Sarasota Rookie League

The Sarasota Rookie League was a minor baseball league that played in 1964 as a Rookie level league. All league games were played in Sarasota, Florida. The Sarasota Rookie League was succeeded in 1965 by the Florida Rookie League, which evolved into the Gulf Coast League in 1966. The 1964 Cocoa Rookie League operated simultaneously with the Sarasota Rookie League.

Sarasota Rookie League
ClassificationRookie (1964)
SportMinor League Baseball
Inaugural season1964
Ceased1964
Replaced byFlorida Rookie League
PresidentBill Harbour
No. of teams4
CountryUnited States
Venue(s)Payne Park
Most titles1
SRL Braves (1964)
Related
competitions		Cocoa Rookie League
Gulf Coast League

History

The four–team Sarasota Rookie League formed for the 1964 season. League teams played a 59–game schedule, beginning play on July 1, 1964 and ending on August 31, 1964.[1]

The Sarasota Rookie League and Cocoa Rookie League were formed simultaneously in 1964. The new concept was to provide leagues with a short–season schedule that provided attendance options for fans and to assist major league teams in developing beginning professional players while further utilizing spring training facilities.[2] Today, the Florida Complex League continues play under the concept initiated in 1964.[3]

The four Sarasota Rookie League teams were minor league affiliates of the Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Braves, New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals.[4] All league games were played in Sarasota, Florida, with teams taking the nickname of their affiliate.[5]

Sarasota Rookie League games were hosted at Payne Park, which was called "Arthur Allyn Park" at the time and contained multiple ballfields. Arthur Allyn was the owner of the Chicago White Sox in 1964 when the league began play. Allyn was highly supportive of the rookie league concept.[6][7]

The Sarasota Rookie League began play on July 1, 1964, with two games scheduled at 11:15 AM and played simultaneously at Arthur Allyn Park.[7]

Player salaries in the league were between $400 and $500 per month.[6]

The SRL Braves, playing under manager Paul Snyder, won the championship with a 36–23 record.[8] The Braves finished 6.5 games ahead of the 2nd place SRL Cardinals in the final standings.[4]

Leora Montgomery of the SRL Braves was chosen as the league most valuable player.[5]

Following the 1964 season, the Sarasota Rookie League evolved into the six–team Florida Rookie League in 1965.[9][10]

1964 Sarasota Rookie League teams

Standings & statistics

1964 Sarasota Rookie League

Team standingsWLPCTGBManagers
SRL Braves3623.610-Paul Snyder
SRL Cardinals3030.5006.5Fred Koenig
SRL White Sox2931.4837.5Frank Parenti
SRL Yankees2435.40712.0Bill Shantz
Player statistics
PlayerTeamStatTotPlayerTeamStatTot
Milton MintonBravesBA.311Alex BonciBravesW7
Leora MontgomeryBravesRuns34Robert DuGuidBravesW7
Milton MintonBravesHits61Ken MurphyBravesW7
Milton MintonBravesRBI25Tom RoweWhite SoxSO72
Michael MantschBravesHR3Alex BonciBravesERA1.00

[5]

References
  1. "1964 Sarasota Rookie League (SRL) Minor League Baseball on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  2. "Minor League Presidents | MiLB.com History | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com.
  3. "The Official Site of the Florida Complex League". MiLB.com.
  4. "1964 Sarasota Rookie League". Baseball-Reference.com.
  5. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, editors (Third ed.). Baseball America. 2007. ISBN 978-1932391176.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. Bender, Bob (1964-07-07). "Rookie League Should Aid Sarasota Economy". St. Petersburg Times.
  7. "Special Ceremonies Mark League Opening". St. Petersburg Times. 1964-06-27.
  8. "1964 Braves Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  9. "1965 Florida Rookie League (FRL) Minor League Baseball on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  10. "1965 Florida Rookie League". Baseball-Reference.com.
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