The Gold Coast Suns were one of the eight original franchises that began play in the Senior Professional Baseball Association

Senior Professional Baseball Association

The Senior Professional Baseball Association was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over . The league began play in 1989 and had eight teams in two divisions and a 72 game schedule...

 in 1989. The club split their home games between Miami and Pompano Beach, FL and hired future Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...

r Earl Weaver

Earl Weaver

Earl Sidney Weaver is a former Major League Baseball manager. He spent his entire 17-year managerial career with the Baltimore Orioles . Weaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.-Playing career:After playing for Beaumont High School in St...

 as manager. In the league's inaugural season, the Suns struggled. Despite fine performances from Bert Campaneris

Bert Campaneris

Dagoberto Campaneris Blanco , nicknamed "Campy", is a former shortstop in Major League Baseball who played for four American League teams, primarily the Kansas City and Oakland Athletics...

 (.291 with 16 stolen bases) and Joaquín Andújar

Joaquín Andújar

Joaquín Andújar is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher who became one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball while playing with the St. Louis Cardinals in the mid-80s.-Early years:...

 (5-0 with a 1.31 ERA

Earned run average

In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

), the team did not make the playoffs. After their first season, the Gold Coast Suns ceased operations.

Manager: Earl Weaver

Earl Weaver

Earl Sidney Weaver is a former Major League Baseball manager. He spent his entire 17-year managerial career with the Baltimore Orioles . Weaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.-Playing career:After playing for Beaumont High School in St...

Coaches: Charlie Bree, Speedy Hecht, Pedro Ramos

1989 Opening Day Roster:

PITCHERS: Stan Bahnsen

Stan Bahnsen

Stanley Raymond Bahnsen is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Nicknamed the "Bahnsen Burner," he once made 118 starts over a three year stretch while playing with the Chicago White Sox in the mid 1970s.-New York Yankees:...

, Joe Decker

Joe Decker

George Henry "Joe" Decker, Jr. was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs , Minnesota Twins and Seattle Mariners . He was born in Storm Lake, Iowa....

, Jeff Farro, Ed Figueroa

Ed Figueroa

Eduardo Figueroa Padilla , is a former Major League Baseball player. He holds the distinction of being the only pitcher from Puerto Rico to win twenty games in a season.-USMC:...

, Jim Gideon

Jim Gideon

James Leslie Gideon is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for one season. He pitched for the Texas Rangers for one game on September 14 during the 1975 Texas Rangers season.-External links:...

, Ed Halicki

Ed Halicki

Ed Halicki , is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1974-1980. On August 24, 1975, Halicki threw a no-hitter for the San Francisco Giants against the New York Mets in a 6-0 victory...

, Grant Jackson, Mike Kekich

Mike Kekich

Michael Dennis Kekich was a Major League Baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, and Seattle Mariners between 1965 and 1977...

, Frank Riccelli

Frank Riccelli

Frank Joseph Riccelli is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched parts of three seasons in the majors, for the San Francisco Giants, and and for the Houston Astros. He later pitched in the Senior Professional Baseball Association.-Sources:...

, Luis Tiant

Luis Tiant

Luis Clemente Tiant Vega , born November 23, 1940 in Marianao, Cuba, , is a former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Cleveland Indians , Minnesota Twins , Boston Red Sox , New York Yankees , Pittsburgh Pirates and California Angels...

 (also with St. Lucie

St. Lucie Legends

The St. Lucie Legends was a U.S. baseball team and one of the eight original franchises that began play in the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989....

)

CATCHERS: Paul Casanova

Paul Casanova

Paulino Ortiz Casanova is a former catcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1965 to 1974 for the Washington Senators and Atlanta Braves.-Minor league career:...

, Bobby Ramos

Bobby Ramos

Roberto "Bobby" Ramos is currently the bullpen coach for the Tampa Bay Rays. During his playing career, he was a catcher, playing parts of six seasons for the Montreal Expos and New York Yankees. He was a minor league manager in the Rays' system from to .-External links:*...

INFIELDERS: Bert Campaneris

Bert Campaneris

Dagoberto Campaneris Blanco , nicknamed "Campy", is a former shortstop in Major League Baseball who played for four American League teams, primarily the Kansas City and Oakland Athletics...

, Orlando Gonzalez

Orlando Gonzalez (baseball)

Orlando Eugene González is a retired Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder. He played during three seasons at the major league level for the Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies, and Oakland Athletics...

, Glenn Gulliver

Glenn Gulliver

Glenn James Gulliver,born October 15, 1954, is an American former Major League Baseball player from Detroit Michigan.-Career:Drafted in the 8th round of the 1976 amateur draft out of Eastern Michigan University by the Detroit Tigers, Gulliver made his Major League debut for the Baltimore Orioles on...

, Rafael Landestoy

Rafael Landestoy

Rafael Silvaido Landestoy Santana in Baní, Dominican Republic) was an eight year major league baseball veteran who played for the Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, and Los Angeles Dodgers...

, Rennie Stennett

Rennie Stennett

Renaldo Antonio Stennett Porte , is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball. Stennett played with the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants . He batted and threw right-handed...

, Derrel Thomas

Derrel Thomas

Derrel Osborn Thomas is a former professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball primarily as a second baseman, center fielder, and shortstop from 1971-85...

OUTFIELDERS: Paul Blair

Paul Blair (baseball)

Paul L. D. Blair is a former outfielder who spent seventeen seasons in Major League Baseball with the Baltimore Orioles , New York Yankees and Cincinnati Reds...

, César Cedeño

César Cedeño

César Cedeño Encarnación is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played with the Houston Astros , Cincinnati Reds , St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers . He batted and threw right-handed....

, Jesus de la Rosa, George Hendrick

George Hendrick

George Andrew Hendrick Jr. is a former major league outfielder for the Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates and California Angels. However Hendrick is best remembered as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, for whom he played for from 1979–84. He was a...

, Bob Molinaro

Bob Molinaro

Robert Joseph Molinaro is a former professional baseball outfielder in the minor and major leagues in a career that lasted 18 years. His baseball career began in 1968, and lasted till 1985...

, Tom Shopay

Tom Shopay

Thomas Michael Shopay is a former Major League Baseball player. Shopay was a left-handed hitter who played outfielder for the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles ....

DISABLED LIST:
Ken Clay

Ken Clay

Kenneth Earl Clay is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played in the major leagues from to for the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, and Seattle Mariners. Clay appeared at the Old-Timers' Day at Yankee Stadium...

, Taylor Duncan

Taylor Duncan

Taylor McDowell "Dunc" Duncan was an American baseball infielder. Duncan, who was a college teammate of Leon Lee in Sacramento, was selected by the Atlanta Braves as the 10th overall pick of the 1971 Major League Baseball Draft...

, Jim Essian

Jim Essian

James Sarkis Essian, Jr. is an American former catcher and occasional infielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, and Cleveland Indians. He was signed by the Phillies at age 18, but he only amassed 24 at-bats over three seasons...

Other Players: Joaquín Andújar

Joaquín Andújar

Joaquín Andújar is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher who became one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball while playing with the St. Louis Cardinals in the mid-80s.-Early years:...

, Ross Grimsley

Ross Grimsley

Ross Albert Grimsley II is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Cincinnati Reds , Baltimore Orioles , Montreal Expos and Cleveland Indians...

 (also with St. Lucie), Cliff Johnson, Larry Milbourne

Larry Milbourne

Lawrence William "Larry" Milbourne is a retired professional baseball player whose career spanned 15 seasons, 11 of which were spent in Major League Baseball with the Houston Astros , the Seattle Mariners , the New York Yankees , the Minnesota Twins , the Cleveland Indians , and...

 (also with St. Lucie, Orlando), Sid Monge

Sid Monge

Isidro "Sid" Monge Pedroza is a retired Major League Baseball relief pitcher with a ten-year career from 1975 to 1984...

(also with West Palm Beach)