| Classification | Rookie (1964) |
|---|---|
| Sport | Minor League Baseball |
| First season | 1964 |
| Ceased | 1964 |
| President | Unknown (1964) |
| No. of teams | 4 |
| Country | United States of America |
| Venue | Cocoa Expo Sports Center |
| Most titles | 1 Melbourne Twins (1964) |
| Related competitions | Sarasota Rookie League |
TheCocoa Rookie League, based inCocoa andMelbourne, Florida, was an Americanminorprofessional baseball league that operated for one season,1964. One of the firstspring training-complex-based circuits, it was graded at theRookie-league level, which is the lowest level of minor league baseball.
Its four teams were owned and operated byMajor League Baseball 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 majorreorganization of the structure of minor league baseball in1963, and the twoFlorida rookie circuits created in 1964 (theSarasota Rookie League along theGulf Coast was the other) were founded to offer an entry-level league for inexperienced players who might struggle in the other Rookie-level circuits, theAppalachian League and thePioneer League.[1] The complex-based teams charged no admission (individual attendance records were not kept)[2] and the emphasis was on baseball fundamentals instruction for the young players.
The four teams — operated by theDetroit Tigers,Houston Colt .45s,Minnesota Twins andNew York Mets — competed against each other in a league schedule of over 50 games, with the Twins' entry — led by 19—year-oldRod Carew, a future member of theBaseball Hall of Fame — taking the CRL pennant by five games over the Mets' club. Total attendance for the year was only 1,683.[2] The Cocoa Rookie League folded after the season, while the Sarasota—based circuit became the basis for theGulf Coast League, which still plays today. A successor to the CRL, theFlorida East Coast League, operated in 1972 in Cocoa and Melbourne.[3]
1964 Cocoa Rookie League
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Managers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne Twins | 34 | 18 | .654 | -- | Fred Waters |
| Cocoa Mets | 28 | 22 | .560 | 5.0 | Ken Deal |
| Cocoa Colts | 23 | 29 | .442 | 11.0 | Dave Philley |
| Cocoa Tigers | 17 | 33 | .340 | 16.0 | Doc Daugherty |
All games played at Cocoa, Florida
Total Attendance: 1,683
Playoffs: None Scheduled.[citation needed][4]
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Seneta | Tigers | BA | .383 | Gerald Lyscio | Twins | W | 7 | |
| Jim Bachus | Twins | Runs | 44 | Claude Melton | Twins | SO | 63 | |
| Lawrence Seneta | Tigers | Hits | 52 | Claude Melton | Twins | ERA | 1.22 | |
| Al Yates | Mets | RBI | 31 | Al Yates | Mets | HR | 2 | |
| John Agnetti | Mets | HR | 2 | Gerald Lyscio | Twins | HR | 2 |