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The Section of Street formerly known as Pendleton? Maybe we could come up with a symbol for this street? :rofl:

True - once the Greenville Monster Wall goes up, you'll not be able to see much of the ballpark from South Main. But then...the Field House should be going up along South Main, so the presence along the street will improve :thumbsup: All-in-all, the ballpark itself is only supposed to be as tall as a one-story building anyway.

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The Section of Street formerly known as Pendleton? Maybe we could come up with a symbol for this street? :rofl:

I suggest a contest to determine the symbol, in conjunction with the one to name the Baseball team. Of course, it will be unpronouncable, and TSFKAP will be the word used to identify it (The Street Formerly Known As Pendleton)

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Could you explain what you mean by a "symbol?" I'd like to help, but am lost for words on this. :silly:

TSFKAP :lol: I thought it was well considered to be South Main by now, but obviously it hasn't caught on entirely.

Think "Purple Rain"

Actually using Prince's moniker, TAFKAP could stand for "The Avenue Formerly Known As Pendleton" or "The Artery Formerly Known As Pendleton" :blink:

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I live in the West End and many of my neighbors still refer to it as Pendleton St.

By the way, since I live a block away from the stadium site, I feel compelled to explain how most of my neighbors feel about the stadium: indifferent. Nobody much cares for baseball. Since most people walk or bike rather than drive, traffic is not a huge concern, and while the neighborhood is rather quite, noise and such do not seem to bother many people. I'd like to say that it will help the neighborhood, but I'm not sure if it will. I'd rather the crack dealers move away or get arrested.

Edit: Don't get me wrong though, I can't wait. I love baseball and I'm glad it will be here.

One more thing, I think Turner South is doing their feature on Greenville at 10:45 tonight. Sorry if that's been posted elsewhere.

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The Section of Street formerly known as Pendleton?

Thats the one. All of the signage says 'South Main' so one can only assume the road is called Main St. I rather dislike name changes such as these. I believe that historic areas should keep their names, even if it causes some confusion to visitors.

I can sympathize though. They renamed a very large section of an artery in Spartanburg fka: Reidville Rd to John B White Senior Boulevard. Its about a 2 mile stretch. That has yet to stick with me. Plus its a mouthful, and having to give directions can be confusing becuase if you say John White Blvd, people aren't 100% sure you're talking about the same thing. Most Spartans feel the same way about it, but the name is ledgendary, so we can't criticize it to much. Ever hear of The Beacon? Mr. White started it.

This is why I am in favor of only using last names for streets unless the situation warrants otherwise. Names like Pendleton, Petigru, or for my fellow Spartans- Converse, or Dean. It just sounds better, does it not? :)

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Thats the one. All of the signage says 'South Main' so one can only assume the road is called Main St. I rather dislike name changes such as these. I believe that historic areas should keep their names, even if it causes some confusion to visitors.

From what I understand, it wasn't about clarity, it was about a bad reputation: Pendleton sounded dangerous and South Main sounded fun.

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That was my understanding, too.

By the way, Welcomem to U.P., Ness!

The name change was a direct result of the city's intent to continue the very successful Main Street revitalization on down into the West End, beyond the intersection of South Main, Augusta Road, and River Street. It began with the continuation of the bump-out parking, landscaping, and lighting/seating/etc., and continued with the official name change. Now, with the new ballpark anchoring that end of Main, the continuity will hopefully be there from College Street to Pendleton.

OK...I'm going to commit a bit of an "overshare" over the next few paragraphs here, so tune out now if you wish :silly:; however, I have to say that baseball always has been and always will be what makes me tick. I love the autumn; however, I mourn the passing of baseball season ... while others spend the winter enjoying the various holidays, I spend the season counting the days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

As for the ballpark, I can certainly understand people being indifferent toward it. How many children live in and around the neighborhood there, though? I would imagine they're very excited about it. I would hope that it gives them something other than crack to aspire to. I'd love to see the dealers vacate as well, but more than that, I'd love to see demand for their products completely dry up.

When I was a kid, we had a place called "the pole yard" where we played baseball. It wasn't much. It was just an old field where Bell Telephone stored their telephone poles in advance of the Winter Storms. As phone lines began to be burried underground and concrete poles began to be used, this block went vacant and kids (myself included) used to play baseball on the property. We mowed the lot and put our own blood and sweat into keeping it cleaned off. We cut the first base paths into the field simply by running from one smashed soda can (home plate) to another (first, second, and third base). It was text-book sand-lot baseball at its best and I have some very fond memories of it.

This property was located in the middle of a pretty typical bule-collar neighborhood. There were lots of kids in my neighborhood and, unfortunately, plenty of delalers. It amazes me to this day that I made it out of there without every wanting to go down that path; however, I can thank my mom for this. She scared the living daylights out of me. I thought that a drink of any alcoholic beverage or any type of drug would instantly kill me.

Anyway, back to the pole yard. In spite of all of the vices available around us, we kids had some pretty big aspirations and dreams and often pretended that this lot was our very own Fenway Park or Wrigley Field (or Riverfront Stadium as we were actually closer to Cincinnati than the others). I would have loved to have seen a ballpark or a minor league ball team in my neighborhood, or at least in my city. I moved away to Florida at the age of 15 and didn't go back for several years, well after college.

When I did return home, I was rather surprised to find the old neighborhood was very much the same; however, it had a different appearance from what I had remembered as a kid. The yards and homes were much neater and cleaner. There were lots of young families. The flood wall wasn't covered with "tags" as it had been when I was a kid. And I didn't notice the first dealer on any street corner (you tend to learn what they look like and I can't imagine this changed much over the years). When I turned the corner of 8th Street and Altizer Avenue, I was amazed to see that the old pole yard had been officially turned into a neighborhood ballpark, complete with an outfield fence, a backstop, and bleachers. B)

So, hopefully, this ballpark will definitely be an improvement and an inspiration not only for the immediate neighborhood, but for the youth throughout the entire city of Greenville. If it helps just a few kids like me to aspire to something greater for themselves than crack or other drugs, then it's well worth it. :thumbsup:

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Bravo, RT! Thank you for that story. I too have a long history rooted in backyard baseball games. My love for the game (not the spectacle we see today) started when I was about 9 years old and ever since, the first smell of freshly mowed grass brings back that great feeling that the summer-long tradition is here once again. My brother and I took our love for the game beyond the typical expression. We would actually go out into the rain, snow, and ice in the winter to play. Eventually, basketball would become king for a time. :)

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Great story RT.

I don't think anyone can read that story without thinking of some important part of their childhood. :wub:

I remember my mom would let me take a plain white t-shirt and make my own Mets jersey with magic markers. My brother would make a Yankees jersey with his shirt. I was always small as a child, so Buddy Harrelson was my guy. He was the smallest guy in the game back then and he was a great shortsop. He was actually rejected by the Giants because he was too small. Whenever I played organized ball, I was quick to jump on the uniform with the number 3.

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I have lived in Greenville most of my live and one of my childhood memories was going to see the Furman football team play at Sirrine stadium. The stadium had a great feel and going to a game was a big advent. Part of that great feel was that it was that it was part of the city and neighborhood (the present Baseball stadium on Maudlin road feels like going to an abandoned mall to me ). Sirrine stadium was renovated a few years ago and is where the Greenville high school football team plays. I now have two kids that go to Greenville high and we when to the game was week. It is still a great place to see a game but what really surprised me was the amount of non parent fans that were there and neighborhood support. My point is that Hopefully the stadium will have some of the same "feel" and will become part of the city and neighborhood.

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Welcome to U.P., Trey! Thank you for sharing your memories and views as well. We definitely look forward to hearing more from you in the near future! :lol:

I believe the new ballpark and the area around it will definitely fit right in with what you are describing! I'm very much looking forward to taking my kids down to game after game after game next summer for that very reason. :wub:

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Thanks for the photo updates RT! This is coming along very nicely! So glad the city is keeping the height by the streets low....this blends the ballpark in with the neighborhood so much better! Great to read everyones memories!

Can't wait to sit in those stands! I've been offline and out of town alot lately and may have missed this, but any update on the official team name for next year?

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Thanks! I love providing a chronicle of the progress on this ballpark! It's my pleasure. I'm flying out of town for a couple of weeks myself on Sunday; however, I'll try to get out there tomorrow to get some more photos before I go. I drove by last night and it looks like the outfield wall frame is almost all up. It's looking great!

As for the name, someone mentioned "the Greenville Drive" a while back, but I do so hope this is just a rumor. I've not heard anything official yet, myself.

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