Spartanburgers | |
---|---|
Information | |
League | Coastal Plain League (South) |
Location | Spartanburg, South Carolina |
Ballpark | Duncan Park |
Founded | 2021 |
Folded | 2022 |
Former name(s) | Gastonia Grizzlies (2002–2020) |
Former ballparks | Sims Legion Park (2002–2020) |
Colors | |
Mascot | Tom 8-0 |
Manager | Wesley Brown |
General Manager | Claudia Padgett |
The Spartanburgers were a collegiate summer baseball team playing in the Coastal Plain League in 2021. The team played its home games at Duncan Park in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The team, formerly the Gastonia Grizzlies, relocated from Gastonia, North Carolina for the 2021 season. [1] [2] The team name, announced in February 2021, was just the one word, not using the city name. [3] On December 21, 2020, Wesley Brown was named head coach. [4] The team played their first game on May 27, 2021, losing at home to the Lexington County Blowfish. [5] The team's mascot was Tom 8-0, a giant ketchup bottle. [6]
In March 2022, the Spartanburgers suspended operations for the 2022 season. The Coastal Plain League announcement referenced "financial hardships the former ownership group suffered" due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the expected cost of ballpark renovations. [7]
In May 2023, Diamond Baseball Holdings bought the Down East Wood Ducks of the Carolina League and announced that the team will move to a newly built ballpark in downtown Spartanburg "as early as the 2025 season". [8] The relocated team will be renamed the Hub City Spartanburgers. [9]
The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's corporate headquarters is located at Clipper Magazine Stadium in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
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Gastonia is the most populous city in and the county seat of Gaston County, North Carolina, United States. It is the second-largest satellite city of the Charlotte area, behind Concord. The population was 80,411 in the 2020 census, up from 71,741 in 2010. Gastonia is the 13th-most populous city in North Carolina. It is part of the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC Combined Statistical Area.
Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city had a population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-most populous city in the state. For a time, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) grouped Spartanburg and Union counties together as the Spartanburg, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area, but the OMB now defines the Spartanburg, SC MSA as only Spartanburg County.
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Sims Legion Park is a 3,000-seat baseball park in Gastonia, North Carolina that is the home field for Gaston College baseball. It has hosted the Gastonia Grizzlies of the Coastal Plain League, as well as American Legion baseball. The Grizzlies moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina starting with the 2021 season and were renamed the Spartanburgers.
Duncan Park is a stadium in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It is primarily used for baseball and is currently the home of the Spartanburg High School baseball team and the Spartanburg Post 28 American Legion Baseball (ALB) team. The ballpark has a capacity of 3,000 people and opened in 1926. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
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