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The Greenville Drive are a Minor League Baseball team based in
Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...
. They are the
High-A High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...
affiliate of the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
and are a member of the
South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...
. They play their home games at
Fluor Field at the West End Fluor Field at the West End is a 6,700-seat baseball-only stadium in Greenville, South Carolina, that opened on April 6, 2006. Designed by architectural firm DLR Group, it was built as a new home of the Greenville Drive baseball team, the High-A ...
, and their mascot is a frog named Reedy Rip'it. From 1993 to 2004, the team played in
Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...
, as the Capital City Bombers, an affiliate of the
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
succeeding the
Columbia Mets Located in Columbia, South Carolina, the Columbia Mets were affiliated with the New York Mets from 1983 to 1992. A member of the South Atlantic League, they became the Capital City Bombers in 1993. They played in Capital City Stadium. Year by yea ...
. In the team's first season as a Red Sox affiliate, 2005, they were known as the Greenville Bombers.


History

The Drive began their history in 1993 as the Capital City Bombers. The name was chosen to honor members of the
Doolittle Raiders The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo City, Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first American air operation to stri ...
, who had conducted their initial training in Columbia. The Bombers won the
South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...
championship in 1998. Following the 2004 season, the Bombers changed affiliations and became the affiliate of the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
, who had previously been affiliated with the
Augusta GreenJackets The Augusta GreenJackets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at SRP Park in North Augusta, South Carolina, which opened in April 2018. They previo ...
, also of the South Atlantic League. On February 11, 2005, Minor League Baseball announced that the Bombers had been granted permission to move to Greenville, where a new park opened in 2006. The Bombers would play in
Greenville Municipal Stadium Greenville Municipal Stadium is a stadium in Greenville, South Carolina, U.S., that was built in 1984 and holds 7,048 people. It is located on Mauldin Road off exit 46C on I-85. It was primarily used for baseball, and was the home field of the ...
in 2005. On October 27, 2005, the Bombers announced the team's name would change to the Drive. The name was chosen due to the presence of BMW US Manufacturing and Michelin in the area and, more generally, due to Greenville's rich automotive past. An alternative name was chosen after
Shoeless Joe Jackson Joseph Jefferson Jackson (July 16, 1887 – December 5, 1951), nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American outfielder who played Major League Baseball (MLB) in the early 1900s. Although his .356 career batting average is the fourth highest ...
called the Joes but
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
vetoed the name due to his role in the
Black Sox Scandal The Black Sox Scandal was a Major League Baseball game-fixing scandal in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money from a gambling syndicate l ...
in 1919. In 2008, outfielder
Che-Hsuan Lin Che-Hsuan Lin (; born September 21, 1988) is a Taiwanese professional baseball outfielder for the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). He played in Major League Baseball with the Boston Red Sox in 2012. Career Lin w ...
became the first Drive player to be selected to the annual
All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...
, which took place on July 13 at
Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...
. Lin hit a two-run
home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
on the first pitch he saw that helped the World team beat the US Team, 3–0. He finished 2-for-2 and was named the game's Most Valuable Player. Former pitcher
Clay Buchholz Clay Daniel Buchholz (born August 14, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Toronto Blue Jays. Buchholz made h ...
participated in the 2007 edition, a season after playing for the Drive. In 2009,
Ryan Lavarnway Ryan Cole Lavarnway ( ריאן לווארנוויי; born August 7, 1987) is an American-Israeli professional baseball catcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Oriol ...
played for the Drive, hitting 21 home runs and a .540 slugging percentage (both tops for Red Sox minor leaguers) and 87 RBIs in 404 at bats. On May 8, 2012, three Greenville pitchers combined to toss the club's first ever no-hitter. Miguel Pena (six innings),
Hunter Cervenka Colby Hunter Cervenka (born January 3, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins. Career Boston Red S ...
(two), and Tyler Lockwood (one) joined forces to defeat the
Rome Braves The Rome Braves are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They are located in Rome, Georgia, and play their home games at AdventHealth Stadium. From 2003 to 2020, the team serve ...
, 1–0. A solo home run by Keury De La Cruz off of David Filak in the sixth inning accounted for the only run of the game. In the 2017 postseason, the team defeated the
Kannapolis Intimidators Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. The ...
, 3 games to 1, to win the franchise's first championship since becoming the Greenville Drive in 2006. The Drive had an in-state rivalry with the
Charleston RiverDogs The Charleston RiverDogs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They are located in Charleston, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The RiverDogs' home stadium is Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Hi ...
, an affiliate of 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 ...
, while in the South Atlantic League. This particular rivalry was also fueled by the regional rivalry between the two parent clubs. In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the team moved from being the Red Sox' Class A affiliate to being their
High-A High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...
affiliate, and became a member of the
High-A East The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...
league; in a corresponding move, the
Salem Red Sox The Salem Red Sox are a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB), based in Salem, an independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia. The team competes at the Single-A level in the Carolina League. Ho ...
moved from
Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...
to
Low-A Class A, also known as Single-A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for each ...
. In 2022, the High-A East became known as the South Atlantic League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization.


Stadium

Capital City Stadium in downtown Columbia, was the home of the Bombers. The stadium was originally built in 1927, but was completely rebuilt in
1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
. Capital City Stadium has a
seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
for 6,000 spectators, has a grass surface and features the following fence dimensions: ( LF) 330 ft., CF 400 ft., RF 320 ft. The Bombers had sought assistance from the City of Columbia in building a new stadium located in the
Congaree Vista The Congaree Vista is a section of Columbia, South Carolina between the Congaree River and the central business district of downtown. The neighborhood was revitalized during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The section includes many small, upscal ...
area of Columbia. Efforts to construct a stadium to be shared with the University of South Carolina's baseball team fell through when the University demanded the Bombers pay $6 million in fees upfront. Following this, Bombers owner Rich Mozingo sought to relocate the team. Mozingo's efforts paid off when, in 2005, the Bombers relocated to Greenville, South Carolina. Following the move, the Bombers played their home contests in
Greenville Municipal Stadium Greenville Municipal Stadium is a stadium in Greenville, South Carolina, U.S., that was built in 1984 and holds 7,048 people. It is located on Mauldin Road off exit 46C on I-85. It was primarily used for baseball, and was the home field of the ...
in Greenville, then moved to
Fluor Field at the West End Fluor Field at the West End is a 6,700-seat baseball-only stadium in Greenville, South Carolina, that opened on April 6, 2006. Designed by architectural firm DLR Group, it was built as a new home of the Greenville Drive baseball team, the High-A ...
, in the heart of downtown Greenville. The stadium was named "Ballpark of the Year" for the 2006 season by Baseballparks.com, beating out such stadiums as St. Louis's Busch Stadium and Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in State College, Pa. The stadium shares the dimensions of their parent club's major league park, Fenway Park, and boasts its own (slightly shorter) "Green Monster" complete with manual scoreboard and "Pesky's Pole" in right field.


Season-by-season records

Below are the season records for the Capital City Bombers, Greenville Bombers, and Greenville Drive.


Capital City Bombers

The team competed in the South Atlantic League (Class A). The team was known as the "Columbia Bombers" during the 1994 season.
Mansolino resigned on June 18, at the request of the Mets, following the alcohol-related death of playe
Tim Bishop
in April; he was replaced by Stephenson.
Source:


Greenville Bombers

The team competed in the South Atlantic League (Class A). Source:


Greenville Drive

The team competed in the South Atlantic League (Class A) through 2020, then moved up to the High-A classification in 2021 as members of the to the
High-A East The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...
, which became the South Atlantic League in 2022. Division finish and league rank columns are based on overall regular season records. The South Atlantic League utilized a split-season, with first-half winners and second-half winners of each division meeting in the playoffs; if the same team won both halves of the season, the team with the next best overall record was selected.


Roster


Notable Greenville alumni

* Steve Avery (2000) MLB All-Star *
Mookie Betts Markus Lynn "Mookie" Betts (born October 7, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Boston Red Sox. In 2018, while with the Red Sox, he became ...
(2013) 3 x MLB All-Star *
Xander Bogaerts Xander Jan Bogaerts (born October 1, 1992; ), nicknamed "the X-Man" and "Bogey" or "Bogie", is an Aruban professional baseball shortstop for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Boston Re ...
(2011) MLB All-Star *
Clay Buchholz Clay Daniel Buchholz (born August 14, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Toronto Blue Jays. Buchholz made h ...
(2006) 2 x MLB All-Star *
Paul Byrd Paul Gregory Byrd (born December 3, 1970), is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who is currently a TV sports broadcaster for Atlanta Braves games on Bally Sports Southeast. While pitching in Major League Baseball (MLB), ...
(2004) 2 x MLB All-Star *
Jermaine Dye Jermaine Trevell Dye (born January 28, 1974) is an American former professional baseball right fielder. Dye grew up in Northern California and was a multi-sport star at Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville. Dye attended Cosumnes River College in ...
(1995) 2 x MLB All-Star *
Dwight Evans Dwight Evans may refer to: * Dwight Evans (baseball) (born 1951), American former baseball player * Dwight Evans (politician) (born 1954), American politician {{hndis, Evans, Dwight ...
(1970) 3 x MLB All-Star *
Rafael Furcal Rafael Antoni Furcal (born October 24, 1977) is a Dominican former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Miami Marlins. With St. Louis, he ...
(2000) 3 x MLB All-Star; 2000 NL Rookie of the Year *
Marcus Giles Marcus William Giles (born May 18, 1978) is a former Major League Baseball player. He was a second baseman and batted right-handed. His older brother, Brian Giles, was an outfielder who also played in the Major Leagues. Career Giles was selected ...
(2000) MLB All-Star *
Bryan Harvey Bryan Stanley Harvey (born June 2, 1963) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to for the California Angels of the American League and the Florida Marlins of the National Lea ...
(1997) 2 x MLB All-Star *
Andruw Jones Andruw Rudolf Jones (; born April 23, 1977) is a Curaçaoan former baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the Atlanta Braves. Jones also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers ...
(1996) 5 x MLB All-Star; 10 x Gold Glove *
Ryan Klesko Ryan Anthony Klesko (born June 12, 1971) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and corner outfielder who played for the Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. He attended Westminster High School in Westminster, Calif ...
(1995) MLB All-Star *
Kevin Millwood Kevin Austin Millwood (born December 24, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Colo ...
(1997, 2001) MLB All-Star; 2005 AL ERA Leader *
Terry Pendleton Terry Lee Pendleton (born July 16, 1960) is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played primarily for the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves, but he also spent time with the Florida Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, and Kansas C ...
(1994) MLB All-Star; 1991 NL Most Valuable Player *
Anthony Rizzo Anthony Vincent Rizzo (born August 8, 1989) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs. He is a three-time ...
(2008, 2009) 3 x MLB All-Star *
Jason Schmidt Jason David Schmidt (born January 29, 1973), is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. In his career, he has played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (2007–2009), San Francisco Giants (2001–06), Pittsburgh Pirates (1996–2001) and Atla ...
(1994) 3 x MLB All-Star; 2003 NL ERA Leader *
Adam Wainwright Adam Parrish Wainwright (born August 30, 1981), nicknamed "Waino" and "Uncle Charlie", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Atlanta Braves selected him 29th overall in th ...
(2003) 3 x MLB All-Star


Notes


References


Further reading

*


External links

*
Statistics from ''Baseball-Reference''
{{South Carolina Sports South Atlantic League teams Sports in Greenville, South Carolina Professional baseball teams in South Carolina Boston Red Sox minor league affiliates Sports in Columbia, South Carolina New York Mets minor league affiliates 1993 establishments in South Carolina Baseball teams established in 1993 High-A East teams