CAROLINA FIREFLIES

I bet you think this post is going to be about fireflies.  You know, the cute little flying bugs that light up, blink and when in groups look awesome at dusk.  Well, it's not.

The Columbia Fireflies are a minor league baseball team based in Columbia, South Carolina. The team plays in the Class Single-A South Atlantic League and are an affiliate of the New York Mets. Their home stadium is at Spirit Communications Park. The team is the relocating Savannah Sand Gnats from Savannah, Georgia. The team is the first minor league baseball team in Columbia since the Capital City Bombers back in 2004. The team is the only professional baseball team in the Columbia area but will be the second baseball team in the Columbia area; they will share the market with the Lexington County Blowfish collegiate baseball team of the Coastal Plain League.

Yesterday, was Fan Fest for the Columbia Fireflies.  The public got its first peek at the brand new stadium, meet the team, watch the first official practice and catch baseball fever.  It did not disappoint.  Spirit Communications got the naming rights for the new stadium. One aspect that will make Spirit Communications Park unique from so many others around the country is that it will play host to far more than just baseball. The facility will serve as a public gathering place for hundreds of indoor and outdoor non-baseball events each year. From concerts to community events, Spirit Communications Park will welcome thousands. The park will host approximately 8,000 fans for baseball games and 14,000 for concerts.

The outside of the stadium

Batting practice happening on the field

A look at some of the seating areas down one side of the field

The store at the stadium where you can buy official t-shirts and hats is called the Mason Jar.  I think that's pretty catchy since you catch fireflies in mason jars.  The Mason Jar was jammed packed with fans purchasing all their fan-ware before opening night.  The line to pay for your purchase was really, really long but fans were happy to stand in the line to get their gear.  One of the cool things is the fireflies on the hats will glow in the dark.  So, when the sun goes down at the ballpark, it will be littered with glowing fireflies in the stands.  Pretty cool don't you think?

Any minor league stadium worth its weight has a "kids corner".  This area is not completed yet.  They still have a few more electrical outlets that need to be installed and they will put down a cushioned "rug" for the activities and kids to run around on.  They did have a few inflatables there to keep the kids entertained.  So, of course, we had to try those out.

Race down the slide

Each girl tried her skills in batting

Each girl got a couple of hits



Trying out her pitching skills

The Fan Fest was free and the first 2,000 fans got a free hotdog and drink.  We were not one of the first 2,000. 

Each fan got to walk around and sit in any seat to determine which seat they thought was the best to view games from.  After you made that determination, you could walk over to the ticket office and purchase home game tickets or hopefully season tickets.

At 4:00, all of the team members lined up and were giving autographs and taking pictures for the fans.  The line was crazy long for this too.  So, we decided to leave but as we were leaving there were a few team members that were sitting there waiting for the beginning of the line to reach them.  So, I snapped a picture.  Who knows, one of these guys might be the star player for the Mets one of these days and I will have his picture!  We got our tickets for opening night, April 14th and I can wait to watch some baseball.  Play ball!