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 eight teams in two divisions and a 72-game schedule. Pitchers Rollie Fingers,

Ferguson Jenkins Ferguson Arthur "Fergie" Jenkins CM (born December 13, 1942) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher and coach. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1965 to 1983 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and ...

(both future Hall of Famers), and

Vida Blue Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. (born July 28, 1949) is a former American professional baseball player. He was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball between and , most notably as an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won thr ...

, outfielder

Dave Kingman David Arthur Kingman (born December 21, 1948), nicknamed "Kong," "King Kong," and "Sky King", is a former Major League Baseball left fielder, first baseman, third baseman, and designated hitter who was a three-time MLB All-Star with 442 career hom ...

, and managers

Earl Weaver Earl Sidney Weaver (August 14, 1930 – January 19, 2013) was an American professional baseball manager, author, and television broadcaster. After playing in minor league baseball, he retired without playing in Major League Baseball (MLB). He be ...

and

Dick Williams Richard Hirschfeld Williams (May 7, 1929 – July 7, 2011) was an American left fielder, third baseman, manager, coach and front-office consultant in Major League Baseball. Known especially as a hard-driving, sharp-tongued manager from 1967 to 1 ...

were the league's marquee names; and former big league outfielder

Curt Flood Curtis Charles Flood (January 18, 1938 – January 20, 1997) was an American professional baseball player and activist. He was a center fielder who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Redlegs, St. Louis Cardinals, ...

was the circuit's first Commissioner. At age 54,

Ed Rakow Edward Charles Rakow (May 30, 1935 – August 26, 2000), nicknamed "Rock", was an American professional baseball player. The right-handed pitcher appeared in 195 games in Major League Baseball during all or parts of seven seasons (1960–65; 1967 ...

was the league's oldest player.Senior Citizens: The Boys of Winter
''Uni Watch''. Retrieved on March 8, 2016.

First season

Throughout the inaugural season, most clubs struggled with poor attendance, with an average attendance of less than 1,000 per game. On the field, the

West Palm Beach Tropics The West Palm Beach Tropics were one of the eight original franchises that began play in the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989. The club hired Dick Williams as manager and fielded a lineup that included slugger Dave Kingman and R ...

ran away with the league's South Division, finishing 15 games ahead of the second place Fort Myers Sun Sox. In the North, the St. Petersburg Pelicans finished in first, and 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, ...

were second, narrowly holding off the

Orlando Juice The Orlando Juice was one of the eight original franchises that began playing in the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989. The team was managed by Gates Brown, while Dyar Miller and Bill Stein served as player-coaches. In their inaugur ...

. Infielder

Ron Washington Ronald Louis Washington (born April 29, 1952) is an American former professional baseball shortstop. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, and Houston Astros. W ...

West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

was the league's offensive star, hitting .359 with a league leading 73 RBIs and winning the MVP award. Washington's teammate

Mickey Rivers John Milton "Mickey" Rivers (born October 30, 1948) is an American former baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball from 1970 to 1984 for the California Angels, New York Yankees and Texas Rangers. As a member of the Yankees, he was pa ...

hit .366, and Gold Coast Sun

Bert Campaneris Dagoberto Campaneris Blanco (born March 9, 1942), nicknamed "Bert" or "Campy", is a Cuban American former professional baseball shortstop, who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for four American League (AL) teams, primarily the Kansas City / ...

, the oldest everyday player in the league at 47, stole 16 bases. Bradenton's

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredicta ...

hit .290 with 55 RBIs and led the league with 17 homers. Tim Ireland of Fort Myers hit a league best .374, and his teammate Kim Allen paced the circuit with 33 stolen bases.

Willie Aikens Willie Mays Aikens (born October 14, 1954) is an American professional baseball first baseman who played in Major League Baseball for the California Angels, Kansas City Royals, and Toronto Blue Jays between 1977 and 1985. He had established hi ...

hit 12 home runs and had 58 RBIs. West Palm Beach pitcher

Juan Eichelberger Juan Tyrone Eichelberger (born October 21, 1953) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. He graduated from Balboa High School of San Francisco, California, in 1971, played collegiately at the University of California, Berkeley and pi ...

went 11–5 with a 2.90

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

, and St. Petersburg's

Milt Wilcox Milton Edward Wilcox (born April 20, 1950) is an American former baseball pitcher. He pitched for 16 years in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds (1970–1971), Cleveland Indians (1972–1974), Chicago Cubs (1975), Detroit Tigers (1977� ...

went 12–3.

Jon Matlack Jonathan Trumpbour Matlack (born January 19, 1950) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from through for the New York Mets and the Texas Rangers. The three-t ...

Tim Stoddard Timothy Paul Stoddard (born January 24, 1953) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is one of only two men to have played in both a World Series and a Final Four of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, along with fellow Eas ...

, and

Pete Falcone Peter Frank Falcone (born October 1, 1953) is an American former professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, and Atlanta Braves. Early years As a senior at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn, N ...

each won 10 games. Bradenton's

Rick Lysander Richard Eugene Lysander is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He had a four-season career in the majors, spread out over six years. Career Major League career Lysander was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in , and he toiled in the ...

saved 11 games, and Winter Haven's Bill Campbell notched 5 saves to go along with a 2.12 ERA.

Joaquín Andújar Joaquín Andújar (; December 21, 1952 – September 8, 2015) was a Dominican professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, and Oakland Athletics from 1976 through 1988. ...

of Gold Coast had 5 wins and an ERA of 1.31.1990 set of Senior League baseball cards from Pacific Trading Cards
''Playing With My Cards''.Retrieved on March 8, 2016. In the first weekend of February 1990, the league's top four teams participated in a three-game, single elimination tournament with a rather unusual format. On February 2, the league's second place clubs faced off. The Explorers defeated the Sun Sox for a chance to face the St. Petersburg Pelicans. The next day, the Pelicans beat the Explorers 9–2 to advance to the league championship game against the West Palm Beach Tropics. On February 4, 1990, the Pelicans, powered by Lamar Johnson's home run and 3 RBIs, beat the Tropics 12–4 for the league's first championship. The 1989-90 player statistics for all teams were published in the Sporting News on February 12, 1990, pages 30–31 "Assessing the Boys of Winter". 1989/1990 Teams Northern Division * St. Petersburg Pelicans (42–30, 1st Place) *

(38–34, 2nd Place) *

(37–35, 3rd Place) *

Winter Haven Super Sox The Winter Haven Super Sox were one of the eight original franchises that began play in the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989. The club, playing in the spring training site of the Boston Red Sox, featured numerous former Red Sox pla ...

(29–43, 4th Place) Southern Division *

(52–20, 1st Place) * Fort Myers Sun Sox (37–35, 2nd Place) *

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since th ...

(32–39, 3rd Place) *

St. Lucie Legends The St. Lucie Legends was one of the eight original baseball franchises that played in the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989.Florida Tropics Florida Tropics SC is a professional soccer club based in Lakeland, Florida. They are owned by Central Florida Sports Ventures, LLC, led by Dr. Panos Iakovidis, and former USL commissioner and Rochester Rhinos owner Chris Economides. The organ ...

, and the Explorers moved from Bradenton to Daytona Beach, becoming the Daytona Beach Explorers. The circuit then added clubs in Arizona, the Sun City Rays, as well as in California, the San Bernardino Pride. In addition, the league dropped the minimum age to 34 and shortened the season to 56 games. Less than halfway through its second season, the SPBA folded on December 26, 1990. 1990/1991 Standings * St. Petersburg Pelicans (15–8) * Sun City Rays (13–9) * San Bernardino Pride (13–12) * Daytona Beach Explorers (11–12) * Fort Myers Sun Sox (11–14) *

Florida Tropics Florida Tropics SC is a professional soccer club based in Lakeland, Florida. They are owned by Central Florida Sports Ventures, LLC, led by Dr. Panos Iakovidis, and former USL commissioner and Rochester Rhinos owner Chris Economides. The organ ...

(7–15)

Paul Mirabella Paul Thomas Mirabella (born March 20, 1954) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Mirabella, who threw left-handed, played all or parts of 13 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Texas Rangers (1978 and 1982), New York Yankees ...

Danny Boone Daniel Hugh Boone (born January 14, 1954) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched parts of three seasons in Major League Baseball, appearing in 1981, 1982, and 1990. He is probably best known for the eight-year gap between his major ...

, and

Ozzie Virgil Jr. Osvaldo José Virgil Jr. (born December 7, 1956) is a former Major League Baseball catcher who played with the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays from 1980 to 1990. His father, Ozzie Sr., was a Major League third baseman ...

signed

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), ...

contracts after playing in the Senior League; Mirabella, Boone, and Virgil all played in the Majors after their appearances in the SPBA.

References

{{Authority control Baseball leagues in Florida Defunct independent baseball leagues in the United States Sports leagues established in 1989 Sports leagues disestablished in 1990 1989 establishments in Florida 1990 disestablishments in Florida Defunct professional sports leagues in the United States