20 July 2023- After a long wait, Downtown Hagerstown Baseball gets the naming placeholder taken away and given over to their successor! A long process concluded today after Washington County residents and those all around the tristate submitted names to be considered for the newest iteration of baseball in the Hub City.
Whittled down to a top five about a month ago, the final committee landed with the Battle Swans, Diezel Dogs, the Flying Boxcars, Haymakers, and Tin Lizards.
The Battle Swans, the team and those who submitted the name into the contest attested, was in reference to the numerous swans that take up residence at City Park downtown.
Diezel Dogs and Tin Lizards are in reference to one of the most defining features of Hagerstown, its trains and trucks. Nicknamed the Hub City for a reason, the City and area as a whole has become legendary due to numerous train lines crisscrossing the county and the major influence of Interstates 81 and 70 running through the county. It also helps that manufacturers flocked to the area, including Mac Trucks and Volvo, to use it as a hub.
Haymakers, another popular name amongst voters, is of course in reference to the extensive agriculture of Washington County and the City as a whole.
But the winner, with the most amount of votes, was the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars. The name is in reference to the legendary Fairchild Aircraft C-119 Flying Boxcar used during the Korean War and beyond as a transport craft. The craft was built by Fairchild directly at their Hagerstown plant beginning in 1949, with production going until 1955. The aircraft was legendary for its wider fuselage, strengthened wings compared to older models, and larger and more powerful engines.
Hagerstown Baseball under the Flying Boxcars name are set to throw out their first pitch next year as part of the Atlantic League, a professional independent league affiliated with the MLB. More updates on the team are set to come!
