The Greenville Drive is a minor league baseball team that plays in Greenville, South Carolina. They are a Class A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and a member of the South Atlantic League. Prior to the 2005 SAL season, the team played in Columbia, South Carolina, was affiliated with the New York Mets, and was known as the Capital City Bombers . Their mascot is a frog named Reedy Rip'it.

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History

The Drive began their history in 1960 in Shelby, North Carolina as the Shelby Reds. In 1983, the team moved to Columbia, which had lacked a minor league team since the departure of the Columbia Reds in 1961. The team was originally known as the Columbia Mets and made their home at Capital City Stadium. In 1993, the team changed its name to the Bombers to honor members of the Doolittle Raiders, who had conducted their initial training in Columbia.

Following the 2004 season, the Bombers changed affiliations and became the affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, who had previously been affiliated with the Augusta GreenJackets, also of the South Atlantic League. On February 11, 2005, Minor League Baseball announced that the Bombers had been granted permission to move to Greenville, where a new park opened in 2006. The Bombers would play in Greenville Municipal Stadium in 2005.

On October 27, 2005, the Bombers announced a team name change to the Drive. The name was given due to both the strong presence of the automobile industry (specifically BMW) in the area and the strong entrepreneurial spirit in the business community. Many residents have criticized the new name for its lack of historical relevance and failure to reflect community traditions. In fact, team owners reportedly wanted to call the team the "Joes," after Greenville County native Shoeless Joe Jackson. But Jackson is on Major League Baseball's permanent ineligibility list due to his role in the Black Sox Scandal in 1919.

The Bombers had a rich history within the South Atlantic League, winning the league championship in 1986, 1991, and 1998.

In 2008, outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin became the first Drive player to be selected to the annual All-Star Futures Game, which took place on July 13 at Yankee Stadium. Lin hit a two-run home run on the first pitch he saw that helped the World team beat the US Team, 3–0. He finished 2-for-2 and was named the game's Most Valuable Player. Former pitcher Clay Buchholz participated in the 2007 edition, a season after playing for the Drive.

Stadium

Capital City Stadium, at Downtown Columbia, was the home of the Bombers. The stadium was originally built in 1927, but was completely rebuilt in 1991. Capital City Stadium has a seating capacity for 6,000 spectators, has a grass surface and features the following fence dimensions: (LF) 330 ft., CF 400 ft., RF 320 ft.

The stadium often proved inadequate for baseball due to poor field conditions. Situated in a low-lying area, Capital City Stadium features poor drainage and heavy rains often resulted in a flooded infield.

The Bombers had sought assistance from the City of Columbia in building a new stadium located in the Congaree Vista area of Columbia. Efforts to construct a stadium to be shared with the University of South Carolina's baseball team fell through when the University demanded the Bombers pay $6,000,000 in fees upfront. Following this, Bombers owner Rich Mozingo sought to relocate the team.

Mozingo's efforts paid off when, in 2005, the Bombers relocated to Greenville, South Carolina (see above). Following the move, the Bombers played their home contests in Greenville Municipal Stadium in Greenville.

Following the 2005 season, the Greenville Bombers were renamed the Greenville Drive. The drive name is a nod to Greenville's rich automotive past as well as to two of Greenville's top employers, BMW and Michelin ^[1]. The team was also given a new stadium, Fluor Field at the West End, in the heart of downtown Greenville. The stadium was named "Ballpark of the Year" for the 2006 season by Baseballparks.com, beating out such stadiums as St. Louis's Busch Stadium and Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in State College, Pa. ^[2]

The stadium shares the dimensions of their parent club's major league park, Fenway Park, and boasts its own "Green Monster" complete with manual scoreboard and "Pesky's Pole" in right field ^[3].

2009 Roster

Players				Coaching staff
Pitchers 33 Jose Alvarez(pitcher) -- Austin Bailey † -- Daniel Bard 21 José Capellán (left-handed pitcher) -- Ryan Colvin † 47 Jordan Craft † 29 Javier Garcia(pitcher) -- Nick Hagadone † 31 Brock Huntzinger -- Jeremy Kehrt 35 Terumasa Matsuo 20 Robert McClain 25 Ryne Miller 40 Eammon Portice 37 Chad Povich 32 Michael Rozier 36 Felix Ventura † disabled list ‡ temporary inactive list * On Boston Red Sox 40-man roster updated 2008-09-01		Catchers 38 Peter Gilardo 10 William Vazquez 14 Tyler Weeden † Infielders 23 Michael Almanzar 16 Manuel Arambarris 26 Matthew Cooney  5 Thomas Di Benedetto 12 Carlos Fernandez-Oliva 24 Zachary Penprase  7 Anthony Rizzo(infielder) †  5 Oscar Tejeda Outfielders 17 Rafael Cabreja -- Che-Hsuan Lin ‡ 11 David Mailman 15 David Marks(outfielder) -- Yahmed Yema †		Manager 19 Kevin Boles Coaches  6 Billy McMillon (Hitting) 13 Bob Kipper (Pitching)

References

1. [1], Sox Prospects Wiki. Retrieved on 2008-06-22
2. [1], GreenvilleDrive.com Westend Park. Retrieved on 2008-06-22.
3. [1], GreenvilleDrive.com 2006 Stadium of the Year Article . Retrieved on 2008-06-22.