Florida East Coast League

The Florida East Coast League was the name of two American minor league baseball circuits, based on the Atlantic coast of Florida.

The first incarnation of the FECL was as a Class D circuit that played from 1940 through May 14, 1942. It shut its doors, along with many other minor leagues, a few months after the United States entered World War II, and, despite the postwar baseball boom, it was not revived.

The second Florida East Coast League was a Rookie-class "complex league" owned and operated by Major League Baseball clubs. It existed for one season — 1972 — and was intended to provide a second Florida-based league for 18- and 19-year-old players, along with the established Gulf Coast League, which is located in southwest and west-central Florida. The FECL of 1972 featured four teams based at minor league training complexes in Cocoa and Melbourne.

FECL teams, 1940–1942

Cocoa Beach Fliers DeLand Red Hats Fort Lauderdale Tarpons (Champions, 1940) Fort Pierce Bombers Hollywood Chiefs Miami Beach Flamingos (Champions, 1941)

Miami Beach Tigers Miami Seminoles Miami Wahoos Orlando Senators West Palm Beach Indians

FECL teams, 1972

• Cocoa Astros
• Cocoa Expos
• Melbourne Reds (Champions)
• Melbourne Twins

References

• Johnson, Lloyd and Wolff, Miles, eds., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3d edition. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 2007.