St. Petersburg Pelicans

The St. Petersburg Pelicans were one of the eight original franchises that began play in the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989. The team went 42-30 in the regular season and won the Northern Division title. Steve Henderson hit .352 for the club, and Lenny Randle batted .349. Milt Wilcox went 12-3, and Jon Matlack added 10 wins. Led by Lamar Johnson's home run and three RBI, the Pelicans went on to beat the West Palm Beach Tropics 12-4 to win the league's championship game. The St. Petersburg Pelicans returned for a second season but ceased operation when the league folded in December 1990.

The original St. Petersburg Pelicans were a team that played in the 1940s and 1950s in the Florida State Negro Baseball League. The Pelicans played at Campbell Park in St. Petersburg.^[1]

Player/Manager: Bobby Tolan

Coaches: Dock Ellis, Ozzie Virgil, Sr., Tom Zimmer

1989 Opening Day Roster

• Pitchers: Dock Ellis, Al Holland (also with St. Lucie), Randy Lerch, Jon Matlack, Gerry Pirtle, Dave Rajsich, Joe Sambito, Elías Sosa, Sammy Stewart (also with Bradenton), Milt Wilcox, Mike Williams
• Catchers: Butch Benton, Mark Corey, Dwight Lowry
• Infielders: Alan Bannister, Sergio Ferrer (also with St. Lucie), Luis Gomez, Roy Howell, Gary Rajsich, Lenny Randle
• Outfielders: Steve Henderson, Steve Kemp, Jerry Martin, Bake McBride (also with Orlando)
• Disabled list: Ron LeFlore (also with Bradenton), Pat Zachry
• Other Players: Dick Bosman, Nardi Contreras, Iván DeJesús, Hoot Gibson, Lamar Johnson, Pete LaCock (also with Winter Haven), Ken Landreaux (also with Orlando), Jim Morley, Blue Moon Odom, Bombo Rivera, Ozzie Virgil, Jr., Mark Morley

On June 21, 2008 the Tampa Bay Rays wore St. Petersburg Pelicans jerseys to honor the team in a game against the Houston Astros.^[2]

References

External links

• St. Petersburg Pelicans at FunWhileItLasted.net
• Brainy History
• The Forever Boys, book by Peter Golenbock