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.

• Location: Bill Beck Boulevard, off Bronson Highway (US 192) 2 miles east of Orange Blossom Parkway (US 17), just east of Kissimmee, Fla. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1985
• Home team: Osceola Astros (1985-94), Kissimmee Cobras (1995-2000), Florida Fire Frogs (2017-present), Florida State League; spring training, Houston Astros (1985-2016)
• Capacity: 5,130

Rating: 3 baseballs

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.