Duncan Park Stadium Goes to College

Wofford College, that is. Beginning the week of March 10, 2025, the Wofford College Lifelong Learning Program will offer Duncan Park and the History of Baseball in Spartanburg a s an 8-week class in its spring course schedule.

Taught by yours truly, the class is based upon the research for my 2023 SABR Research Award-winning book Duncan Park: Stories of a Classic American Ballpark, published by Spartanburg's own Hub City Press. The class will both expand this research and deepen its exploration of a number of the topics covered in the book.

Among new topics introduced in the course will be an investigation of the origins of baseball in the Hub City and a presentation to class participants of the existence of what has hitherto been an unknown semipro team from the 1880s. Topics studied in greater depth will be the Spartanburg Sluggers and Negro Leagues baseball and the future of the grand old ballpark as part of a revitalized and expanded City park in the rapidly developing Southside.

Additional features of the Wofford offering will be guest speakers who share their knowledge of several aspects of Duncan Park's history and an in-person meeting at Duncan Park stadium itself.

Registration for Duncan Park Stadium and the History of Baseball in Spartanburg is now open and will continue to be available until the first day of the class, which is March 12, 2025. Individuals who wish to explore more about this course or the Lifelong Learning program should visit the LLL home page at https://www.campusce.net/wofford/category/category.aspx, where there is a "Registration Help Guide." There is a modest $42 registration fee for the course.

Fans of Upstate baseball will also be interested to find that a "Spring Special Event" of the LLL program will be a $5 Hub City Spartanburgers Tour of Fifth Third Park on March 14th!

More News from Duncan Park

There is a lot of activity taking place now and in the near future at Duncan Park, both the stadium and the larger park as a whole. The No. 20 post in this blog gave details of the upcoming Dedication of the newly renovated youth baseball fields just beyond the right field wall of the stadium, and it won't be long until Hillbrook Baseball and other spring and summer events get under way.

A low-visibility but very important process that is already taking place is the Friends of Duncan Park's exploration of ways to fund needed repairs and improvements to the stadium. These range from new restrooms and a badly needed modern concessions area to repairs to the outfield wall and upgrades to meet the requirements of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. These needs have been recognized and discussed among different users of Duncan Park facilities for at least 20 years, and the total price tag for fulfilling all of the items on this wish list is likely close to $2 million.

As part of this process of the identification of needs and the securing of funding for the improvements, Friends Chairman John Faris 3rd and a ballpark subcommittee have been examining the work of the Friends of Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, and the Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium in suburban Detroit, Michigan. Rickwood Field is the oldest ballpark in the United States and was the home of both the Birmingham Barons Minor League ball club and the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Southern League and Negro National League, for whom Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, and Mule Suttles all played. Hamtramck Field was the home of the Negro National League Detroit Stars and their Hall of Famer Turkey Stearnes, as well as the Detroit Wolves and their star Cool Papa Bell and others.

The Friends of Duncan Park ballpark subcommittee hosted a group ZOOM meeting with Gerald Watkins, the Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of the Friends of Rickwood, in February, during which they discussed the history of the preservation of Rickwood Field and the organization of their Friends Committee. A follow-up meeting is scheduled in the near future. A meeting is also scheduled with Gary Gillette, the Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Friends of Historic Hamtramck Field, in mid-March, when similar topics will be discussed. Shortly thereafter the Friends of Duncan Park will undertake the formation of a Board of Directors for the local ballpark group and will begin the process of raising the substantial amount necessary to undertake the planned improvements.

News from Beyond the Grandstand

Visitors to the park will notice that the cleanup from Hurricane Helene continues. The Friends of Duncan Park together with Play. Advocate. Live Well. and the United Way of the Piedmont held an. MLK Day of Service Trail Stewardship event which collected many large bags of trash.

Another significant event was the granting of up to $400,000 from the Land & Water Conservation Fund to a match of $300,000 from the City of Spartanburg for the completion of a trail around the perimeter of Duncan Park Lake and a lakeside picnic shelter. This facility will help to connect neighborhoods around the park to other parts of the grounds and recreational sections like the tennis and pickleball courts and bicycle paths.

It is hoped that the lakeside perimeter trail will eventually complement another trail around the American Legion building, which is an aspirational project for future development. Another proposal for the future is the construction of a cover over the stage near Veterans Pointe Memorial, a project which will facilitate new programming for the stadium and lawn, perhaps to include a revival of Jazz in the Park. Educational signage throughout the park to highlight features like Water Ecology, Wildlife, and History is an additional item on the wish list for the future.

The Friends of Duncan Park meets on the fourth Friday of every month, usually at 5:30 at the CC Woodson Community Center. The Friends newsletter is complimentary and can be subscribed to via a link at its website: www.duncanparksc.org.