The Complete Archive

On the morning of Monday, February 9th, the Hub City Spartanburgers held a press launch at Duncan Park Stadium for their upcoming Pastimes series of alternate identity promotions which will be a headline feature of the 2026 baseball season at Fifth Third Park. Each of the six games which make up the series will commemorate a different era or classification of hardball played at the old ballpark over the last 100 years. Spartanburgers General Manager Tyson Jeffers, Spartanburg Mayor Jerome Rice, Negro Leagues historian Luther Norman, and I were invited to make brief remarks at the event. Mine follow below.

Beginning this week the Spartanburg County Headquarters Library will host “100 Years of Duncan Park Stadium,” a new exhibition curated by Brad Steinecke, the Assistant Director of Local History in the Kennedy Room. This 19-panel display features a couple of cases containing memorabilia and ephemera from the Library’s archive of items commemorating the history of this grand old stadium. The exhibition is located on the lower level of the Library in the AT&T Exhibition Gallery and will be on display January 20—March 4, 2026.

Did he make a stop in the Hub City on his way to The Show? Did the man who broke Babe Ruth’s home run record and became the greatest Braves player of all time set foot on the Sparkle City diamond? As is true of many issues in pre-integration Black baseball, the answer to this question is a probably reliable “Yes!” but it’s hard to provide the documentation to prove that it is so.

Satchel Paige was one of the greatest showmen ever to play baseball. He is also considered THE very best pitcher of them all by many fans. He played in the Negro Leagues and MLB. In July 1965 he pitched three innings against the Class A Spartanburg Phillies at Historic Duncan Park Stadium.

As a part of their ongoing celebration of the Hub City’s 100+ years of baseball history, the Hub City Spartanburgers will sponsor “Salute to the Negro Leagues” on Sunday afternoon, August 24th, at Fifth Third Park.

As I sit at my desk and look out my office window this morning, it has been a month since the passing of Ryne Sandburg, one of the best second basemen in MLB history. I am especially reflectful today since Sandberg was one of only two former members of the Spartanburg Phillies to be enshrined in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

Two of the fans in the grandstand at Fifth Third Park during Juneteenth weekend were Pete and Terry Peters, two diehard baseball fans from The Copper State of Arizona. Pete had read my book Duncan Park: Stories of a Classic American Ballpark on the recommendation of a friend, sent me a complimentary comment, and we decided to rendezvous in Spartanburg since he and Terry were in the midst of--I kid you not!--"an 11 week baseball journey across America" and it would therefore be easy enough for us to get together.

American Legion Post 28 Athletic Director John Barron reminds me that this summer will mark the centennial of American Legion Baseball, which began nationally in 1925 and opened play here in the Hub City at Duncan Park field in 1933. Since then Post 28 has played without interruption every year except one.

Welcome to a special post on the beautifulduncanpark.com blog! This will be the shortest post ever, but it is an important one. I wanted to announce—or remind you if you have already seen this notice—that tomorrow, May 16, 2025, the Spartanburg County Historical Association will host a special Lunch and Learn presentation at 12:30 at the Chapman Center in downtown Spartanburg.