The Florida Complex League Nationals are a

Rookie-level Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

affiliate of the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

, competing in the

Florida Complex League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the low ...

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

. Prior to the 2021 season, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Nationals. The team plays its home games 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, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

, at

The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, formerly called The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, is a baseball park located in West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach, Florida. The stadium has a capacity of 6,500 people in fixed seats with room for 1,000 more ...

. The team previously played at

Space Coast Stadium USSSA Space Coast Complex is a baseball stadium and 13 diamond multi-sports facility in Viera, Florida, owned by Brevard County, Florida. Under its original name, Space Coast Stadium, it served as the spring training facility for the Florida Marl ...

from their inaugural 2005 season through the end of the 2016 season. The team is composed mainly of players who are in their first year of

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 ...

either as draftees or non-drafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

History

GCL Expos (1969–2004)

From 1969 to 2004, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Expos and was a minor league affiliate of the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

. The team played in the Gulf Coast League from 1969 to 1970, in 1974, in 1977, and again from 1986 to 2004. The team was based in various Florida cities during these years: in

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Ba ...

in 1969, in

Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a principal city in the Sarasota metropolitan area. Dow ...

in 1970, in Sarasota in 1974 and 1977, in Bradenton from 1986 to 1991, in

West Palm Beach 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, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

from 1992 to 1997, in

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

in 1998 and 1999, in Bradenton in 2000, in Jupiter in 2001, and in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

from 2002 to 2004. The team won two Gulf Coast League championships over the course of its history, the first in 1969 under

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

J. W. Porter and the second in 1991 under manager Keith Snider.

GCL Nationals (2005–2020)

After the 2004 season, when the Montreal Expos relocated and became the

, the Gulf Coast League Expos became the Gulf Coast League Nationals, beginning play as such in the 2005 season. In 2013, the team finished their regular season with a record of 49–9. This .845

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

was the highest winning percentage for a full regular season ever achieved by a Minor League Baseball team based in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The only minor league team to have a better winning percentage over a full regular season was the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

1992

Dominican Summer League The Dominican Summer League (DSL) is a branch of affiliated Minor League Baseball which is played in the Dominican Republic. The league was founded in 1985. After the demise of the Venezuelan Summer League after the 2015 season, it is the only ...

team based in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

, which finished at 68–2 with a .971 winning percentage. The Nationals then won all three of their playoff games, defeating the

Gulf Coast League Pirates The Florida Complex League Pirates are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Pirates. The team plays its hom ...

in a single-game semifinal playoff and sweeping the

Gulf Coast League Red Sox The Florida Complex League Red Sox are a professional baseball team competing in the rookie-level Florida Complex League (FCL) of Minor League Baseball. The team is owned and operated by the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior ...

in the best-of-three league championship series, to become the 2013 Gulf Coast League champions. The team pulled off a historic feat on July 23, 2017, no-hitting the Gulf Coast League Marlins in both ends of a double-header. Four Nationals pitchers appeared in the two seven-inning games. In the first game, which the Nationals won 4–0, Joan Baez pitched six innings, striking out seven and retiring the last 14 batters he faced, and Jose Jimenez pitched the final inning. In the second game, a 1–0 Nationals win, Jaren Johnson pitched the first four innings in his seventh professional appearance and second professional start, and Gilberto Chu relieved him to finish the game with three no-hit innings. The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

before ultimately being canceled on June 30.

FCL Nationals (2021–present)

Prior to the 2021 season, the Gulf Coast League was renamed as the

Roster

Season-by-season results

References

External links

Official website
{{Florida Sports Florida Complex League teams Professional baseball teams in Florida Washington Nationals minor league affiliates Baseball teams established in 1969 Montreal Expos minor league affiliates 1969 establishments in Florida