The West Palm Beach Indians were a minor league baseball team based in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

. The team played its home games at

Connie Mack Field Connie Mack Field was a ballpark in midtown West Palm Beach, Florida, which was the long-time spring training home of the Philadelphia Athletics/Kansas City Athletics. The stadium was built in 1924 and initially named Municipal Athletic Field. I ...

History

Through its existence, the Indians were mostly an independent team playing in the

Florida East Coast League The Florida East Coast League was the name of two United States, American minor league baseball circuits based on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of Florida. The first edition of the league operated as a Class D (baseball), Class D level league ...

from 1940 to 1942, the

Florida International League The Florida International League was a lower- to mid-level circuit in American and Cuban minor league baseball that existed from 1946 through July 27, 1954. It was designated Class C for its first three seasons, then upgraded to Class B in 1949 fo ...

from 1946 to 1954, and 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 ...

in 1955. In between, they were affiliated with the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

in 1950,

Havana Sugar Kings The Havana Sugar Kings were a Cuban-based minor league baseball team that played from 1946 to 1960. From 1954 until 1960, they belonged in the Class Triple-A (baseball), AAA International League, affiliated with Major League Baseball's 1960 Cinc ...

in 1954, and

Milwaukee 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) East division. The Braves were founded in Bost ...

in 1955. In 1956, the franchise name was changed to the West Palm Beach Sun Chiefs an affiliate of the

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. Managed by Walt Novick, the 1965 team posted an 81–58 record to finish in third place, games out of the first place spot. The team included on its roster future big leaguers as

Dave Bristol James David Bristol (born June 23, 1933) is an American former manager in Major League Baseball in the 1960s and 1970s. He managed the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, and San Francisco Giants during this period. Success in th ...

, Duane Richards and

Cookie Rojas Octavio Víctor "Cookie" Rojas Rivas (born March 6, 1939), is a Cuban former professional baseball second baseman / outfielder, coach, and manager, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Lo ...

. The franchise but did not return for the 1957 season. West Palm Beach was without a professional team until 1965, when the West Palm Beach Braves joined the

as an affiliate of the

The ballpark

West Palm Beach teams played home minor league games at

. The ballpark was located at the intersection of Tamarind Avenue and Okeechobee Boulevard. It was demolished in 1992 and a parking garage for the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts occupies the site today.

Notable alumni

(1956) *

Lou Finney Louis Klopsche Finney (August 13, 1910 – April 22, 1966) was an American professional baseball player. He spent fifteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) playing for the Philadelphia Athletics (1931; 1933–1939), Boston Red Sox (1939–19 ...

(1949) MLB All-Star * Claude Raymond (1955) MLB All-Star *

(1956) 5 x MLB All-Star

Year–by–year records

Sources

Defunct minor league baseball teams Baseball teams established in 1940 Defunct Florida State League teams Cincinnati Reds minor league affiliates Philadelphia Athletics minor league affiliates 1940 establishments in Florida 1956 disestablishments in Florida Defunct baseball teams in Florida Baseball teams disestablished in 1956 Sports in West Palm Beach, Florida Milwaukee Braves minor league affiliates {{Florida-baseball-team-stub