Chronological Tour: Stop 389

Osceola County Stadium



Main entrance to Osceola Co. Stadium, Aug-2003.

A look in from the third-base line, Aug-2016.

Looking out from behind the plate in the low-slung grandstand.

Quick Facts: Rating: 3 baseballs
Osceola County Stadium lost its minor-league team after the 2000 season, when two franchises were shifted from the high-Class A Florida State League to the low-Class A South Atlantic League in order to balance high-A and low-A at 30 teams each. However, the Houston Astros continued to use the facility for spring training through 2016. The Astros then moved to West Palm Beach for 2017, along with the Washington Nationals, but the Florida State League team that played in Viera relocated to this ballpark just outside Kissimmee city limits and became known as the Florida Fire Frogs. The new team finally gave me a chance to see a game at this yard.

Unfortunately, for the 2019 season the team was charging the highest prices for both tickets and parking in the entire Florida State League. All seats were $12 (there is a discount for senior citizens) and parking was $5. This detracted significantly from the appeal of visiting this park, which is otherwise a nice throwback to a simpler time in the Grapefruit League.

The United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA), an organization that began as the United States Slo-pitch Softball Association but grew into a provider of youth baseball and softball, had its headquarters at Osceola County Stadium through 2016. Effective in 2017, USSSA took over the Space Coast Stadium complex in Viera for their headquarters and primary tournament site. The Brevard County site was abandoned by both the Manatees and the Washington Nationals, who have relocated their spring training site to Palm Beach County along with the Astros. The outer fields here at Osceola Heritage Park, which also contains a civic center arena, continued to see use with AAU tournaments and the like, although that too has come to an end as the county plans to repurpose the land for soccer fields. Interestingly, the former USSSA headquarters building has been repurposed as a math and science charter school for grades 6 through 9.

With the end of baseball at the Osceola complex, the Fire Frogs made emergency plans to relocate to the Braves’ new spring training complex in North Port, Sarasota County, which was within the territory of the previously existing Charlotte Stone Crabs. However, the 2020 season was wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and both the Fire Frogs and Stone Crabs were legislated out of existence by Major League Baseball when they opted to pare the minor leagues to four affiliates per MLB team starting in 2021.


More photos from 2017 in this Facebook album (public, no account required)
Game Date League Level Result
1549 Sat 27-May-2017 Florida State A FLORIDA 7, Palm Beach 4
1551 Sun 28-May-2017 Florida State A Palm Beach 12, FLORIDA 4
134 Wed 13-Mar-2019 Nonconference Div III New Jersey City 6, GORDON 3
135 Wed 13-Mar-2019 Nonconference Div III Gordon 4, MONTCLAIR STATE 2
136 Wed 13-Mar-2019 Nonconference Div III RIT 13, Suffolk 6
1772 Thu 18-Apr-2019 Florida State A Daytona 7, FLORIDA 2
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This page updated 3-Feb-2021