Greenville Drive (Class A)

From SoSH

Contents 1 History of Baseball in Greenville 2 The Bombers, the Move and the Red Sox 3 The Drive Debut 4 Trivia 5 Internal Sources 6 External Links 7 See Also

History of Baseball in Greenville

Greenville has a long history of professional baseball teams, starting in 1907. The first team, first called the Eskimos, later the Spinners, played through 1931, at which point the league they played in (The Palmetto League) disbanded. In 1908, the Spinners featured future Major Leaguer and Greenville Resident, Shoeless Joe Jackson.

Baseball returned to Greenville in 1939, and lasted until 1941 when WWII shut down baseball across the U.S. Baseball returned after the war, and had another good 10 year run, but losing baseball again in 1956. Baseball would return in 1961 and would have a 12 year run in various Single-A leagues. The Red Sox had their first run in Greenville with the Greenville Red Sox, affiliates from 1967-71.

Baseball would return to Greenville in 1984 as the Atlanta Braves put their AA team in Greenville for a 20 year run, a run that ended after the 2004 season when the team would move to Pearl Mississippi.

The Bombers, the Move and the Red Sox

While Greenville was losing their AA team, the Red Sox had changed affiliation in the South Atlantic League, moving from the Augusta Greenjackets to the Capital City Bombers, who had formerly been affiliated with the Mets. Capital City had graduated over 100 players to the majors while affiliated with the Mets, including Scott Kazmir, Fernando Vina, Brian Daubach and Preston Wilson.

But, all was not well in Columbia, SC. There had been a movement to build a new downtown stadium for the Bombers and the University of South Carolina. But, USC moved ahead without the Bombers, and a move was thought to be a necessity, as attendance rates were poor in Columbia. With the Braves moving out of Greenville, Capital City looked towards Greenville.

They weren't the only ones looking though. The AA West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx and the Single A Hagerstown Suns were also looking to move into the Greenville area. Minor League Baseball decided in early February of 2005 to award the Greenville franchise to the Capital City group, and the move began immediately.

For 2005, the Bombers would change only their City title (to the Greenville Bombers), and would play in the park abandoned by the Braves, Greenville Municipal Stadium. 2006 would bring wholesale changes.

The Drive Debut

2006 brought out a new team name and a new downtown Greenville stadium. The team was renamed the Drive, and the team relocated to West End Field, a new stadium based in part, on Fenway Park, including a 30' Green Monster, Pesky Pole 302' feet down the RF line, and the Centerfield Triangle.

The 2006 team had a sucessful first half of the season, finishing over .500. The team did not have as successful second half of the season, finishing with a record of 6 games under .500 for the season. However, the team did draw well, as the Drive had over 300,000 fans come through the turnstile at West End Field in its first season.

In November, Manager Luis Alicea was promoted to become the first base coach for the Boston Red Sox. In mid December, Gabe Kapler retired from playing baseball, and was announced as the new manager for the Greenville Drive. After only one year at the helm of the Drive, Kapler signed a free agent contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, and was replaced by Kevin Boles, who guided the club to a 30-39 record in 2008.

Trivia

• The initial name to replace the Bombers was the Greenville Joes (honoring native son Shoeless Joe Jackson), but the idea was shot down by Minor League Baseball
• The Drive nickname was announced on October, 27, 2005.
• The name is a symbol of the industry around Greenville (BMW, in particular), as well as the attitude of the region.
• West End Field has been given the nickname, "The Lumberyard" by locals because it was built upon an out-of-use lumberyard on the outskirts of downtown Greenville.
• West End Field is located across the street from Shoeless Joe Jackson's childhood home, which is now a museum honoring the former slugger.

Internal Sources

• 2006 Greenville Drive
• 2005 Greenville Bombers

External Links

• Greenville Drive Official Site
• Greenville Online Drive Page
• South Atlantic League Official Site
• Greenville SC Baseball History
• Bombers move to Greenville
• Minor League Baseball: Clubs: Greenville Drive

See Also

• Minor League Baseball - index