Down East Wood Ducks

Lore & Background

The Down East Wood Ducks were established in 2017 after the Texas Rangers signed a 12-year contract with the city of Kinston to provide a team at Grainger Stadium. The team's name was chosen through a trademark application filed on August 15, 2016, and announced on November 2, 2016, after a naming contest that drew negative reaction from fans upset that the team would not be known by the town name and that some finalist names were demeaning. The backlash later subsided as the community embraced the moniker. During their inaugural season in 2017, the Wood Ducks were crowned co-champions of the Carolina League by defeating the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, with the playoffs called off because of Hurricane Irma.

In 2018, the team wore uniforms of the Kinston Indians at seven 'Throwback Thursday' games to honor the history of baseball at Grainger Stadium. The 2019 Wood Ducks won the first half of the season with a 50–20 record but lost to the Fayetteville Woodpeckers in the South Division finals. With the 2021 restructuring of the minor leagues, the Wood Ducks were placed in the Low-A East, though this was renamed the Carolina League and reclassified as Single-A in 2022. In May 2023, the Texas Rangers sold the Wood Ducks to Diamond Baseball Holdings. The team relocated to Fifth Third Park in downtown Spartanburg, South Carolina, for the 2025 season, becoming the Hub City Spartanburgers.

Reader's Guide

The Down East Wood Ducks represent a brief but notable chapter in the long history of professional baseball in Kinston, North Carolina, which dates back to a 1908 squad in the Eastern Carolina League. Kinston has hosted farm clubs for 11 different major league franchises and one minor league club. The Wood Ducks were the first affiliated team in Kinston since the Kinston Indians left after the 2011 season, ending a period without affiliated professional baseball for the first time since 1977. Their 2017 co-championship, though abbreviated by Hurricane Irma, marked the team's only league title. The team's branding, named Ballpark Digest's best logo/branding for Minor League Baseball in 2017, helped build community identity despite initial controversy over the name. The relocation to Spartanburg in 2024 ended the Wood Ducks' eight-season tenure in Kinston, but the team's legacy includes 24 players who later appeared in Major League Baseball as of the 2020 season.

Did You Know?

• The Down East Wood Ducks were named after the wood duck, a colorful local waterfowl.
• The team won its lone Carolina League title in 2017 as co-champions after the playoffs were called off due to Hurricane Irma.
• In 2018, the Wood Ducks wore uniforms of the Kinston Indians at seven 'Throwback Thursday' games.
• The team relocated to Spartanburg, South Carolina, after the 2024 season and became the Hub City Spartanburgers.