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I propose that this aricle be merged into the Bradenton Marauders page. The Tarpons FSL franchise is still technically in existance today as the Marauders. The team moved to Sarasota and became the Sarasota White Sox (1988), then Sarasota Red Sox (1994), Sarasota Reds (2005), then Bradenton (2010). All info pertaining to the Tarpons can be transcribed and redirected the Marauders page and the teams records and logos can be displayed as well. --Pennsylvania Penguin (talk) 13:43, 3 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The Tarpons were a Tampa tradition for a loooong time and have a rich history, both locally and (especially) with Cincinnati's Big Red Machine. I actually didn't realize the franchise had officially moved when Al Lopez Field was razed. That's an interesting connection and should definitely be mentioned in both this article and the one for the Marauders. However, there's no way that an article about a team with this much history should be merged into an article about a future incarnation that just started playing last season. (imo, of course.) Zeng8r (talk) 16:54, 3 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I understand the concern and the pride Tampa has in the Tarpons, especially since I live in the Central Florida area. But wouldn't this be a continuation of the franchise? For ex: the Houston Oilers became the Tennessee Titans, the St Louis Browns became the Baltimore Orioles, the Washington Senators became the Minnesota Twins, the Hartford Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes, the Pittsburgh Gladiators became the Tampa Bay Storm.--Pennsylvania Penguin (talk) 14:57, 5 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I reverted your merge. The material wasn't duplicate until Pennsylvania Penguin rather clumsily copy-pasted the contents of this article to the Bradenton one. As Zeng8r says, the Tarpons have enough independent history (and more importantly, sources) to justify a separate article, whether or not the franchise is still around. There is no consistency in how Wikipedia handles articles on sports teams that move or change their name; as such articles on particular incarnations should be acceptable if they're notable enough. I did some cursory cleaning of both this article and the related sections of the Bradenton article.--Cúchullaint/c15:46, 27 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose merge for the same reason. In general we leave the articles separate when they are in separate cities. The big leagues are a bit of an exception to that. But in general if there is enough to keep them separate they should be separate. -DJSasso (talk) 15:10, 1 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The Tampa Smokers were an entirely different team than the Tarpons and had a long history of their own. I'm putting together an article on the older team, so I've removed the redirect to this article, which was questionable in the first place, imo. Zeng8r (talk) 20:04, 25 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
