Throughout the inaugural season, most clubs struggled with poor attendance, with an average attendance of less than 1,000 per game. and St. Petersburg's
Milt Wilcox went 12–3.
Jon Matlack,
Tim Stoddard, and
Pete Falcone each won 10 games. Bradenton's
Rick Lysander saved 11 games, and Winter Haven's
Bill Campbell notched 5 saves to go along with a 2.12 ERA.
Joaquín Andújar of Gold Coast had 5 wins and an ERA of 1.31. In the first weekend of February 1990, the league's top four teams participated in a three-game, single elimination tournament with a rather unusual format. On February 2, the league's second place clubs faced off. The Explorers defeated the Sun Sox for a chance to face the St. Petersburg Pelicans. The next day, the Pelicans beat the Explorers 9–2 to advance to the league championship game against the West Palm Beach Tropics. On February 4, 1990, the Pelicans, powered by
Lamar Johnson's home run and 3 RBIs, beat the Tropics 12–4 for the league's first championship.
1989/1990 Teams Northern Division •
St. Petersburg Pelicans (42–30, 1st Place) •
Bradenton Explorers (38–34, 2nd Place) •
Orlando Juice (37–35, 3rd Place) •
Winter Haven Super Sox (29–43, 4th Place)
Southern Division •
West Palm Beach Tropics (52–20, 1st Place) •
Fort Myers Sun Sox (37–35, 2nd Place) •
Gold Coast Suns (32–39, 3rd Place) •
St. Lucie Legends (20–51, 4th Place) ==Second season==