An Oldie, but a Goodie

Exterior of Grainger Stadium, Aug-1999.

The seating bowl is typical of mid-century parks.

The Marlboro Man has been replaced by the logo mascot of the K-Tribe.

• Location: Grainger and East streets (off Vernon), Kinston, N.C.
• Opened: 1949
• Home team: Kinston Eagles, Coastal Plain League (1949-52); Kinston Eagles (1956-57, 1962-73, 1978-81, 1986), Expos (1974), Blue Jays (1982-85), Indians (1987-2011), Carolina League
• Capacity: 4,100

Chronological Tour: Stop 162

Rating: 3 baseballs

Doesn’t mean there aren’t any corporate tie-ins, though. The owner of the Kinston Indians (henceforth known as the K-Tribe) owns the Bojangles restaurant chain as well as a small (two locations in Kinston) chain of Fifties-style diners with gas stations called RightWay (motto: “Eat Here – Get Gas”). Both are promoted: the vendors wear RightWay shirts, and there’s a Bojangles stand in the picnic area down the right-field line. (That was in 1999. I returned for a farewell visit in 2011 and both were no longer in effect.)

As for the park itself, it’s, well, old. It’s concrete, with a lot of wood. I heard people on my trip knocking the place, but I thought it had character. Not much to see, although the water tower in left field is painted with a K-Tribe logo. Or, again, it was in 1999; in 2011 the logo was a rather generic declaration, Kinston: All-American City.

A series of franchise shifts was announced in late 2010 which will leave Kinston without a professional team in 2012. The K-Tribe will move to Zebulon to fill the gap left by the purchase of the Double-A Carolina Mudcats, who are being relocated to Pensacola, Fla.