The Hub City Spartanburgers, High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers in the South Atlantic League, have only been around for one season, but the team will celebrate 100 years of baseball in their hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina, with an old-timey alternate identity. For six games in 2026, the team will play as the Spartanburg Pastimes, with an identity that features a ballplayer from a bygone era set in a cream and maroon color palette that evokes the sepia tones of classic photographs.
The team’s ballpark, Duncan Park, opened in 1926. Since then, it’s been home to a Negro Leagues team called the Spartanburg Sluggers, a Class B minor league team called the Spartanburg Peaches, a Class A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies called the Spartanburg Phillies, a collegiate summer level team in the Coastal Plain League simply called the Spartanburgers, and numerous high school, amateur, and other teams.
The Pastimes logo, created by Dan Simon of the Louisville-based design firm Studio Simon, is a bit of a departure from the character-based fare we’ve become accustomed to in minor league baseball.
“It was refreshing to be asked to exercise some different creative muscles, and dig into our love of the history of the game, to develop a classic, vintage-inspired visual identity to help celebrate the teams that have called Spartanburg home over 100 years of baseball at historic Duncan Park Stadium,” Simon said.
As part of the year-long celebration, the team will donate a percentage of merchandise sales to the Friends of Duncan Park, who work to preserve the Spartanburg landmark.
The Spartanburgers will take to the field as the Pastimes once a month for six months, making their debut April 7 against the Greenville Drive.
