Daytona Tortugas

The Daytona Tortugas are a minor league baseball team based in Daytona Beach, Florida. The team plays in the Florida State League (FSL). They are the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball. The team plays at Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark; opened in 1914, the park seats 5,100 fans. In 2015, the inaugural season of Tortugas baseball, Daytona finished with a 77-58 record and won the Florida State League North Division Championship with a two-game sweep of the Clearwater Threshers in the first round of the playoffs.

The club was previously known as the Daytona Cubs from 1993 to 2014 when the team was an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The team has won six Florida State League championships: in 1995, 2000, 2004 (co-champions with the Tampa Yankees), 2008, 2011 and 2013. Their sixth FSL Championship came over the Charlotte Stone Crabs, winning 3–1 in a best-of-five series.

History

Daytona Beach Admirals

The last Florida State League (FSL) baseball team to play in Daytona Beach, was known as the Daytona Beach Admirals, the Class A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. In September 1987, the White Sox decided to move their Class A affiliate to Sarasota. This left Daytona without a major league player development contract, resulting in the Admirals' owner selling the team to the New York Mets. The Mets moved the team to Port St. Lucie to become the St. Lucie Mets. Daytona did not have professional baseball for five years after the move.

Cubs

Cubs may refer to:

See also

Daytona Beach, Florida

Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. It lies about 51 miles (82.1 km) northeast of Orlando, 86 miles (138.4 km) southeast of Jacksonville, and 242 miles (389.5 km) northwest of Miami. In the 2010 U.S. Census, it had a population of 61,005. It is a principal city of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL metropolitan statistical area, which was home to 590,289 people in 2010. Daytona Beach is also a principal city of the Fun Coast region of Florida.

The city is historically known for its beach where the hard-packed sand allows motorized vehicles to drive on the beach in restricted areas. This hard-packed sand made Daytona Beach a mecca for motorsports, and the old Daytona Beach Road Course hosted races for over 50 years. This was replaced in 1959 by Daytona International Speedway. The city is also the headquarters for NASCAR.

Daytona Beach hosts large groups of out-of-towners that descend upon the city for various events, notably Speedweeks in early February when over 200,000 NASCAR fans come to attend the season-opening Daytona 500. Other events include the NASCAR Coke Zero 400 race in July, Bike Week in early March, Biketoberfest in late October, and the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race in January.

Javier Báez

Ednel Javier Báez (born December 1, 1992) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball infielder for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). Born in Puerto Rico, Báez attended high school in Jacksonville, Florida, and starred for his school's baseball team. The Cubs selected Báez with the ninth overall selection of the 2011 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut on August 5, 2014.

Early life and introduction to baseball

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Báez moved to Florida in 2005 along with his mother and siblings, three brothers and a sister. The move was so that his sister, Noely, could get medical treatment for her spina bifida condition. In Puerto Rico he and his two brothers, Gadiel and Rolando, became familiar with the sport through their father, Ángel Luis Baez who, before his death when Javier was ten, heavily influenced their life and was responsible for their interest in baseball. The brothers would later immortalize this interest by getting tattoos of Major League Baseball's logo, which symbolized that "baseball has been in [their] lives forever." Rolando was the first to become a professional baseball player, being drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2002. As middle school student, it took time for Javier to adapt since he was unable to fluently speak or understand English. Báez eventually learned the language through trial and error in a process that lasted for three years, memorizing words before knowing their actual meaning.

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team located on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a members of the National League (NL) Central division; the team plays its home baseball games at Wrigley Field. The Cubs are also one of two active major league teams based in Chicago; the other is the Chicago White Sox, who are a member of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is currently owned by Thomas S. Ricketts, son of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts.

The team played its first games in 1876 as a founding member of the National League (NL), eventually becoming known officially as the Chicago Cubs for the 1903 season. Officially, the Cubs are tied for the distinction of being the oldest currently active U.S. professional sports club, along with the Atlanta Braves, which also began play in the NL in 1876 as the Boston Red Stockings (Major League Baseball does not officially recognize the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players as a major league.)