Gulf Coast League

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Gulf Coast League
Gulf Coast League logo
Sport Baseball
Founded 1964
No. of teams 16
Country(ies) Flag of the United States United States
Most recent
champion(s)
Gulf Coast Yankees
Official website Official Website

The Gulf Coast League is a minor league baseball league which operates in Florida. It is a Rookie League, with a season running from mid-June to late August. The season is 60 games long and teams in the league are divided into three divisions, East, North and South. After the regular season the division champion with the best record gets a bye into the best-of-3 championship. The two other division champions play a single game to determine who will move on to the championship series.

GCL teams generally play at the minor league spring training complexes of their parent major league clubs, and are uniformly owned by those parent clubs. Their games are usually played in the afternoon, for very few (if any) spectators. GCL games are perhaps the least competitive of all minor league games, as most of the players were just drafted in that year's entry draft (2-3 weeks before the season's start) and are there to develop skills under their employer's tutelage rather than (necessarily) to win games or entertain fans.

GCL teams are not referred to by their home city, but simply by their parent club's name, and the prefix "GCL" or "Gulf Coast" if necessary to differentiate between them and another club sharing the nickname. Some of these teams share stadiums with their club's High-A affiliate in the Florida State League, which can lead to confusion, as FSL teams do use the city name (e.g. the Dunedin Blue Jays, three levels up from the GCL Blue Jays).

[edit] Current teams

Division Team MLB Affiliation City Stadium Capacity
East GCL Cardinals St. Louis Cardinals Jupiter, Florida Roger Dean Stadium 7,200
GCL Dodgers Los Angeles Dodgers Vero Beach, Florida Holman Stadium 6,500
GCL Marlins Florida Marlins Jupiter, Florida Roger Dean Stadium 7,200
GCL Mets New York Mets Port St. Lucie, Florida Tradition Field 7,347
GCL Nationals Washington Nationals Viera, Florida Carl Barger Complex
North GCL Blue Jays Toronto Blue Jays Dunedin, Florida Bobby Mattick Training Center at Englebert Complex
GCL Braves Atlanta Braves Lake Buena Vista, Florida Champion Stadium 9,500
GCL Indians Cleveland Indians Winter Haven, Florida Chain of Lakes Park 7,000
GCL Phillies Philadelphia Phillies Clearwater, Florida Carpenter Complex
GCL Tigers Detroit Tigers Lakeland, Florida Joker Marchant Stadium 8,500
GCL Yankees New York Yankees Tampa, Florida Yankee Complex
South GCL Orioles Baltimore Orioles Sarasota, Florida Twin Lakes Park -
GCL Pirates Pittsburgh Pirates Bradenton, Florida Pirate City Stadium
GCL Reds Cincinnati Reds Sarasota, Florida Ed Smith Stadium 7,500
GCL Red Sox Boston Red Sox Fort Myers, Florida Boston Red Sox Player Development Complex
GCL Twins Minnesota Twins Fort Myers, Florida Lee County Complex