Friday Flashback: Panama City Fliers

As people enjoy spring break in Panama City Beach, I found that nearby Panama City once had a minor league baseball team from 1951-1961.   They were the Panama City Fliers.  The name "fliers" came from Tyndall Air Force Base which is nearby.

The Fliers played in the Class D Alabama-Florida league where they won the league title in 1955 and 1957.  They had affiliations with the Detroit Tigers (1951-57), San Francisco Giants (1958) and Los Angeles Dodgers (1959-61).

The team moved to Andalusia, Alabama in 1962.  Panama City has not had a minor league team since then.

The most notable player for the Fliers was Bobby Cox who played in 1961 and would later play for the New York Yankees and then managed the Atlanta Braves (1978-81, 1990-2010) and Toronto Bluejays (1982-85).  Cox was 20 years old when he played for the Fliers.  He scored 66 runs with 17 home runs and 73 RBI.

The Fliers played at Lions Park which was built in 1926 and demolished in 1966.

Here are the season-by-season records found for the Fliers: