The road to a career in Major League Baseball often takes young ballplayers on a life-changing journey — some will be making a stop, and learning a bit about military aviation history, in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Construction began last October for a new ballpark in downtown Hagerstown for a new Atlantic League team that will play its first season in 2024.
The team name was announced last week by Downtown Baseball Hagerstown as the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars in tribute to the military plane that was built in Hagerstown in the 1940s and 1950s.
Made by Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation, which was located in Hagerstown, the C-119, and its predecessor, the C-82, became the military’s cargo and transport workhorses. By the early 1950s, Fairchild’s payroll reached 10,000 employees.
The city of Hagerstown has installed an round-the-clock livestream webcam to document construction of the new stadium.
Hagerstown has a long history as home to baseball teams. In 2019, Major League Baseball dissolved 42 minor league teams, including the Hagerstown Suns, who were the single-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals.
Former Nationals star Bryce Harper began his minor league career as an 18-year-old playing for the Hagerstown Suns in 2011.
The Atlantic League began operating in 1998, according to its website.
“The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) offers an open classification of play, the highest level of professional baseball other than Major League Baseball. Atlantic League players are highly experienced professionals, having progressed through professional baseball developmental levels (A, AA, AAA),” the league said.
According to the league, more than 40% of Atlantic League players have had some time in the major leagues. “Atlantic League clubs pay players to win baseball games, not apprentice in baseball’s developmental levels,” according to the league site.
