Tampa Tarpons

• Location: Tampa, FL
• League: Florida State League 1957-1987, 2018-2019; Low-A Southeast 2021; Florida State League 2022-
• Affiliation: Philadelphia Phillies 1957-1960; Cincinnati Reds 1961-1987; New York Yankees 2018-present
• Ballpark: Al Lopez Field ; Steinbrenner Field 2018-present

Team History

The Tampa Tarpons, of the Single-A Florida State League and briefly in Low-A Southeast, made history when Rachel Balkovec was named their 2022 manager - the first female manager in Organized Baseball history. The New York Yankees farmhands play their home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, FL.

The Tampa Yankees in 1994 returned FSL ball to the city six seasons after the Tampa White Sox moved to Sarasota, FL. In 1998, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays arrived in what is now their protected territory. In 2018, the long-time moniker of Tampa's previous FSL franchise replaced "Yankees". The nickname had been used by the previous Tampa FSL franchise from 1957 through its 1988 departure. When the big-league Tampa Bay Devil Rays were exploring a nickname change before simply dropping the "Devil", the considered "Tarpons" as a piece of Tampa baseball history. The Rays have even worn Tarpons throwback uniforms for Turn Back the Clock Night.

The man-on-second-in-extra-innings rule MLB] required the minors to adopt in 2018 caused the Tarps to lose a game in a way that should be impossible. Tarpon starting pitcher Diego Garcia threw seven perfect innings; the game being a minor-league double-header, that was "regulation" - but Tampa hadn't scored either. Per the invented-runner rule, Luke Williams trotted to second to start the 8th. Reliever Christian Morris didn't "allow" him to reach base, but he was nevertheless there when Henri Lartigue smacked a grounder back to the mound. Morris threw to second as Williams broke for third, and second baseman Diego Castillo dropped the ball trying to relay it to third. That put Lartigue on first - via a fielder's choice that should have been impossible. Morris got the next out with another grounder, but the next grounder went to first and Williams beat the throw to the plate[1].

The 1965 Tarpons were the first minor-league team for which Johnny Bench played. Drafted that year, the Reds great would go on to win the 1968 National League Rookie of the Year Award and the 1970 and 1972 NL Most Valuable Player Awards.

Bench became known for redefining the position of catcher. Few backstops were great hitters before him - with the notable exception of Josh Gibson in the Negro Leagues - but Bench not only hit for decent average and tremendous power, he was also recognized as a great pitch-caller and for introducing new techniques behind the plate that helped make him one of the great defensive receivers of all time as well. In a time when running teams expected to steal at least three quarters of the bases they tried to, Bench would throw out nearly half.

MLB's 2021 Minor League Reorganization lowered the Tarpons, and most of the FSL, one level.

Like seven of the other nine FSL teams, the Jays are owned by their parent club.

Year-by-Year Record

Historical logo

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1957	84-54	1st	Charlie Gassaway	League Champs
1958	74-69	4th	Charlie Gassaway	none
1959	78-55	1st	Charlie Gassaway	Lost League Finals
1960	68-67	4th	Moose Johnson
1961	90-44	1st	Johnny Vander Meer	League Champs
1962	66-54	3rd	Johnny Vander Meer (40-35) / Hersh Freeman (26-19)
1963	49-71	8th	Hersh Freeman	none
1964	68-71	4th	Pinky May
1965	67-69	5th	Pinky May (24-23) / Richard Schmidt (2-1) / Jack Cassini (41-45)	none
1966	47-94	10th	Lou Fitzgerald
1967	55-71	7th	George Scherger
1968	74-62	4th	George Scherger
1969	65-67	7th	Bunky Warren
1970	64-68	6th	Dick Kennedy
1971	79-61	4th	Russ Nixon	Lost in 1st round
1972	66-64	4th	Russ Nixon	Lost in 1st round
1973	73-71	6th	Russ Nixon
1974	68-64	4th	Russ Nixon	Lost in 1st round
1975	72-59	3rd	Russ Nixon	Lost League Finals
1976	76-60	1st	Ron Brand	Lost League Finals
1977	65-70	7th	Jim Hoff
1978	61-73	9th	Mike Compton
1979	74-60	3rd	Mike Compton
1980	64-67	5th	George Scherger
1981	79-54	2nd	Jim Lett	Lost in 1st round
1982	71-59	3rd	Jim Hoff	Lost League Finals
1983	56-71	8th	Jim Hoff
1984	74-65	4th	Marc Bombard	Lost League Finals
1985	73-62	5th	Marc Bombard
1986	79-57	4th	Marc Bombard	Lost in 1st round
1987	64-76	11th	Marc Bombard

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs	Hitting coach	Pitching coach	Coach
2018	70-67	7th	Pat Osborn		Eric Duncan	Jose Rosado	Jose Javier Michel Hernandez
2019	64-71	9th	Aaron Holbert		Joe Migliaccio	Jose Rosado	Kevin Mahoney Michel Hernandez
2020	Season cancelled
2021	73-43	1st	David Adams	Lost League Finals	Kevin Martir	Brett DeGagne	Michel Hernandez, Ryan Hunt
2022	61-67	8th	Rachel Balkovec		Kevin Martir	Grayson Crawford	Michel Hernandez, Antonio Pacheco
2023	61-69	8th	Rachel Balkovec		Rick Guarno	Gerardo Casadiego	Michel Hernandez, Lino Diaz
2024			James Cooper		Tom DeAngelis	Preston Claiborne	Michel Hernandez, Antonio Pacheco