Leesburg Athletics

The Leesburg Athletics (or the interchangeable A's) was the final name of a professional minor league baseball team, based in Leesburg, Florida from 1965 to 1968. Beginning play in 1937, Leesburg teams played exclusively as members of the Florida State League, winning league championships in 1941 and 1966.

Leesburg Athletics
1937–1968 (1937–1941, 1946–1953, 1956–1957, 1960–1961, 1965–1968) Leesburg, Florida
Minor league affiliations
Previous classes	Class A (1963–1968) Class D (1937–1962)
League	Florida State League (1937–1968)
Major league affiliations
Previous teams	Oakland Athletics (1968) Kansas City Athletics (1965–1967) Baltimore Orioles (1960–1961) Milwaukee Braves (1956–1957) Non-Affiliated (1950–1953) Brooklyn Dodgers (1949) Pittsburgh Pirates (1947–1948) Non-Affiliated (1937–1941, 1946)
Minor league titles
League titles (2)	1941 1966
Team data
Previous names	Leesburg Athletics (1965–1968) Leesburg Orioles (1960–1961) Leesburg Braves (1956–1957) Leesburg Lakers (1953) Leesburg Packers (1946, 1950–1952) Leesburg Dodgers (1949) Leesburg Pirates (1947–1948) Leesburg Anglers (1938–1941) Leesburg Gondoliers (1937–1938)
Previous parks	Pat Thomas Stadium

Baseball Hall of Fame member Rollie Fingers played for the 1965 Leesburg Athletics.

History

The club was first formed in 1937 as the Leesburg Gondoliers, a Florida State League team that did not share an affiliation with a big-league club. From 1939–1941 the team became known as the Leesburg Anglers, who again were a non-affiliated minor league team. After not hosting a team from 1942–1945 the Anglers would return in 1946 as the Packers.

From 1947–1948 the team became the Leesburg Pirates, and were a Class-D affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1949 the Brooklyn Dodgers operated the team as the Leesburg Dodgers. They used four different managers as the Dodgers and went 37-97. 44-year-old Luke Hamlin, who managed for them, also pitched in eight games for them.

From 1950–1952 they would again become an un-affiliated team known as the Leesburg Packers. In 1953 the team would change its name to the Leesburg Lakers but would remain independent of any affiliation. The team would go on hiatus for two seasons and would then emerge in 1956 as an affiliate of the Milwaukee Braves, known as the Leesburg Braves. They would remain that way until the end of the 1957 season. After that, they would become the Leesburg Orioles from 1960–1961 and were affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles. Again breaking for a few years the team would re-emerge for a final time, this time as the Leesburg A's from 1965–1968, they would be an affiliate of the Kansas City/Oakland A's during this stint, winning the 1966 league championship.^[1]

Rollie Fingers played for the Leesburg Athletics in 1965 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.

The Leesburg teams won Florida State League championships in 1941 and 1966.^[2]

Year-by-year records

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1937	71-67	4th	Spec Meadows	Lost in 1st round
1938	87-52	1st	Nelson Leach	Lost league finals
1939	72-65	3rd	Nellie Leach	Lost in 1st round
1940	62-77	6th	Emil Yde	Did not qualify
1941	63-66	4th	Wilbur Good Jr.	League Champions
1946	63-71	5th	Bill Good	Did not qualify
1947	54-81	7th	Bill Good	Did not qualify
1948	60-77	6th	Ed Leip	Did not qualify
1949	37-97	8th	Lou Haneles / Julian Acosta Luke Hamlin	Did not qualify
1950	54-84	7th	Frank Piet / Floyd Clift Bill Steinecke	Did not qualify
1951	71-69	4th	Floyd Clift, Mickey Burnett	Lost in 1st round
1952	52-84	7th	Walt Chipple / Don Anderson John Pawlick / Bob Latshaw	Did not qualify
1953	56-77	6th	Red Dulaney / Frank Barrett	Did not qualify
1956	58-82	7th	Tommy Giordano	Did not qualify
1957	64-75	5th	Tommy Giordano	Did not qualify
1960	53-80	8th	Bob Hooper	Did not qualify
1961	56-80	7th	Billy DeMars / Cal Ripken Sr. Ray Scarborough	Did not qualify
1965	53-80	9th	Tony Frulio	Did not qualify
1966	87-44	2nd	James Williams	League Champions
1967	64-71	5th	James Williams	Did not qualify
1968	51-92	10th	Al Ronning	Did not qualify

^[3]

Notable alumni

• Rollie Fingers (1965) Inducted Baseball Hall of Fame, 1992
• Julian Acosta (1948, MGR)
• Frank Barrett (1953, MGR)
• Johnny Beazley (1937)
• Walt Chipple (1952, MGR)
• Billy DeMars (1961, MGR)
• Darrell Evans (1967) 2x MLB All-Star
• Tommy Giordano (1956-1957, MGR)
• Luke Hamlin (1948, MGR; 1949)
• Lou Haneles (1948, MGR)
• Bob Hooper (1960, MGR)
• Bobby Knoop (1956) MLB All-Star
• Bob Latshaw (1952, MGR)
• Ed Leip (1947, MGR)
• Lee Meadows (1937)
• Cal Ripken, Sr. (1961, MGR)
• Ray Scarborough (1961, MGR)
• Bill Steinecke (1950, MGR)
• Gene Tenace (1966-1967) MLB All-Star; 1972 World Series M.V.P.

References

1. "1949 Leesburg Dodgers Statistics | Baseball-Reference.com".
2. "Championship Trophy". Florida State League official website. Minor League Baseball. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
3. Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (Third ed.). Baseball America. ISBN 978-1932391176.