Duncan Park is a

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat, seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest c ...

. It is primarily used for

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and is currently the home of the

Spartanburgers The Spartanburgers are a collegiate summer baseball team playing in the Coastal Plain League. The team plays its home games at Duncan Park in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The team, formerly the Gastonia Grizzlies, relocated from Gastonia, North C ...

of the

Coastal Plain League The Coastal Plain League (CPL) is a wood-bat collegiate summer baseball league, featuring college players recruited from throughout the nation. The league takes its name from the Class D level Coastal League which operated in the area from 19 ...

, the

Spartanburg High School Spartanburg High School is the public high school in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It is part of Spartanburg County School District No. 7. The current principal is Vance Jones, a former assistant principal at the school. The district includes m ...

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 The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2016.

History

Duncan Park Stadium hosted its first game on July 8, 1926. 2,500 people watched as the Spartanburg Spartans defeated the

Macon Peaches The Macon Peaches was the predominant name of the American minor league baseball franchise representing Macon, Georgia, during the 20th century. Although Macon did not field teams during and immediately after World War I, the height of the Great ...

5-1. Nearly 21,000 fans attended the deciding Game 5 of the 1936 "World Series" of American Legion baseball at Duncan Park when Spartanburg defeated Los Angeles. That figure remains the largest crowd to watch a sporting event in Spartanburg. Duncan Park also hosted the 1938 “World Series” of American Legion baseball. In 1937, the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

, featuring

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

and

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

, played an exhibition game in Duncan Park on their way to New York from spring training. Other major league standouts played in Duncan Park on their way to the show, including

Larry Bowa Lawrence Robert Bowa (born December 6, 1945) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB), who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and New York Mets. Bowa went on to ma ...

Ryne Sandberg Ryne Dee Sandberg (born September 18, 1959), nicknamed "Ryno", is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies (19 ...

Dale Murphy Dale Bryan Murphy (born March 12, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player. During an 18-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) (–), he played as an outfielder, catcher, and first baseman for the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphi ...

, and

Tom Glavine Thomas Michael Glavine (born March 25, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball, for the Atlanta Braves (1987–2002, 2008) and New York Mets (2003–2007). With 164 victories durin ...

. In addition, several

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

stars also visited Duncan Park on barnstorming tours, including

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...

Satchel Paige Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...

Larry Doby Lawrence Eugene Doby (December 13, 1923 – June 18, 2003) was an American professional baseball player in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB) who was the second black player to break baseball's color barrier and the first black pl ...

, and

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...

. When

Shibe Park Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, 1 ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

was demolished, Duncan Park received many seats from the old stadium. From 1996-2003, the park was home to the

Wofford College Wofford College is a private liberal arts college in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was founded in 1854. The campus is a national arboretum and one of the few four-year institutions in the southeastern United States founded before the America ...

Terriers Terrier (from Latin ''terra'', 'earth') is a type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. Terrier breeds vary gr ...

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

team. In 2004, the Terriers moved to the newly built Russell C. King Field on campus. In 2008, Spartanburg city council decided to grant funding to replace the outfield wall and finalized an agreement with Spartanburg School District 7 to have the Spartanburg High School baseball team become a permanent tenant. From 2013-2014, Spartanburg School District 7 spent $500,000 on significant renovations to Duncan Park Stadium. These renovations were the first major improvements since the stadium was built and involved substantial structural work. In addition, drainage was improved, rotten wood was replaced, new box seats were installed, the stadium was repainted and a new scoreboard was erected. District 7 intends to do further renovations when funds become available, including seating under the roof, concession areas and permanent restroom facilities. A further $1.6 million in renovations were done in 2018-2019, including additional locker rooms, showers, and restrooms. In September 2020, Spartanburg City Council approved a lease agreement with an ownership group that would bring a

team back to Duncan Park. The team was christened as the

in February 2021. They played their first game on May 27, 2021, losing at home to the

Lexington County Blowfish The Lexington County Blowfish are a summer collegiate baseball team in the Coastal Plain League. The team plays its home games at the Lexington County Baseball Stadium in unincorporated Lexington County, South Carolina (with an address in the ...

References

External links

Duncan Park Views - ''Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues''
{{CPL Ballparks Sports venues in South Carolina Minor league baseball venues Baseball venues in South Carolina Wofford Terriers baseball Sports venues in Spartanburg County, South Carolina Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Sports venues on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina