Down East Wood Ducks
The Down East Wood Ducks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the owned-and-operated Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Kinston, North Carolina, and are named for the wood duck, a colorful local waterfowl. Established in 2017, the team plays its home games at Grainger Stadium, which opened in 1949 and holds 4,100 people.
| Down East Wood Ducks | |||||
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| Minor league affiliations | |||||
| Class | Single-A (2022–present) | ||||
| Previous classes |
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| League | Carolina League (2022–present) | ||||
| Division | North Division | ||||
Previous leagues |
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| Major league affiliations | |||||
| Team | Texas Rangers (2017–present) | ||||
| Minor league titles | |||||
| League titles (1) | 2017 | ||||
| Division titles (3) |
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| First-half titles (2) |
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| Second-half titles (1) | 2017 | ||||
| Team data | |||||
| Name | Down East Wood Ducks (2017–present) | ||||
| Colors | Emerald, black, orange, gold, tan, white | ||||
| Ballpark | Grainger Stadium (2017–present) | ||||
Owner(s)/ Operator(s) | Diamond Baseball Holdings | ||||
| General manager | Jon Clemmons | ||||
| Manager | Carlos Maldonado | ||||
| Media | 960 AM WRNS | ||||
The Rangers signed a 12-year contract with the city to provide a team to play at Grainger Stadium beginning with the 2017 season. They were members of the Carolina League from 2017 to 2020. With the 2021 restructuring of the minor leagues, the Wood Ducks were placed in the Low-A East, though this was renamed the Carolina League and reclassified as Single-A in 2022. Their lone Carolina League title was won in 2017.
Kinston has hosted farm clubs for 11 different major league franchises and one minor league club in its history. Professional baseball in Kinston dates back to a 1908 squad in the Eastern Carolina League.