The Motor of the Hub City: Why Professional Baseball Returned to Spartanburg
June 23, 2025 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Hub City Spartanburgers News Release
This article was originally published in the June 2025 edition of the Texas Rangers magazine.
The most important development of the decade in Upstate South Carolina all began with a round of golf.
The Hub City Spartanburgers, the brand-new High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, first became a possibility when Geordy Johnson, CEO and Director of The Johnson Group, and Pat Battle, executive chairman of Diamond Baseball Holdings (DBH), teed off. As the pairing played their way through lush fairways and sloping greens, the conversation between good friends soon shifted to business, to baseball.
Johnson, a Spartanburg native, hoped to bring a jolt back to his home city. The jumper cables, in this instance, came in the form of a minor league baseball franchise. After DBH bought the Rangers' Low-A club, Johnson's vision would eventually be realized. A massive group effort turned Fifth Third Park, and the Hub City Spartanburgers, into a reality.
"We tried and tried to bring professional baseball back to Spartanburg, but kept running into dead ends," said Johnson. "Pat told me, 'My son went to Wofford - I love Spartanburg. We'd love to bring a team to your community.' From the moment he said those words, it was off to the races."
Spartanburg community leaders gather for a ribbon cutting ceremony in front of the Milliken Club. Mayor Jerome Rice (holding ribbon left, tweed blazer), Johnson Group President and CEO Geordy Johnson (second from ribbon right) and OneSpartanburg, Inc. President Allen Smith (holding ribbon right) were all part of the planning process for Fifth Third Park. (Hub City Spartanburgers)
The 'Burg's Baseball Origins
Baseball in Spartanburg, an area known as the Hub City for its history of railroad commerce, had been a city staple since the early 1900s, when American Legion teams and the Negro League Spartanburg Sluggers occupied Duncan Park. Affiliated professional baseball first made its way to Spartanburg in 1963 in the form of the Philadelphia Phillies' Single-A club, with the same moniker as the big-league team. Led by legendary sports executive Pat Williams, the Phillies set minor league attendance records in 1966 and produced over 125 major leaguers in their 30-year tenure.
"Growing up, my family and I went to Duncan Park," said Johnson. "My sister and I spent most of our time trying to find foul balls or running around with our friends, but we loved the Phillies. You had people from south, north, east, west all coming together for America's Pastime."
Unfortunately, the Phillies fell on hard times during their later years, and the franchise was eventually moved to Kannapolis, N.C. Spartanburg had lost its lynchpin, the activity that brought everyone together on a summer evening. While other Southern cities like Greenville, the neighboring mill town 45 minutes west, built downtown baseball stadiums and developed around them, Spartanburg stood still through the turn of the century.
Twenty years later, when Johnson envisioned a revamped, thriving downtown, a professional baseball team stood at the forefront. Diamond Baseball Holdings was in the perfect position to make Johnson's vision a reality by returning the lynchpin to the Hub City.
The Tipping Point
Established in 2021, Diamond Baseball Holdings was in the process of acquiring a vast portfolio of minor league franchises. With the backing of Silver Lake, a global investment firm, DBH had purchased 17 Minor League franchises. On May 18, 2023, the Down East Wood Ducks, Single-A Affiliate of the Texas Rangers, became team 18. Shortly thereafter, the Rangers and DBH announced the organization would be relocating to Spartanburg, with a much broader purpose than just baseball.
"This collective effort will have a transformative impact on Spartanburg," said Johnson in the joint announcement between the Rangers, DBH, and Spartanburg's private and public sectors on that fateful May day. "Supporting our city's current growth, drawing families into the heart of downtown and serving as a hub for entertainment and broader economic activity throughout our area for years to come."
There were ambitious ideas to move Spartanburg's economy forward, starting with a broad "Vision Plan" from OneSpartanburg, Inc., the convergence of the county's Chamber of Commerce, Visitor's Bureau and Economic Futures Board. Renovating Morgan Square, an entertainment area in downtown Spartanburg, and building a 5,000 square-foot planetarium both were boxes to check.
"To hear of just the possibility of having a team in Spartanburg brought a smile to my face," said Spartanburg Mayor Jerome Rice. "What an impact it could have... And then we hear about the possibility of it being downtown - that was a game-changer."
"Members of the city and county councils and all the way up to the leadership of the State of South Carolina realized the impact this could have far greater than baseball," said Allen Smith, CEO and President of OneSpartanburg, Inc. "[A stadium] starts a flywheel that we couldn't have started any other way than having this kind of amenity in this location."
Dignitaries take the first scoop of dirt at the site which would become Fifth Third Park on November 1, 2023. (Hub City Spartanburgers)
Boots on the Ground
The first domino was breaking ground on The Johnson Group's 16-acre lot on the edge of Downtown Spartanburg's West End. The land had a great legacy - a former grain mill right next to the railroad tracks serving as an engine of commerce for the Upstate - but had fallen into disrepair.
On November 1, 2023, fans donned merchandise with the moniker "Spartanburg Professional Baseball Club," complete with a gray and navy-blue outline of South Carolina, and gathered on the corner of South Daniel Morgan Street and West Henry Street, excited for the news to come. A whole group of luminaries, including Johnson, Mayor Rice and the first employee of the "Professional Baseball Club," General Manager Tyson Jeffers, grabbed shovels and scooped a palate of dirt to ceremoniously get the ball rolling on the $70-million stadium.
"The Groundbreaking Event was our first introduction of our organization to the community and the first official gathering at Fifth Third Park", said Jeffers. "It signified that the vision for baseball by so many was finally becoming a reality."
While the future home of the Hub City's professional ball club was erected, Jeffers had to find a home base to build out the franchise's front office. Enter 131 and 131 ý W. Main Street, where a temporary team store soon popped up. Above, an old hair salon housed a cast of characters, young and old, which quickly grew as Jeffers filled out the staff.
"Our team's temporary accommodations were far from luxurious... they were very minor league baseball," said Jeffers. "But those spaces served their purpose, helped us truly establish ourselves in the community and created a lot of memories that we will look back on and say, 'remember when'."
While looking outward to connect with a growing community and establish foundational partnerships, Jeffers and staff also had to nail down the number one marketing tool at their disposal. The cardinal calling card for every Minor League baseball organization is their team's name - some are zany and unique, others steeped in big league tradition.
"It was extremely important to us that when choosing a name for the club, we not only referenced a piece of Spartanburg's history, but we also captured the fun personality and energetic spirit that fans can look forward to at Fifth Third Park," said Jeffers.
The Hub City Spartanburgers' mascot, Chuck the Burger, entertains the crowd during a game. (Hub City Spartanburgers)
From a Foundation to Fifth Third Park
As the Hub City Spartanburgers came together in the tiny hair salon, five minutes southeast, blueprints drawn up by Overland Partners, then McMillan Pazdan Smith, a local architecture firm, quickly came to life. The stadium turned into a representation of the best South Carolina had to offer.
The Johnson Development Associates and Robins and Morton sourced materials large and small locally; steel for the foundation, brick for the facade, and even the outfield grass came from Palmetto state retailers. DBH brought in the Canopy Team, along with Ronnie Younts, a renowned stadium art designer who has worked on Dodger Stadium and Fenway Park, among others, to tailor the concourse art specifically to Spartanburg. Local artist Jeremy Kemp painted the stadium murals.
"This is the people's stadium," said Smith. "You see Spartanburg, Hub City, Sparkle City... The brand of our community is all over the place."
Fourteen months turned a patch of empty land into a state-of-the-art facility. Locker rooms with built-in Bluetooth speakers, batting cages equipped with Trackman technology and a brand-new weight room created a top-notch player experience. On the level above, easily accessible grab-and-go concessions ensured that fans wouldn't miss a pitch while grabbing a burger in between innings. 3,600 chairback seats were installed over the span of construction, with an intimate vantage point that some have described as "right on top of the field." Up one more floor, the premier in- and out-of-season venue in the Upstate, the Milliken Club, was built out with TVs, every kind of seating imaginable and a full-service kitchen and bar.
"[Spartanburg] needed more event space," said Smith. "We needed more opportunities to showcase Spartanburg, to groups, associations and conferences. We're competing with Chattanooga, Raleigh/Durham, and [this puts us] on a completely different competitive plane."
It all came to fruition on April 1, 2025. USC Upstate and Wofford, the two local Division I schools, faced off in the first-ever baseball game at Fifth Third Park. The ballpark's capacity was limited, as the construction team was still in the process of making its final touches, but the response from the Spartanburg community was overwhelming.
"I walked the stadium a lot during the development," said Johnson. "It was so fulfilling to see it filled with people of all ages, creeds, demographics, coming here to have a good time with family and friends. There were so many hugs and high fives - people were beaming with pride."
Rangers President of Baseball Operations Chris Young delivers a speech prior to the Spartanburgers' first game at Fifth Third Park against the Bowling Green Hot Rods on April 15, 2025. (Hub City Spartanburgers)
The Spartanburgers officially debuted on April 15 in front of a crowd of 4,467, mashing two home runs in a 5-3 victory over the Bowling Green Hot Rods. Not only will remaining home games and potential playoff action pack Fifth Third Park, but concerts, (three-time Academy of Country Music Award winner Cole Swindell performs in the first-ever concert on June 5), graduations and fundraisers will occupy the space throughout the year.
Through the first month of the South Atlantic League season, the Spartanburgers rank top three in attendance, bringing people downtown in droves, and fulfilling the vision of The Johnson Group's collaborative effort with DBH, OneSpartanburg, Inc. and many more, which started many moons ago with the swing of a golf club.
"Someone with experience around baseball told me, 'None of you can imagine how big of a transformation this is going to have around this community,'" said Johnson. "'You'll look back 10, 15, 20 years and see this as the lynchpin.'"
Fireworks fly above the roof of Fifth Third Park after Hub City wins its first-ever regular season game at Fifth Third Park over the Bowling Green Hot Rods, 5-3. (Hub City Spartanburgers)
South Atlantic League Stories from June 23, 2025
- Braydon Tucker Named SAL Pitcher of the Week - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- The Motor of the Hub City: Why Professional Baseball Returned to Spartanburg - Hub City Spartanburgers
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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
