Baseball Is Back InTheBurg

Baseball is returning to South Carolina's oldest ballpark in 2021 with the Coastal Plain League, who last played at Duncan Park Stadium and Wofford College as the Spartanburg Stingers (2003-2007.)On September 14th, 2020, Spartanburg City Council unanimously approved the Coastal Plain League's return to Duncan Park in 2021 for a 52-game summer season, May through August.One February 18th, the new team, the Spartanburgers, announced their team name and branding. The Spartanburgers join a handful of other food-themed team names in the League, including the Savannah Bananas, Macon Bacon and the Tri-City Chili Peppers of Colonial Heights, Virginia.The 2021 season plans to kick off May 27th, with team merchandise released earlier in March.All of the clubs in the 15-team wood-bat league are located in Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina, including the nearby Forest City, NC Owls. The Lexington County Blowfish in Columbia and the Florence RedWolves are the other South Carolina teams. Alumni of the league include Justin Verlander, Ryan Zimmerman, Chris Taylor, Mark Reynolds, Kevin Youkilis and NFL quarterback Russell Wilson.Read more on City Council's decision at GoUpstate.com here.

Stadium photo via Spartanburg County Public Libraries Herald-Journal Willis Collection.

Historic Duncan Park Stadium was built in 1926, and is on the National Register of Historic Places as the oldest ballpark in South Carolina. It recently underwent a $1.6-million restoration in 2019, including upgraded dugouts and locker rooms.Duncan Park has previously been home to textile teams, college and high school athletes, the American Legion Post 28 (its longest-playing tenant,) and most famously, the Spartanburg Phillies. In 1936, an estimated 60,000 fans gathered in the wooden grandstand and on surrounding hills for the American Legion World Series five-game finale-- as Spartanburg's Post 28 beat Los Angeles.How many fans will fill the stadium seats in the coming years...? Play ball!