Columbia Fireflies: Baseball America’s 2024 Single-A Freitas Award Winner
The list of things to be proud of in looking back at the 2024 season was a lengthy one for Columbia Fireflies president Brad Shank.
Sure, there was success on the field with a franchise-best .519 winning percentage and record-tying 68 wins in the Low-A Carolina League as an affiliate of the Royals.
And yes, there’s plenty of tangible evidence of off-field success as well, whether that’s drawing 217,809 fans to beautiful Segra Park last year, exceptional turnouts for non-baseball events or even a record-setting turnout for the early-March Clemson-South Carolina college game that helps make up the Palmetto Series.
But what stands out the most for Shank was working hard to create a culture where his staff genuinely wants to go to work every day and can express their creativity.
That in turn creates a positive atmosphere at the ballpark for a dedicated fanbase, as well as a willingness to integrate the franchise into a community that continues to embrace it helped earn the Fireflies this year’s Class A Freitas Award.
“So many people over the years, going back to when we opened the ballpark back in 2016, have put in the time and effort, and really caring enough about this project and the community to sacrifice,” Shank said.
“We’ve been extremely fortunate with the people we’ve brought in that they care about this community and they care about every fan who walks into the ballpark . . . We want our staff to be able to make decisions to make it right no matter what the situation is.
“Southern hospitality is a very real thing, and that’s what we try to lean into here.”
It hasn’t always been easy for the South Carolina-based franchise.
The Fireflies worked hard to successfully overcome any negativity associated with building their nine-year-old old ballpark on the former grounds of a mental institution in the still-transforming 181-acre BullStreet District. They have quickly become the centerpiece of the redeveloped area.
“When we talk with our staff and try to set goals, it’s to continue to drive traffic here,” Shank said. “Really, we view ourselves less as a baseball team and more of an economic driver . . . This district and what’s gone on, we were brought in to drive traffic and survive without a whole lot going on around us.
“When you start a development on land that had been the state mental asylum for 200 years, there’s some challenges with that.”
Columbia made great use of Segra Park in 2024—notably with multiple concerts and experimenting with new and unique food festivals—but arguably made their biggest splash with their Holiday Lights display.
Now in its third year, it continues to grow both in attendance (more than 30,000 fans visited last year, a 75% jump from the inaugural effort) and size, with more than 1.5 million lights set to illuminate the ballpark in the 2024 installment of the family-friendly event.
“What it really does is continue to grow fans of the Fireflies and this ballpark,” Shank said, also noting the foot traffic Holiday Lights has helped draw to other establishments within the District.
“There are so many people who come out here for the lights, or baseball games or even the Taco and Margarita Festival, they hadn’t been here before.
“It’s great to see these opportunities where we can draw people in with these other events, and they see what a wonderful ballpark it is and what a great community asset it is, and that draws them in to where they’ll come back to even more events in the future.”
