Pictured: Bradenton Celebrates 100 Years of Baseball. Photo courtesy of StadiumJourney.com.

With the Fourth of July fresh in the rearview mirror, patriotic fervor is still running rampant throughout the nation as we approach the dog days of summer. And if there is one thing that is more purely American than anything else, you guessed it, it’s baseball. Apple pie, hot dogs and even hamburgers are all merely adaptations that our young country has taken on and molded into our identity, but baseball, well that comes from us.

On that note, baseball continues to thrive on Florida’s Gulf Coast as we progress further into the summertime. In Sarasota, the Florida Complex League Orioles have not gotten off to the hottest start, with a 9-12 record in their first 21 games. However, for fans of the team, there’s no need to fret–the FCL Orioles actual record matters far less than the individual development of their young prospects.

Over in Bradenton, where the Bradenton Marauders have continued to storm through the Florida State League with a 6-4 record to start the second half of the season, the city celebrates its 100-year anniversary of having baseball in Bradenton. The tradition began in 1923, when the St. Louis Cardinals started playing their Spring Training games at City Park–the stadium that later became LECOM Park, where the Marauders currently call home.

Today, LECOM Park is the third-oldest stadium used by a Major League team, just behind Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago. The stadium, which in 1923 was constructed for just $2000, has held a number of different occupants over the years including the St. Louis Cardinals, the Boston Red Sox, the Oakland Athletics, the Pittsburgh Pirates and more. During World War II, LECOM Park was even taken over by the U.S. Army and used as a military base. The Pittsburgh Pirates, who currently call Bradenton home for the duration of Spring Training, began their run at LECOM Park in 1969 and have stayed there ever since.

LECOM Park, 1611 9th St W, Bradenton, FL 34205.

Pictured: Bradenton Celebrates 100 Years of Baseball. Photo courtesy of StadiumJourney.com.

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