HAGERSTOWN, Md – Perhaps John Kinsella said it best: “If you build it, (they) will come.”
The new downtown Hagerstown stadium (Meritus Park) at 50 West Baltimore Street is nearing completion, and the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars believe that “they” – the fans – will come when the first pitch is thrown in late April.
Hagerstown, which has not had a minor league baseball team since 2019, will play in the Atlantic League, the same league that features York and the Lancaster Stormers (formerly Barnstormers).
The team didn’t have to venture too far to hire its manager for the 2024 season. Mark Mason spent 12 seasons with the York Revolution. Hitting coach Enohel Polanco worked alongside Mason in York. Pitching coach Manny Corpas played Major League Baseball for the Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs.
The name of the team is a reference to the Fairchild Aircraft plant in Hagerstown, which built C-119 Flying Boxcar military transports). The C-119 was also known as “100,000 rivets flying in close formation” because it was loud and bumpy.
The Flying Boxcars will be affiliated with the 26-year-old Atlantic Professional League, which has 10 teams in two divisions North and South. The season is 126 games from April to mid-September. The first game is on April 25. Hagerstown is scheduled to play 63 home games this season.
The team’s season opener is also its home opener against York.
The stadium is officially a multi-use facility with seating for 4,000, two outfield beer gardens, eight suites, a kids’ zone, and is fully ADA compliant. The ballpark also has banquet space for up to 300 for corporate events, weddings and other functions.
The construction of the ballpark was spearheaded by the Maryland Stadium Authority.
“This is a project that had been talked about around here, on and off, for decades, but had never gotten off the ground. It truly is Hagerstown’s very own ‘Field of Dreams,’” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said in a speech commemorating the groundbreaking. “When I became governor, I pledged that Western Maryland—and all of rural Maryland—would no longer be forgotten or ignored, and that we would work together at all levels of government to revitalize this incredibly historic city of Hagerstown, and that is exactly what we have done.”
Hagerstown will play in the South Division with the Charleston Dirty Birds, High Point Rockers, Lexington Legends, Staten Island Ferry Hawks.
The North Division consists of the Lancaster Stormers, York Revolution, Long Island Ducks, Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, Frederick Ghost Hounds and Gastonia.
The logo was designed by New Jersey-based Sky Design Studios.
According to SportsLogos.net, “one subset of logos in the suite focuses on the city’s nickname, Hub City, which honors Hagerstown’s railroad history and connection to aviation. The nickname
originates from the way railroad tracks from The Western Maryland, the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O), and the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) rail lines resembled spokes of a wagon wheel on a map. The rail industry, of course, serviced the Fairchild factory.:
