The Wandering Disciple

Port Charlotte, Florida: With temperatures heating up in the Sunshine State to start July, the action on the field is getting just as hot as the boys of summer head into the Independence Day week with a Sunday afternoon game at Charlotte Sports Park. After splitting the first two games of the series the Charlotte Stone Crabs hosted the Tampa Tarpons in the rubber match of the three game set. The Tarpons jumped out to an early lead by scoring in the second inning.   They loaded the bases following a walk to Brandon Wagner, a single by Dom Thompson-Williams and a walk to Steven Sensley.   A bases loaded passed ball allowed Wagner to score and give Tampa a 1-0 lead. Tampa added to their lead in the fifth.   Angel Aguilar tripled to right and later scored on a RBI single by Kyle Holder to make it 2-0 Tarpons. The Stone Crabs wasted no time to tie the game, pushing across a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth. Following a lead off single by David Olemedo-Barr...

For the 2018, an legend was reborn as the Tampa Yankees were re-branded as the Tampa Tarpons. The New York Yankees decided to resurrect the nostalgic name for their Advanced-A Florida State League affiliate in honor of the professional baseball team that played in Tampa from 1957-1988. The original Tarpons played for three organizations during their existence the Chicago White Sox (1988), the Cincinnati Reds (1961-1987) and Philadelphia Phillies (1957-1960). The team was sold in 1988 and relocated to Sarasota leaving Tampa without a team until 1994 when the Yankees started a franchise. (Photo: April 22, 2018)