Greenville Drive Photo
The 2020 Greenville Drive season has been cancelled due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic that has swept across the world.
The 2020 Greenville Drive season has been cancelled due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic that has swept across the world. Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball and the South Atlantic League made coordinated announcements Tuesday.
Billboards around the Upstate foreshadowed baseball’s cancellation announcement with the iconic quote – “There’s no crying in baseball.” – spoken by Jimmy Dugan, played by Tom Hanks, in the film “A League of Their Own”.
The lead to today’s story is an adapted line from “Casey at the Bat,” describing the reaction of the hometown crowd when their hero, Casey, strikes out, losing the big game. In general, the expression is used to describe any disappointment.
The ongoing concern regarding the safety of our community, and Minor League Baseball communities across America – including fans, front office staff, game day staff, players and coaches – led to this decision, according to the organizations.
On March 12, Minor League Baseball – in conjunction with health officials and the Federal government – had announced a delay to the start of the 2020 season. While the Drive have continued to prepare for a rescheduled Opening Night, including revising and updating health and safety protocols, the complexity of the issues created by the COVID 19 virus were simply too great to overcome for minor league baseball to have its 2020 season.
“The Greenville Drive are devastated by today’s unprecedented announcement,” stated Drive Owner and President, Craig Brown. “Our staff has been hard at work for many months preparing for the Drive’s 15th Anniversary Season in Downtown Greenville at Fluor Field. In partnership with leading business and community partners, we had several significant new events planned that would have been highly complementary to our popular and much anticipated annual events such as our Reading All-Stars Celebrations, Healthcare Career Night, Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering Night, Green Day, Drive Business Downtown and many more.”
“I’m very disappointed for our fans and the entire community as the summer will not be the same in Downtown Greenville without Drive baseball to enjoy,” said Brown. “And I’m also disappointed that the dedication and hard work put in by our staff will now have to wait until 2021 to see its full impact.
“Nonetheless and despite this devasting news which impacts us on so many levels you can be sure that the Drive will remain as committed as ever investing in the economic health and vitality of our region and insuring the Upstate remains a wonderful place to live, work and raise a family,” Brown said.
Drive General Manager, Eric Jarinko, said, “Since 2006, Fluor Field at the West End has become the ‘Front Porch of the Community’. We were extremely excited to celebrate our 15th Anniversary Season in 2020. While we are disappointed that we’ll all have to wait until 2021 to officially celebrate this milestone season, the most important consideration is the safety and well-being of our fans.”
The Drive will focus on hosting small public and private events at Fluor Field this summer, fall and winter until the community rebounds from the pandemic.