Brevard County Manatees
Brevard County Manatees | |||||
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Minor league affiliations | |||||
Previous classes | Class A-Advanced (1994–2016) | ||||
Previous leagues | Florida State League (1994–2016) | ||||
Major league affiliations | |||||
Previous teams |
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Minor league titles | |||||
League titles (1) | 2001 | ||||
Division titles (3) |
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Team data | |||||
Name | Brevard County Manatees (1994–2016) | ||||
Colors | navy blue, red, white | ||||
Mascot | Manny the Manatee | ||||
Previous parks | Space Coast Stadium (1994–2016) |
The Brevard County Manatees were a minor league baseball team of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League from 1994 to 2016. They were based in Viera, Florida, and played their home games at Space Coast Stadium; built in 1994, the park held 5,346 people and was also the Spring training home of Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals. The team left Brevard County after the 2016 season for Kissimmee, Florida, to be known as the Florida Fire Frogs.
Their mascot was Manny Manatee. During the time that the team was affiliated with the Florida Marlins, the mascot was named Hugh.
Team history
In 1994, the Manatees made it to the Florida State League championship series, but lost in the finals to the Tampa Yankees. They made a second championship series appearance in 2001. However, due to the September 11 attacks, the championship series was canceled and the Manatees and Yankees were declared co-champions. In 2007, the Manatees won the title in their division, but lost in the league finals to the Clearwater Threshers in four games.
On August 12, 2009, the Manatees recorded the 1,000th win in franchise history with an 8–2 win over the Dunedin Blue Jays.
The Manatees played their last game on September 4, 2016, losing to the Daytona Tortugas 6–4 before a crowd of 1,573 at Space Coast Stadium.[1] After the 2016 season, the team relocated to Kissimmee, Florida, whefre it would play its home games at Osceola County Stadium.[2] The name of the team changed to the Florida Fire Frogs[3] and its affiliation switched from the Brewers to the Atlanta Braves.
Promotions
In April 2007, on "World Record First Pitch Attempt Day" the stadium was opened at 6:00 a.m. for the 7:00 p.m. game to allow each fan to throw a ceremonial first pitch. They were still short of the world record by several hundred pitches.
Season-by-season results
Brevard County Manatees | ||||||
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Year | Regular Season | Post-season | ||||
Record | Win % | League | Record | Win % | Result | |
1994 | 78–61 | .561 | 2nd | 3–3 | .500 | Won East Division title vs West Palm Beach Expos, 2–0 Lost FSL Championship vs Tampa Yankees, 1–3 |
1995 | 61–74 | .452 | 12th | — | — | — |
1996 | 47–92 | .338 | 14th | — | — | — |
1997 | 62–76 | .449 | 12th | — | — | — |
1998 | 43–97 | .307 | 14th | — | — | — |
1999 | 61–74 | .452 | 12th | — | — | — |
2000 | 66–74 | .471 | 10th | — | — | — |
2001 | 80–55 | .593 | 1st | 2–1 | .667 | Won East Division title vs Vero Beach Dodgers, 2–1 FSL Championship series vs Tampa Yankees canceled due to September 11, 2001 attacks. Both teams are declared co-champions. |
2002 | 51–85 | .375 | 12th | — | — | — |
2003 | 65–66 | .496 | 7th | — | — | — |
2004 | 53–72 | .424 | 10th | — | — | — |
2005 | 63–73 | .463 | 10th | — | — | — |
2006 | 64–65 | .496 | 8th | — | — | — |
2007 | 74–62 | .544 | 4th | 3–4 | .429 | Won East Division title vs St. Lucie Mets, 2–1 Lost FSL Championship vs Clearwater Threshers, 1–3 |
2008 | 66–72 | .478 | 8th | — | — | — |
2009 | 79–48 | .622 | 1st | 0–2 | .000 | Lost North Division title vs Tampa Yankees, 0–2 |
2010 | 64–75 | .460 | 10th | — | — | — |
2011 | 62–76 | .449 | 11th | — | — | — |
2012 | 63–72 | .467 | 8th | — | — | — |
2013 | 66–68 | .493 | 7th | — | — | — |
2014 | 73–62 | .541 | 6th | — | — | — |
2014 | 73–62 | .541 | 6th | — | — | — |
2015 | 55–80 | .407 | 9th | — | — | — |
2016 | 40–97 | .292 | 12th | — | — | — |
Totals | 1,426–1,676 | .460 | — | 8–10 | .444 | 1 League Championship |
Notable alumni
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Ryan_Braun.jpg/160px-Ryan_Braun.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Nate_Robertson.jpg/160px-Nate_Robertson.jpg)
- Orlando Arcia
- Josh Beckett
- Ryan Braun
- Josh Butler
- Hiram Burgos
- Lorenzo Cain
- Chad Cordero
- Tyler Cravy
- Ryan Dempster
- Khris Davis
- Alcides Escobar
- Yovani Gallardo
- Mat Gamel
- Scooter Gennett
- David Goforth
- Tom Gorzelanny
- Jim Henderson
- Félix Heredia
- Shawn Hill
- Jeremy Jeffress
- Taylor Jungmann
- Jonathan Lucroy
- Jorge Lopez
- Damien Magnifico
- Matt Mantei
- Mike McClendon
- Brian Meadows
- Randy Messenger
- Kevin Millar
- Jimmy Nelson
- Édgar Rentería
- Scott Podsednik
- Manny Parra
- Mike Redmond
- Michael Reed
- Yadiel Rivera
- Nate Robertson
- Logan Schafer
- Grady Sizemore
- Randy Winn
- Darrell Rasner
- Joe Thatcher
- John Axford
- Jay Powell
- Tony Saunders
- Luis Ugueto
- Carlos Villanueva
- Tyler Wagner
- Kelley Washington[4]
- Chris Young
References
- ^ Bonanno, Chris, "Fans reflect on Manatees’ final game in Brevard," floridatoday.com, September 5, 2016, 12:29 a.m. EDT.
- ^ Hill, Benjamin (September 16, 2016). "Braves move A Advanced club to Kissimmee". MiLB.com. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
- ^ "Team Name Revealed as Florida Fire Frogs". MiLB.com. October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
- ^ Wide Receiver, New England Patriots, was a prospect for the Florida Marlins and played in Brevard in 1998 and 1999
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)