The Fort Myers Sun Sox were one of the eight original franchises that began play in the

Senior Professional Baseball Association The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the ''Senior League'', was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had ei ...

in 1989. The club was managed by

Pat Dobson Patrick Edward Dobson, Jr. (February 12, 1942 – November 22, 2006) was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Detroit Tigers (1967–69), San Diego Padres (1970), Baltimore Orioles (1971–72), Atla ...

, while Joe Coleman,

Dyar Miller Dyar K Miller (born May 29, 1946) is a retired professional baseball pitcher, coach and instructor. A product of Utah State, Miller pitched 13 seasons in professional baseball between and . He also pitched all or parts of seven seasons in Majo ...

Jerry Terrell Jerry Wayne Terrell (born July 13, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player. The former infielder from Elysian, Minnesota, attended Minnesota State University, Mankato and played in the Major Leagues for the Minnesota Twins (1973� ...

and Tony Torchia served as coaches.Solomon, Burt (1997). ''The Baseball Timeline: The Day-By-Day History of Baseball, from Valley Forge to the Present Day''. Avon Books. The Sun Sox played their home games at Terry Park in Fort Myers.Fort Myer’s Terry Park – Over 100 Years of Baseball History
''Deadball Baseball website''. Retrieved on February 23, 2016. The Sun Sox finished their inaugural season in second place in the Southern Division with a 37–35 record. Their offense was led by the league's top hitter, Tim Ireland, who posted a .374

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, while Kim Allen topped the circuit with 33 stolen bases and

Amos Otis Amos Joseph Otis (born April 26, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from to , most prominently as an integral member of the Kansas City Royals team that won t ...

belted 11

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s. Unfortunately, the Sun Sox were eliminated by the

Bradenton Explorers The Bradenton Explorers were one of the eight original franchises that began play in the Senior Professional Baseball Association in . That season, the club compiled a record of 38-34, finishing in second place in the league's Northern Division, ...

in the playoffs. The following season, ownership squabbles in Fort Myers caused the Sun Sox to fold and the league to cease operations less than halfway through its second season. The statistics for all teams that played the 1989-90 season were published in the Sporting News on February 12, 1990, pages 30–31 "Assessing the Boys of Winter".

Notable players

* Kim Allen *

Bud Anderson Clarence Emil "Bud" Anderson (born January 13, 1922) is a retired officer in the United States Air Force, a triple ace of World War II, and the oldest and highest scoring living American fighter ace. During the war he was the highest scoring fl ...

* Alan Ashby *

Doug Bird James Douglas Bird (born March 5, 1950) is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher from to . Bird was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the third round of the 1969 amateur draft's secondary phase. During his career, Bird was used in a var ...

* Manny Castillo * Marty Castillo *

Dave Collins David S. Collins (born October 20, 1952) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball from to . Collins is one of three players to have made it to the major leagues who played for the Rapid City Post 22 American Legion baseball program in ...

Don Cooper Donald James Cooper (born January 15, 1956) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who spent parts of four seasons with the Minnesota Twins (1981–1982), Toronto Blue Jays (1983) and New York Yankees (1985). He was the pi ...

Dick Drago Richard Anthony Drago (born June 25, 1945) is a former American League relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Kansas City Royals (-), Boston Red Sox (-, -), California Angels (-), Baltimore Orioles (1977) and Seattle Mariners ...

Dan Driessen Daniel Driessen (born July 29, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1973 to 1987, most notably as a member of the Cincinnati Reds dynasty that won three National Leag ...

Pepe Frías Jesús María "Pepe" Frías Andújar (born July 14, 1948) is a Dominican former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Montreal Expos, Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers, and Los Angeles Dodgers The Lo ...

Marv Foley Marvis Edwin Foley (born August 29, 1953) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) catcher and coach, and minor league manager. He played for the Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers in all or part of five seasons between 1978 and 1984, w ...

Rich Gale Richard Blackwell Gale (born January 19, 1954) is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played with four teams between and . Listed at and , Gale batted and threw right-handed. During 1992 and 1993, he served as pitching c ...

Wayne Garland Marcus Wayne Garland (born October 26, 1950) is a retired American professional baseball player. A right-hander, he pitched in the major leagues for nine seasons from 1973 to 1981 for the Baltimore Orioles (1973–1976) and Cleveland Indians ...

* Larry Harlow * Tim Hosley *

Don Hood Donald Harris Hood (born October 16, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in the Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from 1973 to 1983 for the Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, St. L ...

* Tim Ireland * Ron Jackson * Bobby Jones *

Odell Jones Odell Jones (born January 13, 1953 in Tulare, California) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers, in parts of nine seasons spann ...

Ken Kravec Kenneth Peter Kravec (born July 29, 1951) is an American professional baseball scout and a former Major League pitcher and front office official. The , left-hander appeared in 160 games pitched, 128 as a starter, exclusively for the White Sox ( ...

Rafael Landestoy Rafael Silvaido Landestoy Santana (born May 28, 1953) is a retired Major League Baseball player. Landestoy played eight major league seasons with the Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, and Los Angeles Dodgers. He amassed 291 hits, a .237 batting ...

* Dave LaRoche *

Johnnie LeMaster Johnnie Lee LeMaster (born June 19, 1954) is a former Major League Baseball infielder. He played for four teams over a 12 year (– and ) MLB career, including 10 seasons with the San Francisco Giants. He batted and threw right-handed. Career On ...

Dennis Leonard Dennis Patrick Leonard (born May 8, 1951) is a former pitcher for the Kansas City Royals in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He retired in 1986 due to injuries. Born in Brooklyn, Leonard attended Oceanside High School on Long Island, then playe ...

* Steve Luebber *

Rick Manning Richard Eugene Manning (born September 2, 1954) is a former center fielder and current broadcaster in Major League Baseball (MLB), who played for the Cleveland Indians (1975-) and Milwaukee Brewers (1983–1987), and has been a color commentato ...

* Jerry Martin * Steve McCatty *

Eddie Milner Edward James Milner Jr. (May 21, 1955 – November 2, 2015) was an American professional baseball player. He played all or parts of nine seasons in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds (1980–86, 1988) and San Francisco Giants (1987), p ...

Bob Molinaro Robert Joseph Molinaro (born May 21, 1950) is a former professional baseball outfielder in the minor and major leagues in a career that lasted 18 years. His baseball career began in 1968, and lasted until 1985. During that time Molinaro played ...

* Pat Putnam *

Ron Pruitt Ronald Ralph Pruitt (born October 21, 1951) is a former professional baseball player. He played all or part of nine seasons in Major League Baseball for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers (1975), Cleveland Indians (1976–80 and 1981), Ch ...

* Mike Ramsey *

Eric Rasmussen Eric Ralph Rasmussen (born March 22, 1952) is a former professional baseball pitcher, and current coach in the Minnesota Twins organization. Career Early years Born Harold Ralph Rasmussen, he was originally known as Harry until legally changing ...

Dan Rohn Daniel Jay Rohn (born January 10, 1956) is a former infielder in Major League Baseball. Rohn was drafted as a second baseman by the Chicago Cubs in the 4th round of the 1977 amateur draft, and made his major league debut on September 2, 1983. ...

* Gilberto Rondón * Roger Slagle *

Jim Slaton James Michael Slaton (born June 19, 1950) is a former pitcher with a 16-year career from 1971-1986. He played in the American League with the Milwaukee Brewers from 1971–1977 and 1979–1983, the Detroit Tigers in 1978 and 1986, and the Cal ...

* Tom Spencer *

Champ Summers John Junior "Champ" Summers (June 15, 1946 – October 11, 2012) was a Major League Baseball outfielder and first baseman for six teams during his eleven-year career that spanned from 1974 to 1984. Summers played with the Oakland Athletics, Chic ...

Rick Waits Michael Richard Waits (born May 15, 1952) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Waits, who threw left-handed, played all or part of twelve seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers (1973), Cleveland Indians (1975 ...

* Jerry White :1989–1990 Fort Myers Sun Sox
''The Trading Card Database''. Retrieved on February 23, 2016. he Sporting News, February 12th, 200. Pages 30-31/ref>

Sources

Senior Professional Baseball Association teams 1989 establishments in Florida Baseball teams established in 1989 Sports in Fort Myers, Florida Defunct baseball teams in Florida 1990 disestablishments in Florida Baseball teams disestablished in 1990 {{Florida-baseball-team-stub