Texas Rangers' High-A Affiliate Gets Wild New Nickname For 2025 Season

Welcome to the minor leagues, Hub City Spartanburgers.

The High-A affiliate of the Rangers, the Spartanburgers, replace the Down East Wood Ducks in the Texas family this season. The Wood Ducks, based in Kinston, North Carolina, shut down after the 2024 season.

So just what is behind the meaning of this new team name?

Well, it’s pretty simple.

Spartanburg, South Carolina, is known as Hub City, a tribute to the city’s heritage as a railroad community – the hub of commerce and travel back in the day. And the people who call the city home are referred to as Spartanburgers.

The South Atlantic League team’s colors are navy blue, bright green, red, brown and yellow. And its mascot, of course, is an adorable hamburger wearing a train conductor’s hat and holding a bat. The mascot has cute friends, too, in the form of a baseball-playing spatula (“Flip”) and a pickle chip (“Chip”).

The team also has a more traditional look.

"We do have a line that is just specific to Hub City, and that's a little bit more on the traditional side with the Hub City wordmark and what we call the HC state," general manager Tyson Jeffers told MiLB.com last year. "That's the H and the C with the star on Spartanburg within the shape of [South Carolina]. So we do have the fun parts and we also have a little but more of a professional serious look to go along with it, so this serves the whole population."

The Spartanburgers represent the city’s return to minor league baseball for the first time since 1995, the final season of the Spartanburg Phillies.

The team will make its Spartanburg regular-season debut against the Bowling Green Hot Rods on April 15 following a nine-day road trip to open the season. The Spartanburgers will play at the new $58.6 million Fifth Third Park, which seats 3,500 in downtown Spartanburg.

Related MiLB Stories

LEAF PEEPING: Hartford Yard Goats to Pay Tribute to New England's Favorite 'Sport' With Alternate Name in 2025 CLICK HERE:

PIGWEEDS?: Arizona Diamondbacks Affiliate to Get Wild New Identity in 2025 CLICK HERE:

TRIBUTE TO AN ICON: Louisville Bats to Honor Local Legend with Bobblehead Giveaway in 2025 CLICK HERE: