The Florida Fire Frogs were a Minor League Baseball team of the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

from 2017 to 2020. They were located in

North Port, Florida North Port is a city located in Sarasota County, Florida, United States. The population was 74,793 at the 2020 US Census. It is part of the North Port–Bradenton–Sarasota Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was originally developed by G ...

, and served as the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

affiliate of the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

. Founded in 2017, the Fire Frogs played their home games at

Osceola County Stadium Osceola County Stadium is an outdoor sports venue located in Kissimmee, Florida, part of the wider Orlando City SC Training Ground at Osceola Heritage Park. Originally a baseball park, it was converted into a soccer-specific stadium by Orland ...

Kissimmee, Florida Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a Principal City of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...

, part of the

Greater Orlando The Orlando metropolitan area, commonly referred to as Greater Orlando, Metro Orlando, Central Florida as well as for U.S. Census purposes as the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, is a metropolitan area in the ...

metropolitan area, through 2019. In 2020, they were to have begun playing at CoolToday Park in North Port, but the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. They ceased operations after the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's reorganization of Minor League Baseball in 2021.

History

The Fire Frogs were the relocation of the

Brevard County Manatees 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. The team left Brevard County afte ...

. The team's name was announced on October 26, 2016, at the conclusion of a name-the-team contest. The finalists from which their name was selected were: "Dragonflies," "Fire Frogs," "Mud Kickers," "Rodeo Clowns," "Sorcerers," and "Toucans." In May 2019, the team accepted a half-million-dollar buyout from Osceola County to leave at the end of the 2019 season. The stadium would be redeveloped as part of a training complex at Osceola Heritage Park for

Orlando City SC Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the USL ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. In December 2019, the Fire Frogs' co-owner expressed an interest in returning the franchise to

Brevard County Brevard County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 606,612, making it the 10th-most populated county in Florida. The official county seat is located in T ...

, but their previous ballpark,

Space Coast Stadium USSSA Space Coast Complex is a baseball stadium and 13 diamond multi-sports facility in Viera, Florida, owned by Brevard County, Florida. Under its original name, Space Coast Stadium, it served as the spring training facility for the Florida Marli ...

, was not available. Coastal Florida Sports Park was a possibility, but not until 2021. The team's future was further called into question when it was included in a list of teams that may have been folded as part of reorganization of Minor League Baseball after the 2020 season. On January 16, 2020, the Braves announced that the Fire Frogs would play at their new spring training facility, CoolToday Park in North Port, for the 2020 season. The 2020 minor league baseball season, however, was cancelled due to the

. On December 9, 2020, the Braves announced their minor league affiliates as part of Major League Baseball's reorganization, which excluded the Fire Frogs.

Season-by-season results

References

External links

* {{Florida State League 2017 establishments in Florida 2020 establishments in Florida Defunct Florida State League teams Atlanta Braves minor league affiliates Baseball teams established in 2017 Baseball teams established in 2020 Sports in Kissimmee, Florida Professional baseball teams in Florida