	5th	James "Bunny" Simmons
1946	58-73	7th	John Sosh
1947	42-90	8th	Grover Hartley (34-68) / Max Samuely (8-22)	Lost League Finals
1948	85-53	2nd	Sam Demma	League Champs
1949	79-56	2nd	Sam Demma	Lost in 1st round
1950	87-52	2nd	Red Ruffing	Lost in 1st round
1951	62-78	6th	Mike Tresh
1952	77-59	4th	Red Kress	Lost League Finals
1953	86-49	1st	Ed Levy	League Champs
1954	52-86	8th	Ed Levy
1955	77-63	2nd	Johnny Vander Meer	none
1956	72-56	4th	Hank Majeski	none
1957	84-56	2nd	Homer Ray Wilson
1958	79-58	2nd	Homer Ray Wilson	none
1959	71-63	4th	Homer Ray Wilson
1960	66-69	5th	Frank Calo
1961	63-71	5th	Homer Ray Wilson
1962	61-61	5th	Bill Robertson
1963	51-71	7th	Bobby Hofman	none
1964	63-71	5th	Grady Wilson / Charles "Butch" Cole / Bill Posedel / Grady Wilson / Lew Krausse
1965	67-74	6th	Al Federoff	none
1966	71-70	6th	Gail Henley
1977	57-77	8th	Jose Martinez
1985	53-87	12th	Jim Hutto
1986	40-97	12th	Chino Cadahia

Further Reading

• George Gmelch: "Putting Up Numbers: Daytona Beach Islanders", "Moving Up: Daytona to Rocky Mount" and "Double Passage", in Playing with Tigers: A Minor League Chronicle of the Sixties, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 2016, pp. 101-162. ISBN 978-0-8032-7681-9