Spartanburg Traders

South Atlantic League (1980-1982)

Tombstone

Born: 1980 – Re-branded from Spartanburg Phillies
Re-Branded: 1983 (Spartanburg Spinners)

First Game: April 11, 1980 (L 6-2 vs. Shelby Pirates)
Last Game: August 31, 1982 (W 8-7 @ Gastonia Cardinals)

South Atlantic League Championships: None

Stadium

Duncan Park

Ownership & Affiliation

Owner: Dr. Frank Weir

Major League Affiliation: Philadelphia Phillies

Attendance

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Print Download

Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 2007

Background

Spartanburg, South Carolina was a long-time minor league outpost of the Philadelphia Phillies organization, hosting a Class A affiliate of the Major League club from 1963 to 1994. For most of that era Spartanburg’s local nine were also known as the Phillies. But during a six-year period from 1980 to 1985 the team experimented with several different local identities, including the Traders (1980-1982), the Spinners (1983) and the Suns (1984-1985).

In 1986 the team went back to being known as the Phillies.

On The Field

The Traders 1980 and 1982 teams were rather thin in terms of prospects. But the 1981 Traders squad was loaded and produced ten future Major Leaguer ballplayers, including:

Catcher Darren Daulton (Traders ’81), a three-time National League All-Star for Philadelphia
Pitcher Kevin Gross (Traders ’81) won 142 games in the Majors and pitched a no-hitter in 1992
Second baseman Juan Samuel (Traders ’81) was the 1984 National League Rookie-of-the-Year
Third baseman Mike LaValliere (Traders ’81) later converted to catcher and played 12 Major League seasons

Daulton and Samuel are both members of the Philadelphia Phillies’ Wall of Fame.

Stoney Swipes

During the 1981 season, Traders’ 20-year old outfielder Jeff Stone stole 123 bases in 134 games, breaking the modern-era professional baseball single season record set by Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1974. Traders’ public address announcer Ed Dickerson coined the term “Stoney Swipes” to announce each theft that summer to the crowds at Duncan Park.

During a 1981 game against the Greensboro Hornets, Stone engaged in an insane duel with Hornets pitcher Ed Olwine. Olwine made 26 consecutive pick-off attempts to first base, finally nailing the exhausted Stone on the final throw.

Stone went on to play parts of eight seasons in The Show for the Phillies, Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox.

Legacy

The former Spartanburg Traders franchise is still active in the Low-A East league today. After several subsequent name changes and a move to Kannapolis, North Carolina in 1995, the franchise is now known as the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers.