The Florida East Coast League was the name of two American minor league baseball circuits based on the Atlantic coast of Florida. The first edition of the league operated as a Class D level league from 1940 to 1942. The league reformed for the 1972 season as a Rookie level league before folding.
The first incarnation of the FECL was as a Class D circuit that played from 1940 through May 14, 1942. It shut its doors, along with many other minor leagues, a few months after the United States entered World War II, and, despite the postwar baseball boom, it was not revived.[1]
The second Florida East Coast League was a Rookie-class "complex league" owned and operated by Major League Baseball clubs. It existed for one season — 1972 — and was intended to provide a second Florida-based league for 18- and 19-year-old players, along with the established Gulf Coast League, which was then concentrated along the west coast of Florida. The FECL of 1972 featured four teams based at minor league training complexes in Cocoa and Melbourne.
1940 Florida East Coast League
Playoffs: Ft. Lauderdale 3 games, West Palm Beach 1; Miami Beach 3 games, Hollywood 0.
Finals: Ft. Lauderdale 4 games, Miami Beach 1.
1941 Florida East Coast League
Playoffs: Miami Beach 3 games, Fort Pierce 1;West Palm Beach 3 games, Ft. Lauderdale 2.
Finals: Miami Beach 4 games, West Palm Beach 2.
1942 Florida East Coast Leagueschedule
Playoffs: None Scheduled.
Cocoa disbanded April 21; Ft. Lauderdale disbanded May 14.
The league disbanded May 14.
1972 Florida East Coast League
Total league attendance, 966
No playoffs Scheduled.
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