The Cocoa Rookie League, based in Cocoa and

Melbourne, Florida Melbourne ( ) is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located southeast of Orlando, Florida, Orlando along Florida's Space Coast, named because of the region's proximity to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. The city ...

, was an American minor

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

league that operated for one season, . One of the first

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

-complex-based circuits, it was graded at the Rookie-league level, which is the lowest level of minor league baseball.

History

Instruction-driven league for youngsters

Its four teams were owned and operated by

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

teams seeking a means to develop 18- and 19-year-old players who had just signed their first professional contracts. The contraction in leagues and teams during the 1950s and early 1960s had caused a major reorganization of the structure of minor league baseball in , and the two

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

rookie circuits created in 1964 (the

Sarasota Rookie League The Sarasota Rookie League was a minor baseball league that played in as a Rookie level league. All league games were played in Sarasota, Florida. The Sarasota Rookie League was succeeded in by the Florida Rookie League, which evolved into th ...

along the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

was the other) were founded to offer an entry-level league for inexperienced players who might struggle in the other Rookie-level circuits, the

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a Collegiate summer baseball, collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wooden ...

and the Pioneer League.Daytona Beach ''Morning Journal'', May 14, 1964 The complex-based teams charged no admission (individual attendance records were not kept)Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, eds., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd ed.''

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, 2007, page 527 and the emphasis was on baseball fundamentals instruction for the young players. The four teams — operated by the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

, Houston Colt .45s,

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

— competed against each other in a league schedule of over 50 games, with the Twins' entry — led by 19—year-old Rod Carew, a future member of the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

— taking the CRL pennant by five games over the Mets' club. Total attendance for the year was only 1,683. The Cocoa Rookie League folded after the season, while the Sarasota—based circuit became the basis for the Gulf Coast League, which still plays today. A successor to the CRL, the Florida East Coast League, operated in 1972 in Cocoa and Melbourne.

Cocoa Rookie League teams

* Cocoa Colts * Cocoa Mets * Cocoa Tigers * Melbourne Twins

Standings & statistics

1964 Cocoa Rookie League All games played at Cocoa, Florida
Total Attendance: 1,683
Playoffs: None Scheduled.

References

External links

Cocoa Rookie League page in Baseball Reference
{{Professional Baseball Defunct minor baseball leagues in the United States Baseball leagues in Florida 1964 in sports in Florida 1964 in baseball 1964 establishments in Florida 1964 disestablishments in Florida Sports leagues established in 1964 Sports leagues disestablished in 1964 Cocoa, Florida Melbourne, Florida