Chronological Tour: Stop 436

New in the Hub City

Home plate entrance to Fifth Third Park, Apr-2025.

From the right field line, a look at the main seating bowl.

Fans look out toward downtown Spartanburg.

• Location: Henry Street at Ezell Avenue, Spartanburg, S.C. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 2025
• Home team: Hub City Spartanburgers, South Atlantic League (2025-present)
• Capacity: 5,000 (3,500 fixed seats)

Rating: 3 baseballs

Major League Baseball announced in July 2024 that the team will transfer from the Low-A Carolina League to the High-A South Atlantic League to become a natural rival of the Greenville Drive, 35 miles to the southwest along I-85. A rivalry may also develop with the Asheville Tourists, who play about 60 miles to the northwest following I-26.

While the handsome home plate entryway is shown above, most fans will not walk in from that direction because the left and right field entry gates are closer to available parking. There is a garage down the left-field line that gets $10 per car, but early-arriving fans can park for free in several nearby public lots.

For day games, the suite level provides plenty of shade, especially down the third-base line. However, fans on that side are blocked from seeing what happens to balls hit to left field. I missed seeing a couple of home runs sailing out of the yard in that direction because of the way the seating areas protrude, reaching out nearly to the foul line.

I also had a complaint with the control room staff, which played way too many sound effects, often repetitively (how many times does one need to hear a canned organ version of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”?). Additionally, early in the game I attended (the end of the team’s first homestand), the sound guy let the effects continue while the pitch was being delivered. Someone may have told him that doing so was a no-no, as the practice seemed to end around the third inning.

Finally, it is possible to get a Spartanburger at the game. It’s a triple-patty hamburger with pimento, fried green tomatoes, and drizzled fried onions. It tasted fine, but it had been left out for a few minutes too long and so it was starting to turn cold. There are other concession stands, including one from the Bojangles chain, which was also a sponsor back in Kinston. Most service is grab-and-go, but one can get a fountain soda as well as a draft beer at the bar located behind the grandstand just to the third-base side of home plate.

Previous pro teams in Spartanburg had played at Duncan Park, a stadium that had opened in 1926 and was restored in 2007 to host high school and college summer ball.