The Florida Complex League Pirates are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Pirates. The team plays its home games in Bradenton, Florida, at the Pirate City complex. The team is composed mainly of players who are in their first year of professional baseball either as draftees or non-drafted free agents from the United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and other countries.

History The team was first established in 1968, and has competed continuously since then. The team won division championships in 2002, 2003, 2008, and 2013. In 2012, the team won its first league championship.

In 2009, the team had nine players each from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, with the United States third at six players. They were the two highly publicized, pioneering Indian pitchers, Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, who became the first Indian-born players to sign professional baseball contracts in the United States, a second baseman from Colombia, two players from Puerto Rico, and one player each from Mexico, Panama, Australia, Canada, and one of the first three players ever signed out of South Africa, Gift Ngoepe, and one of the Americans, Chris Aure, was from Alaska. "We eat together in the cafeteria, but sometimes we try each other's foods," Ngoepe says. "I listen to the Indians' music when I go past their rooms, and they listen to my music from Africa. We tell each other stories about our home countries. We do everything together." "Everybody's the same here, like family," Venezuelan infielder Elevys Gonzalez says.

For the 2021 season, the team is fielding two squads in the league, differentiated as "Black" and "Gold" in reference to the team's colors.

Season-by-season

Year Record Win–loss % Manager Regular season finish Playoffs1968 27-33 .450 Buddy Pritchard 6th GCL No playoffs until 19831969 28-26 .519 Buddy Pritchard 4th GCL 1970 23-40 .365 Dick Cole 8th GCL 1971 20-32 .385 Ed Napoleon 6th GCL 1972 21-39 .350 Ed Napoleon 7th(t) GCL 1973 17-37 .315 Woody Huyke 9th GCL 1974 11-42 .208 Woody Huyke 9th GCL 1975 23-31 .426 Woody Huyke 4th GCL 1976 11-41 .212 Woody Huyke 7th GCL 1977 22–32 .407 Woody Huyke 7th GCL 1978 21–32 .396 Woody Huyke 6th GCL 1979 20–32 .385 Woody Huyke 6th GCL 1980 24–39 .381 Woody Huyke 8th GCL 1981 32–28 .533 Woody Huyke 5th GCL 1982 27–35 .435 Woody Huyke 3rd GCL 1983 28–32 .467 Woody Huyke 3rd GCL North Did not qualify1984 21–42 .333 Woody Huyke 5th GCL North Did not qualify1985 15–47 .242 Woody Huyke 5th GCL North Did not qualify1986 24–39 .381 Woody Huyke 5th GCL North Did not qualify1987 33–30 .390 Woody Huyke 2nd GCL North Did not qualify1988 26–37 .413 Julio Garcia 5th GCL South Did not qualify1989 21–42 .333 Woody Huyke 8th GCL South Did not qualify1991 30–29 .508 Woody Huyke 3rd GCL Central Did not qualify1992 23–37 .383 Woody Huyke 4th GCL Central Did not qualify1993 21–38 .356 Woody Huyke 7th GCL West Did not qualify1994 25–35 .417 Woody Huyke 4th GCL West Did not qualify1995 23–36 .390 Woody Huyke 4th GCL Northwest Did not qualify1996 28–31 .475 Woody Huyke 3rd GCL Northwest Did not qualify1997 27–32 .458 Woody Huyke 6th GCL Northwest Did not qualify1998 25–35 .407 Woody Huyke 6th GCL West Did not qualify1999 24–35 .407 Woody Huyke 5th GCL North Did not qualify2000 34–26 .567 Woody Huyke 2nd GCL North Did not qualify2001 22–34 .393 Woody Huyke 6th GCL West Did not qualify2002 37–23 .617 Woody Huyke 1st GCL North Lost in 1st roundvs. GCL Dodgers (1 game to 0)2003 36–20 .643 Woody Huyke 1st GCL North Lost in Finalsvs. GCL Braves (2 games to 0)2004 30–28 .517 Woody Huyke 3rd GCL South Did not qualify2005 28–26 .519 Jeff Livesey 2nd GCL South Did not qualify2006 27–26 .509 Turner Ward 4th GCL North Did not qualify2007 26–30 .464 Tom Prince 4th GCL South Did not qualify2008 37–19 .661 Tom Prince 1st GCL South Lost in 1st roundvs. GCL Phillies (1 game to 0)2009 29–31 .483 Tom Prince 4th GCL North Did not qualify2010 29–30 .492 Tom Prince 4th GCL North Did not qualify2011 34–26 .567 Tom Prince 2nd GCL North Lost in 1st round2012 36–24 .600 Tom Prince 2nd GCL North Won GCL Championshipvs. GCL Red Sox (2 games to 0)Won in first roundvs. GCL Cardinals (1 game to 0)2013 33-27 .600 Milver Reyes 1st GCL Northwest Lost in 1st roundvs. GCL Nationals (1 game to 0)2014 20-40 .333 Milver Reyes 3rd GCL Northwest Did not qualify2015 28-31 .475 Milver Reyes 3rd GCL Northwest Did not qualify2016 22-34 .393 Edgar Varela 2nd GCL Northwest Did not qualify2017 26-34 .433 Dave Turgeon 3rd GCL Northeast Did not qualify

Rosters

References

External links Official website