Only a handful of ballparks in affiliated baseball have been around longer than Grainger Stadium in Kinston, NC.
Home to the Single-A Down East Wood Ducks of the Carolina League, the ballpark has provided professional baseball for folks in eastern North Carolina since 1949. Affiliated baseball in Kinston is unfortunately coming to an end, but let’s focus on some good news for now: Grainger Stadium is a charming facility that should be on every fan’s must-visit list. I’ve only been to this ballpark once, but I’m profoundly thankful that I was able to check it out. Even though the future of baseball at this park and in this town is uncertain, one certainty for me is that I plan to revisit the park in the future.
This is the ninth edition of my “5 Things I Love” series, which looks at a short list of random things that I love about each ballpark I’ve visited. This is a series that celebrates the sometimes subtle things that make ballpark experiences enjoyable and memorable, and hopefully encourages you to think about your favorite features at each park you visit.
Here are five things I love about Grainger Stadium, home of the Down East Wood Ducks:
1. The Mother Earth Pavilion
My favorite thing about Grainger Stadium is a feature that is undoubtedly atop many other fans’ lists. The Mother Earth Pavilion is one of the best hangout spots that I’ve encountered in all my travels through the minor leagues. It’s a two-level, 10,000-square-foot structure that offers both covered and open-air seating, as well as a sizable bar that features numerous beers from Mother Earth Brewing — a brewery that is based in downtown Kinston. It’s got an impressive selection of seating choices, including barstools, picnic tables, restaurant-style chairs, and stadium seats. I spent several innings in this area during my visit with a cold drink in my hand, a bag of peanuts within reach, and the game in front of me. No visit to Grainger Stadium is complete without checking out the Mother Earth Pavilion.
2. The Wood Ducks Water Tower
Technically, the Wood Ducks-themed water town isn’t inside of Grainger Stadium, but its key role in the ballpark’s backdrop makes it one of my favorite things about this facility. Situated just a couple of blocks beyond the left field corner, the tower juts above the trees and is visible from the ballpark’s seats and concourse. A Wood Ducks logo is easy to see against the water tower’s white background, and a collection of flood lights illuminate the design after dark. The Wood Ducks water tower just seems so “small-town baseball” to me, and I love it. Team-branded water towers aren’t very popular, which adds to the charm of the tower in Kinston. In my travels, I’ve only come across one other such tower — a Carolina Mudcats-themed design on the water tower near Five County Stadium.
3. The Box Seats
One of the things I love about historic ballparks that haven’t been extensively remodeled is that parts of the game day experience today are virtually unchanged from the game day experience of 50 or more years ago. One area at Grainger Stadium where this feeling is particularly tangible is the box seating section that surrounds the infield. Most modern-day parks have standard folding stadium seats at field level, but that’s not the case at Grainger. Instead, it has literal boxes that hold four chairs. You step down into the box, open up your chair, and place it where you want. The boxes are comfortable, cozy, and offer a seating experience that you seldom get at ballparks throughout the minor leagues.
4. The Enclosed Concourse
Grainger Stadium has its share of open concourses, but the enclosed concourse behind home plate is my favorite. Like the box seats, this is another old-school feature that has remained largely unchanged throughout the years. With brick to your left and right and the underside of the metal bleachers serving as a roof overhead, this area has a snug and welcoming feel. The dark green beams are a nice touch because they tie into the team’s branding, and you don’t have to look far to see Wood Ducks-themed signage — it appears regularly along the brick walls. This is an area that can offer a reprieve from the sun during a summer game or shelter from wind and rain on a cool April evening.
5. The Home Bullpen
Bullpens are rarely something that I think too much about when I visit ballparks. The home bullpen at Grainger Stadium, however, is impossible to overlook — specifically, I’m talking about the bench that the relief pitchers use when they’re not warming up. It’s designed to mimic a hunting blind, which links with the Wood Ducks theme in a creative way. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a minor league ‘pen that specifically relates to the home team’s identity, but that’s exactly what you’ll see when you look down the third base line at Grainger Stadium. The structure around the bench is clad in a rustic, net-like material that could easily provide concealment in a wooded area. I tip my cap to whoever came up with this creative design.
What are your favorite things about Grainger Stadium?