History of Duncan Park Stadium

Built in 1926, Spartanburg’s Duncan Park is entering its 80th season of baseball in 2005. The stadium is located on land donated by the Duncan Family of Spartanburg, and is owned and maintained by the City of Spartanburg. The stadium is named after David Duncan, a Confederate Major during the Civil War. Duncan served as a trustee for both Wofford College and Converse College after the war, and he also served as a board member of Spartan Mills and president of the Spartanburg-Asheville Railroad before his death in 1902 (Morgan).
Duncan Park Stadium hosted its first game on July 8, 1926. An estimated 2,500 people watched the Spartanburg Spartans defeat the Macon Peaches 5-1 (Lane and Teeter p284). 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 (Nestor p. 23). That figure remains the largest crowd to watch a sporting event in Spartanburg (Herald-Journal September 2, 1997, A-1) Duncan Park also hosted the 1938 “World Series” of American Legion baseball (Nestor p. 42). In 1937, the New York Yankees, featuring Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig, 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, Ryne Sandburg, Dale Murphy, and Tom Glavine (Maultsby).
The Philadelphia Phillies had a farm team in Spartanburg from 1963 trough the 1994 season. The Spartanburg Phillies topped Class A baseball in attendance in 1965 with more than 100,000 fans attending games that year (Herald-Journal August 5, 1965, A1:b). On August 9, 1966 Commissioner of Baseball William D. Eckert attended a game at Duncan Park. A crowd of 6,593 was on hand to watch the Spartanburg Phillies win their 23rd straight game. The Commissioner came to Spartanburg because of how successful the Spartanburg Phillies were both on the field and at the gate (Herald-Journal August 10, 1966, 1:a). When the Spartanburg Phillies played their 1994 season in Duncan Park, the stadium was the oldest in America hosting full season minor league baseball. Duncan Park Stadium is one of the oldest wooden grandstand baseball stadiums in the region, and one of the oldest remaining in America. Duncan Park is home to seats from Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia (Smith, p.248). Duncan Park is home to 582 seats from Connie Mack (Herald-Journal May 22, 1988, C-1). Connie Mack Stadium was home to the Philadelphia Athletics from 1909 to 1954, and to the Philadelphia Phillies from 1938 to 1970. The green wooden seats were removed from Connie Mack Stadium and sent to Duncan Park after the Phillies moved into Veterans Stadium in 1971 (Smith, p. 248).
Lights were added to the stadium in 1936, and before the 1937 season pine trees were planted around a man made lake beyond the outfield wall (Morgan). A storm in the summer of 1950 destroyed a large section of the outfield wall, stretching from centerfield to right field. It was rebuilt that same year using concrete blocks by L. T. Wright, and still stands today (Herald-Journal July 15, 1950, p.1). From as early as 1936 until 1962, wooden bleachers stood on each side of the main grandstand. In 1962 the bleachers had decayed into an unsafe structure, and it was suggested that the bleachers down the left field line be destroyed with a cement wall in their place (Herald-Journal January 23, 1962, 5:b). Today, that area is used for a picnic area, and a concrete wall stretches from the grandstand to the outfield wall. In 1967 the city finalized a plan to replace woodwork in the first base bleachers, recover the roof, replace broken seats, renovate the restrooms and press box, and to build a new concession stand (Herald-Journal January 10, 1967, 9:a). The original concession stand, as well as the stand added in 1967 are still in use. The two original bathrooms are also used today. Two additional bathrooms were built in the early 1980s. New lights were installed at the park in 1973 (Herald-Journal September 18, 1973, B1:a). In 1979, the roof was repaired, 700 seats in the grandstand were reconditioned, and a new public address system was installed (Herald-Journal March 10, 1979, H2:a). Demolition of the right field bleachers was discussed also in 1979, and a new press box on the concourse level was built. Also, wooden plank seating was installed in the outer sections of the grandstand (Herald-Journal May 30, 1979, D2:a). Demolishing the right field bleachers was proposed in 1979, but a picture printed in the Herald-Journal on February 6, 1983 showed that the bleachers remained. The photograph was taken during construction at the stadium, which later included a new chain fence where the bleachers once stood. The bleachers were not present in 1988, according to Tommy Ordoyne. Ordoyne has run a concession stand at Duncan Park since 1988. The stadium saw a few major changes in 1983. A new scoreboard was installed in left center field, although a picture in the Herald-Journal on May 4, 1986 showed that it was not the same scoreboard as what is used today. A warning track was also installed around the playing surface. Before this time, grass had grown completely to the edge of the wall. New chain fencing was also built down the first base line (Herald-Journal February 23, 1983, B1:a). New lights were again installed in 1985 (Herald-Journal January 10, 1985). In 1992, the Phillies added a second story to the in stadium offices. The main office, which is along the concourse, was included in the original construction in 1926 (Herald-Journal January 31, 1992, C1:a).
The American Legion has played baseball at Duncan Park for 72 years. There were amateur and semi-professional baseball teams that called Duncan Park home before the Philadelphia Phillies brought a minor league team to the stadium in 1963. Wofford College and the University of South Carolina Spartanburg played home baseball games at Duncan Park until they each moved into on-campus stadiums in 2003. The stadium is used today by two collegiate summer league teams, the Spartanburg Stingers Baseball Club, part of the Coastal Plain League, and the Spartanburg Crickets of the Southern Collegiate Baseball League. Spartanburg has a proud baseball heritage, and the majority of it took place in Duncan Park. Duncan Park has served as a center of culture and recreation in Spartanburg for 80 years, and is a rare gem that Spartanburg should be proud to have.
The Spartanburg Stingers Baseball Club is adding a ticket office, movable souvenir cart, and pavilion to the stadium for the 2005 season. The ticket office will be outside the stadium, in front of the main entrance. The pavilion will be located in the picnic area down the left field line. The teams occupying the stadium and the city have repainted the concourse wall, bathrooms, and the backstop and dugouts. Having Duncan Park Stadium on the National Register of Historic Places would allow us to apply for matching grants, which would help us tremendously. The Spartanburg Stingers spent $20,000 in renovations this year, and the City of Spartanburg also plans to put funds into stadium repairs.

Also, the 1966 Spartanburg Phillie's were voted by Minor League Baseball as the 78th best minor league baseball team of all time in their Top 100 listing. Learn more about the team, led by Larry Bowa and Denny Doyle by clicking this link

Sources

Lane, John and Teeter, Betsy. Hub City Anthology.
Holocene, 1996.

Maultsby, Baker. “Remembering the Glory Days”
Spartanburg Herald-Journal
July 8, 2001: A 1.

Morgan, George. “The History of Duncan Park.”
Spartanburg Phillies Program (1992).

Nester, Bob. Baseball in Greenville and Spartanburg.
Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2003.

Smith, Curt. Storied Stadiums: Baseball’s History Through its Ballparks.
New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2001

Spartanburg County Historical Association

The Spartanburg Herald-Journal

Spartanburg Unit of the Writer’s Program of the Work Projects Administration.
A History of Spartanburg County. Band & White, 1940.


National Registry of Historic Places
Preliminary Information Form

Date of Construction: 1926

Major Alterations: 1950, 1967, 1973, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1992

Information provided by  James Wolfe, General Manager, Spartanburg Stingers