Anderson Memorial Stadium
Anderson, SC
Review by Gary
Anderson, South Carolina has a sporadic history of minor league baseball. Located just off Interstate 85 and equidistant from Atlanta, GA and Charlotte, NC, this quiet South Carolina town saw its first club play here in 1907. Minor league ball was hosted here in Anderson off and on until 1954, when the pros left for 16 years. Anderson is also the childhood home to the superb actor Chadwick Boseman, who played Jackie Robinson, James Brown, and Marvel’s Black Panther.
In 1970, the city built Anderson Memorial Stadium and pro baseball returned with a Western Carolinas League (WCL) team moving in. Five WCL teams would take turns playing here for just one year each from 1970 to 1975. Three members of the 1974 Anderson Mets eventually advanced to the Major Leagues (Randy Tate, Lee Mazzilli and Luis Rosado).
After five years without a pro team, the Atlanta Braves WCL affiliate would move here from Greenwood’s Legion Field, which is just up the road a piece, to become the Anderson Braves, the ballpark’s longest tenured tenant, playing here from 1980 to 1984. The WCL would rename itself the South Atlantic League just in time for the Anderson Braves inaugural season after Greenwood won the WCL’s last championship.
Professional baseball briefly returned in 2007 with the arrival of the independent Anderson Joes of the South Coast League, though the team and league folded after one season. Since 1982, the City of Anderson has leased the facility to the NCAA Division II Anderson University Trojans baseball team.
With a capacity of 2,500, Memorial Stadium features a U-shaped amphitheater-style seating area built into the side of a hill, with metal bleachers and some classic reserved box seat sections close to the action. A two-story press box with a concession area is at the top of the stands behind home. Sadly, none of the seats are covered, so umbrellas and fashionable chapeaus are highly recommended for fans attending.
In 2007, Memorial Stadium received needed upgrades (new seating, wiring, plumbing, and concessions) and in 2024, a new green metal outfield fence was installed in front of the existing wooden wall, which had many rotten boards riddled with holes from balls hit right through them. Newish covered dugouts are at the far ends of the seating bowl, whose views of the field would be obstructed if there were actual seats there.
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2026
297
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Thanks to Michael, the college’s Assistant Coach and talented groundskeeper, who allowed me access. We had a great chat, and he shared photos of his creative manicuring of the grass playing field at this historic ballpark.
