Lakeland Pilots (baseball)

The Lakeland Pilots were a minor league baseball team based in Lakeland, Florida. Between 1946 and 1955, the "Pilots" played as charter members of the Florida International League before rejoining the Florida State League in 1953. The Lakeland Highlanders preceded the Pilots in minor league play as charter members of the 1919 Florida State League and were the first minor league team in the city, playing from 1919 to 1926. Lakeland won Florida State League championships in 1924 and 1954.

After beginning play at the Lakeland Ballpark through 1922, Lakeland teams hosted home minor league games at Henley Field beginning in 1923. The ballpark also served as the spring training site for the Cleveland Indians initially and then the Detroit Tigers beginning in 1934. Henley Field is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and was named for the Lakeland team owner.

The Lakeland "Pilots" nickname corresponded to military pilots who were trained in Lakeland in the era. In the World War II era, thousands of U.S. Army Air Force pilots were trained in Lakeland at Lodwick Field and the Lakeland Army Air Field, then known as Drane Field. The school trained over 8,000 pilots, some of whom later flew for the U.S. Army's Flying Tigers in China. Today, the Lakeland Flying Tigers minor league team plays home games on the former site of Lodwick Field at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium.