Cocoa Indians

[5] The franchise was formed as an unaffiliated team and the Cocoa "Indians" became members of the eight–team Class D level Florida State League.

[8][9] Native Indians had first inhabited the Brevard County region, which contains Cocoa and existed in the area for approximately 1,200 years.

[10] When founded, Cocoa was first called "Indian River City" in 1882, but the name was rejected by the U. S. Postal Service because it was too long.

The Indians finished in eighth place, playing the season managers Carl Kettles (12–33), Lee Hipp (5–10), Sam Demma (25–38) and Harry Murdock (7–10).

[3] Cocoa ended the Florida State League regular season 41.0 games behind the first place DeLand Red Hats.

[3][16] Cocoa Indians player manager Carvell "Bama" Rowell scored 127 runs to lead the Florida State League.

[3] Playing at age 37, Rowell hit .345 for Cocoa with 12 home runs and 127 RBI with 42 stolen bases.

[18] Coming from a family with 10 children, Rowell had played both football and baseball while attending Louisiana State University.

[18] Rowell was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1941 and served in a chemical warfare training battalion, eventually achieving the rank of sergeant.

Playing for the Boston Braves on May 30, 1946, Rowell hit a notable ball at Ebbets Field in a game against the Brooklyn Dodgers that struck the Bulova clock that was atop the scoreboard.

The ball bounded back onto the field and broken glass rained down on the Dodgers' outfielder Dixie Walker.

[26] In 2017, Daviault was recognized along with Russell Martin and Eric Gagne as Canadian-born Major League players in ceremonies before a Toronto Blue Jays and Pittsburgh Pirates spring training game held at Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

[27] The Florida State League reduced to six-teams for the 1954 season, as the Leesburg and Palaka teams did not return.

[28] Cocoa compiled a record of 60–76 to end the Florida State League regular season in fifth place in the overall standings.

[29] The Indians were led by returning manager Bama Rowell (41–57), Clyde Stevens (1–3) and Bill Steinecke (18–16) during the season.

While serving as manager of the Class D level McCook Braves in the Nebraska State League, he was featured in pitcher Pat Jordan's novel, A False Spring.

[33] Bill Steineke left Cocoa and became the manager of the new West Palm beach team, who were a Milwaukee Braves affiliate.

[34] The Cocoa Indians continued league play as an unaffiliated team and ended the regular season in third place.

With the spilt season schedule remaining, no playoff was held, as Orlando finished in first place in both half-seasons of league play.

[3] Inocencio Rodriguez of Cocoa hit 20 home runs to lead the Florida State League.

Kerr managed in the minor leagues for New York and San Francisco Giants affiliated teams through 1963.

Cocoa pitcher Julio Navarro won the league triple crown, leading the Florida State with 24 wins, a 2.16 ERA and 216 strikeouts.

He attended the University of Santo Domingo in 1954 as a premedical student and played a season of baseball in college while practicing for the track events at the 1955 Pan American Games.

Alou had a 17-season major league career as a player and was a successful manager for the Montreal Expos and San Francisco Giants.

[52] Cocoa pitcher Julio Guerra won 26 games with 308 strikeouts to lead the Florida State League in both categories.

Playing for the Indians at age 19, Bond hit .328 with 11 home runs and 80 RBI with 17 stolen bases for Cocoa in 111 games.

Bond played the last five seasons baseball career after being diagnosed with leukemia while serving in the United States Army.

Hiller was signed by Cleveland Indians scout Cy Slapnicka after a stellar career at the University of St. Thomas.

As a major league scout, Slapnicka had signed Baseball Hall of Fame members Bob Feller and Lou Boudreau as well as Roger Maris.

[60] The Florida State played the 1958 season with seven teams, after the Leesburg Braves franchise did not return to the league.