Lakeland Flying Tigers

The Lakeland Flying Tigers are the Single-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, playing in the Florida State League at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida. The franchise has been part of the Detroit organization since 1963, forming one of the two longest unbroken parent club-affiliate relationships in all of Minor League Baseball.

The team played as the Lakeland Tigers for 44 years before rebranding as the Flying Tigers in 2007, a name that honors the World War II pilots who trained at the Lodwick School of Aeronautics — the former military flight school that occupied the very grounds where Joker Marchant Stadium now stands. The aviation connection gives the franchise a unique identity that ties Lakeland's baseball present to its military past.

Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium, built in 1966, serves as both the Flying Tigers' regular-season home and the Detroit Tigers' spring training facility. The dual-use Tigertown complex provides a seamless development environment where young players can train alongside major leaguers and receive instruction from the parent club's coaching staff year-round.

The franchise has won five FSL championships — 1976, 1977, 1992, 2012, and most recently 2025, when the Flying Tigers defeated the Daytona Tortugas to capture their first title in 13 years. Under new manager Salvador Paniagua for 2026, the Flying Tigers continue their six-decade tradition of developing Detroit's next generation of stars in the Florida sunshine.