The Wandering Disciple

Lakeland, Florida: The Sarasota Reds defeated the Lakeland Flying Tigers 8-2 as they hosted their annual Kids Camp Day on Wednesday afternoon at Ed Smith Stadium. Kids from area summer camps packed the stadium to watch the Reds post a big eighth inning to secure the win despite major league baseball star Gary Sheffield being in the Flying Tigers lineup. The Reds jumped out to an early lead in the second inning on a solo home run by Juan Francisco to put them ahead 1-0. The Flying Tigers then countered with two runs of their own in the fifth inning to take the lead. Jeramy Laster singled to left to lead off the inning. Michael Bertram followed with an RBI double to right, scoring Laster. Bertram would later score on an RBI single by Shawn Roof to give the Flying Tigers a 2-1 lead. Sarasota regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Drew Stubbs led off the inning with a line drive single to center. Carson Kainer then reached on an interference call to put runners on f...

Lakeland, Florida: The Lakeland Flying Tigers are the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. The Flying Tigers play in the North Division of the Florida State League. The club was founded as the Lakeland Tigers in 1963 and was later renamed the Flying Tigers in 2006 to honor the World War II pilots known as the Flying Tigers who trained at nearby Lakeland School of Aeronautics. The affiliation with the Detroit Tigers is one of the longest affiliations still in existence. The Flying Tigers are three time Florida State League champions. They won the league championship in 1976, 1977 and 1992. The Flying Tigers play their home games in Joker Marchant Stadium. The 8,500 seat stadium built in 1966 is also the spring training home of the Detroit Tigers as well as the home of the GCL Tigers during the summer. Click on the photo above to visit my Lakeland Flying Tigers photo page. Here you will find galleries containing game and player pictures.