This article summarizes the history of both amateur and professional baseball played in the Tampa Bay area.

Spring training In 1913, the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians moved their respective spring training sites to Florida, marking the unofficial inception of the Grapefruit League; the Cubs set up their new facility in Tampa.

St. Petersburg Since the St. Louis Browns moved their spring training site to St. Petersburg in 1914, the city has hosted more spring training games than any other. Team Year(s) Stadium Practice Field St. Louis Browns 1914 Sunshine Park N/A Philadelphia Phillies 1915–1918 Sunshine Park N/A Boston Braves 1922–1937 Waterfront Park N/A New York Yankees 1925–1942, 1946–19471947–1950*, 1952–1961 Waterfront ParkAl Lang Field Huggins-Stengel Field St. Louis Cardinals 1938–1942, 1946–19471947–1997 Waterfront ParkAl Lang Field Busch Field (1965–1987)Naimoli Field (1988–1997) New York Giants 1951* Al Lang Field Huggins-Stengel Field New York Mets 1962–1987 Al Lang Field Huggins-Stengel Field (1962–1967)Naimoli Field (1968–1987) Baltimore Orioles 1992–1995 Al Lang Field Huggins-Stengel Field Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays 1998–2008 Al Lang Field Naimoli Field Tampa Bay Rays 2023 Tropicana Field Huggins-Stengel Field, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex *Note: In 1951, the New York Giants, whose spring training facilities were in Phoenix, Arizona, swapped locations with the New York Yankees at the request of Yankees' co-owner Del Webb. The teams returned to their typical training sites in 1952.

Tampa Tampa has hosted spring training for seven teams: the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, and the New York Yankees, who currently call Tampa their spring training home. Team Year(s) Facility Chicago Cubs 1913–1916 Plant Field Boston Red Sox 1919 Plant Field Washington Senators 1920–1929 Plant Field Detroit Tigers 1930 Plant Field Cincinnati Reds 1931–1942, 1946–1987 Plant Field Al Lopez Field (1955–1987) Chicago White Sox 1954–1959 Al Lopez Field New York Yankees 1996–present George M. Steinbrenner Field

Clearwater Team Year(s) Facility Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers) 1923–1932 Brooklyn Field Cleveland Indians 1942 Clearwater Athletic Field Philadelphia Phillies 1947–present Jack Russell Memorial Stadium (1955–2003) BayCare Ballpark (2004–present)

Dunedin Dunedin has been the only spring training home to the Toronto Blue Jays since the franchise's inception. Team Year(s) Facility Toronto Blue Jays 1977–present TD Ballpark

Tarpon Springs Team Year(s) Facility St. Louis Browns 1925–1927

Plant City Team Year(s) Facility Cincinnati Reds 1988–1997 Plant City Stadium

Minor leagues

Past The Tampa Bay area has a long association with minor league baseball. The first modern example was the 1919 Tampa Smokers, a charter member of the original Class D Florida State League (FSL). The expansion St. Petersburg Saints joined the FSL in 1920. After the Smokers folded in 1954, the Tampa Tarpons played in the FSL from 1957 until 1989.

Tampa, St. Petersburg, and other nearby communities also fielded teams in a variety of defunct minor leagues, including the Florida International League, the Florida State Negro League, and the short-lived Florida West Coast League.

Present The Tampa Bay area is currently home to five teams in the Low-A Florida State League: the Tampa Tarpons, Clearwater Threshers, Dunedin Blue Jays, Bradenton Marauders, and Lakeland Flying Tigers. Several major league organizations also field squads in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League and the Florida Instructional League.

The corporate offices of Minor League Baseball have been located in St. Petersburg since 1973.

Other professional leagues The Tampa Rockets were a short-lived team in the late 1940s and early 1950s that played in the Florida State Negro League, one of the many Negro Leagues that existed at the time.

St. Petersburg was the home of the St. Petersburg Pelicans in the short-lived Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989–1990. The league featured former major league players who were age 35 or older. The Pelicans won the only league championship.

College baseball Several notable ballplayers have come from the college and university baseball programs in the Tampa Bay Area. Players and managers have reached the Major Leagues from the University of South Florida, University of Tampa, St. Petersburg College and Eckerd College. Other schools in the area with baseball programs include Pasco-Hernando State College, Saint Leo University, and Hillsborough Community College.

The South Florida Bulls have made 14 NCAA Division I Tournament appearances, winning their region once in 2021.

The University of Tampa Spartans baseball program has won eight Division II national championships: 1992, 1993, 1998, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2015, and 2019.

Amateur baseball Organized amateur baseball in Tampa is thought to have begun in Ybor City and West Tampa, two neighborhoods founded in the late 1800s by immigrants from Cuba, Spain, and Italy. The neighborhoods were home to many social clubs, many of which sponsored highly competitive teams that inspired much local support.

Little League Baseball teams from the Tampa Bay Area area have made regular trips to the Little League World Series, finishing runners-up in the 1948, 1975, 1980 & 1981 Little League World Series tournaments.Little League Champions – sportingnews.com Tampa Bay area teams have won the state Little League tournament in 1967, 1969–1975, 1977, 1980–1981, 1988–1991, 1994, 2006, 2008, 2011, and 2012. In addition, local teams have won Junior League championships in 1982, 1985, 2004, and 2011.

Little League Baseball's headquarters for the Southern Region was located in Gulfport until 2009.

Notable baseball players from the Tampa Bay area Al López, the first area native to play and manage in the major leagues and the first to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, came out of the leagues of Ybor City in the early 20th century. Since then, local baseball programs have produced many current and former major league players and managers including Lou Piniella, Fred McGriff, Gary Sheffield, Tino Martinez, Luis Gonzalez, Dwight Gooden, Howard Johnson, Tony La Russa, Chone Figgins, Wade Boggs and Steve Garvey.

Tampa Baseball Museum The Tampa Baseball Museum, operated by the Ybor City Museum Society, is located in López's former childhood home. The house was moved to its present location across the street from the Ybor City State Museum.

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