Play Ball! Again!

Baseball will be back in the Hub City next spring when the Flying Boxcars take the field in a new downtown stadium

By Jeff Thoreson

Hagerstown’s love affair with baseball spans nearly the entire history of the sport, although like most relationships, it has been a somewhat up-and-down affair.

The Western Maryland Historical Library tells us the Hagerstown Base Ball Club was holding regular meetings and playing “spirited contests” against rival town teams as far back as the Civil War, and a professional baseball organization played in the Cumberland Valley League for a short period in the 1890s.

Since then, various professional teams have come and gone, most recently the Hagerstown Suns, which disbanded in Major League Baseball’s consolidation after the Covid-canceled season of 2020.

Next spring, the umpire cry of “Play ball” will once again ring in Hagerstown, this time in a spanking-new downtown stadium that may well be the envy of minor-league towns throughout the country. The Hagerstown Flying Boxcars will take the field in the Atlantic League, reigniting the passion for professional baseball in Washington County.

“Minor league baseball towns stand out,” says Daniel P. Spedden, president of the Hagerstown/Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It is a relatively rare commodity and should be valued for the impact it has on the economy and the sense of community it creates.”

Local interest already seems to be strong. When organizers announced a name-the-team competition, they received more than 1,600 entries. Other top contending names were the Haymakers, Diezel Dogs, Tin Lizards, and Battle Swans. More than 2,500 people voted in the contest.

The winning name pays tribute to the Fairchild C119 Flying Boxcar that was produced at a plant in Hagerstown between 1949 and 1955. The fuselage was the size of a train boxcar and designed to carry cargo, personnel, equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute. The planes were used by the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Hagerstown civic officials now hope the Flying Boxcars can soar into the space vacated three years ago by the Suns, which were the city’s largest tourist attraction.

“The loss of the Suns meant that there was no commerce generated at the stadium, year-round and seasonal employment opportunities were gone, and the city’s profile as a preferred destination was diminished,” Spedden says.

That commerce should return with a $70 million downtown stadium under construction at Summit Avenue and West Baltimore Street. The Maryland General Assembly voted to fund the project in 2021, meaning no local tax dollars are being used to build the stadium, which has been designed to reflect Hagerstown’s history as a railroad hub.

Both Spedden and Boxcars’ general manager David Blenckstone say the stadium will bring visitors to Hagerstown and hope it will help revitalize downtown in a city where the economy is struggling.

“That, in turn, will provide a huge boost to downtown businesses and will encourage new businesses to invest in the city,” says Blenckstone.

The Suns played their last game in Hagerstown in the fall of 2019, so it’s been three full seasons since minor league baseball has been played in Hagerstown. Since then, the 92-year-old Municipal Stadium has been razed and a new $22 million indoor sports facility is under construction on the site, scheduled to open in 2024.

“The new Hagerstown stadium will be America’s newest and most innovative ballpark and will attract fans who just want to experience the new venue,” Spedden says. “Independent professional baseball will be free of the disappointment we experienced with affiliated baseball, and a local ownership group will create a sense of permanence that will allow local residents to commit to the team for many years to come.”

The investment group that owns the team, Downtown Baseball LLC, includes Hagerstown businessmen Howard “Blackie” Bowen, Don Bowman, and James Holzapfel.

“Hagerstown lost its franchise…leaving a void in the community both on the field and through the economic impact that was lost with the team,” Blenckstone says. “Baseball has been a huge part of the fabric of Hagerstown and Washington County for decades, dating back to the 1940s when minor league baseball first called Hagerstown home.”

Adds Spedden: “Professional baseball’s return to Hagerstown will restore and enhance the commerce and sense of community lost with the Hagerstown Suns departure.”