Mortgage Broker in Duncan, SC

The ballpark is emptied, home plate is covered in dirt, and the chalk to mark the foul lines has nearly faded away when it’s time for John Barron to turn off the lights at Duncan Park Stadium.

“And then there’s a sense of quiet,” Barron said. “There’s nothing on but you and the lights. And you just sit there. It’s peaceful and you don’t want to leave. You want to stay.”

Barron is the athletic director of the American Legion post that fields a baseball team each summer to play at the nearly century-old stadium in Spartanburg, S.C.

The wooden park served for decades as a gateway to the major leagues. It was home to future Phillies such as Larry Bowa, Darren Daulton, and John Vukovich. Hall of Famers Chipper Jones, Tom Glavine, and Mariano Rivera played there. Ryne Sandberg and George Bell were teammates in Spartanburg before winning MVPs in the majors.

Barron, gazing over the empty ballpark, thinks each night about that history and the icons who kicked the dirt the same way his teenagers do each summer. And he reflects while sitting in an old wooden seat from Connie Mack Stadium.

The Phillies moved 85 years ago this summer into what was then known as Shibe Park, playing their first game there in July of 1938 after untethering themselves from their lease at the antiquated Baker Bowl.

The Phils spent 32 years at 21st and Lehigh, where generations of Philadelphians fell in love with baseball. There were the 1950 Whiz Kids and the 1964 Phils. There was green grass, the Coke sign, the light towers, and the Ballantine scoreboard. There was Richie Ashburn, Robin Roberts, Dick Allen, and Johnny Callison.

» READ MORE: A group of Phillies fans cleaned Connie Mack’s grave. Now they want to do the same for other greats.

“It was like heaven,” said Bowa, a rookie in 1970 when the Phils played their final season in North Philadelphia.

The ballpark was pillaged during its final game as fans left carrying rows of wooden seats, railings, and even toilet seats before the Phillies moved to Veterans Stadium. But the Phillies salvaged nearly 600 wooden seats and shipped them the next season to Spartanburg, where they had a minor-league affiliate in need of new seats.

More than 50 years later, they’re still there under the cover of Duncan Park’s grandstand. The green seats from a stadium where Babe Ruth played were installed at a ballpark where Derek Jeter played as a 19-year-old minor-leaguer. When you sit in one, there’s a lot to think about.

“You know you’ve been in a place where many, many people have been before you,” Barron said. “It’s overwhelming at times.”

Bowa didn’t play high school baseball and he was not drafted, so it’s easy to imagine the thrill he felt leaving Phillies spring training in 1966 as the starting shortstop at Duncan Park. It didn’t take long — strikeouts in his first four professional at-bats — for that joy to fade.

“I was sitting on my stool with my head down,” Bowa said. “Our manager, Bob Wellman, came up to me and said ‘Are you all right?’ I said, ‘Yeah, but if pro ball is like this, you might as well just send me back to Sacramento. I have no chance.’ He said, ‘This guy we faced will be something special, believe me.’ ”

The guy the Spartanburg Phillies faced was Nolan Ryan, then a 19-year-old starting his first full minor-league season and another legend to pass through the old park.

Instead of returning to Sacramento, Bowa recovered to hit .312 at Spartanburg and begin a playing career that would last 16 years in the big leagues. His Spartanburg team won 25 straight games and the ballpark was filled every night by general manager Pat Williams, who would have the same title two decades later when the Sixers became world champions.

“It was electric. We put on good shows and we had a good team. The people responded,” Bowa said. “I had no idea what it was going to be like. That place was rocking for us.”

Bowa entered the big leagues as the shortstop at Connie Mack on Opening Day in 1970. First, he had to get into the ballpark. A kid from the neighborhood charged him $5 to “watch his car” after he parked and the security guard at the clubhouse entrance tried turning him away.

“He said, ‘Who are you?’ I said, ‘I play for the Phillies.’ ‘Yeah, so do I,’ ” Bowa said.

Bowa made five All-Star teams in the 1970s, no longer needing to force his way into the park. And he received another chance against Ryan. Fourteen years after their introduction at Duncan Park, Bowa batted leadoff in the eighth with the Phils down three runs in the fifth and final game of the 1980 National League Championship Series. The kid who sulked on his stool slapped a single. Three batters later, Houston lifted Ryan out of the game and an epic Phils win started to take shape.

“It was payback,” Bowa said. “I get to say that he embarrassed me and then I got the hit that started the inning to get him. There was a documentary that asked him what his toughest loss was and he said, ‘The Phillies. When I had a 5-2 lead going into the eighth inning.’ He said that was his hardest defeat in baseball.”

The magic Bowa felt at Duncan Park in the 1960s had faded by the time the Phillies left Spartanburg after the 1994 season. Duncan Park can hold 3,000 fans as the Connie Mack seats are mixed in with plastic stadium seats and wooden bleachers. But they averaged just 908 fans per game before moving their A-ball affiliate to Kannapolis, N.C.

» READ MORE: The Phillies drafted Kelly Dugan off the set of an Adam Sandler movie. He’s still chasing his Hollywood ending.

By then, Duncan Park was beginning to show its age. The outfield wall was unforgiving cinder block, the lighting was poor, and the clubhouse wasn’t really a clubhouse.

“This would never happen today but they didn’t even have a tarp,” said Gene Schall, who played at Duncan Park in 1992 after being drafted by the Phils a year earlier. “If it rained at 2 or 3 o’clock in the afternoon and it was a downpour, they had nothing to cover the field with. We’d come to the park at 3:30, quarter to 4 and they’d say, ‘Game’s off tonight.’ It was like a summer league. ‘We’ll see you tomorrow for a doubleheader.’ ‘All right, sounds great. See ya tomorrow.’

“We were in these catacomb-like lockers underneath the seats. It wasn’t like a locker room. You had to walk through these little hallways that had these cubbies where lockers were and you got dressed. You wouldn’t put food out down there because it probably would’ve been exposed to whatever was living under the stadium.”

A game was postponed once when the lights blew out during the fourth inning. The next night, it happened again. Eventually, Schall said they realized someone had hammered a metal stake into a power line when setting up a tent.

“It was kind of like a mom-and-pop production,” said Schall, who grew up in Willow Grove and starred at La Salle High and Villanova.

The old park did prove to be a good teacher as it required an outfielder to always know where the wall was. Or else he could get knocked out cold like Al Bennett, the team’s center fielder.

“It seemed like he ran into it once every two weeks and knocked himself out,” Schall said. “He’d hit it and just go down. We’d have to go chase the ball. We had the ‘Al Bennett Outfield Drill’ of how to play the ball off the wall and then we’d have to make sure we could get him off the field because he knocked himself off the wall. You learned how to play the wall very quickly. Then if you got too close, the ball could carom off and hit you.”

Three years later, Schall was a major-leaguer, becoming another big-leaguer to pass through Duncan Park.

“It was a completely different time when it came to the minor leagues,” he said. “If this was something you wanted to do, this place would really test you that this was the direction you wanted to go when it came to that type of career choice.”

Duncan Park was nearly condemned 15 years ago before the City of Spartanburg took it over and pumped in $500,000 worth of renovations. The dugouts were rehabbed, new locker rooms were built, and a scoreboard was installed in the outfield. The old park received a second life, guaranteeing that the Connie Mack Stadium seats would see more baseball.

No professional team has played at Duncan Park since the Phillies left and a college summer league team quickly faded after trying to make it their home. But Spartanburg High plays its home games there each spring and American Legion Post 28 keeps it humming in the summer.

» READ MORE: Frank Bialowas is still ‘The Animal’ — but the old Phantoms enforcer now lets you throw the first punch

“We’ve seen a lot of teams come and go. We were there before anyone and we’re still there,” said Barron, referring to the fact the Legion moved into the park the first year it opened. “Everyone wants to play in Duncan Park. You can just tell when people walk in there and they look around in wonderment at what they’re in. It’s emotional.”

Barron usually asks his American Legion players before each season to sit in the old wooden seats while he tells them about the history of the old park and the players who came through Spartanburg.

There was the final game of the 1936 American Legion World Series when 20,000 fans came to Duncan Park. Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron played there when they were in the Negro Leagues. Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio played there in 1937 when the Yankees stopped on their way home from spring training.

And hours after he gives the players a history lesson, Barron finds himself sitting in those seats. The hardest part is turning off the lights.

“When you turn the lights off and walk away, you’re looking towards the next time you come down,” Barron said.

SPARTANBURG — Family bike rides, live music and kickball will be part of Duncan Park’s 100th anniversary celebration held this weekend in Spartanburg.

The celebration event begins at 2 p.m. on Oct. 29 at 1000 Duncan Park Drive.

The park was gifted to the city on Feb. 29, 1923, by heirs of Maj. David R. Duncan. Duncan was an attorney and businessman in the city. For more than 100 years, the 300-acre park has been a popular destination on the city’s southside.

As the park celebrates its past, the park’s future is also being shaped by a Duncan Park Visioning Plan developed with help from the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program. Spartanburg County nonprofit Play. Advocate. Live Well! is also helping with the park’s plan for future upgrades.

“Though it is the city’s largest park, Duncan Park has for many years has been underutilized asset for our community,” City Communications Manager Christopher George said. “Through these trail enhancements ad other improvements, we hope to provide folks new opportunities to engage with this beautiful and serene public space and to better connect it with nearby amenities along the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail.”

The city’s plan includes upgrades to the existing trail, new paved trails, a new trail around the lake, pickleball courts, shelters and new bathrooms. A Friends of Duncan Park group is working with organizers also to help guide redevelopment of the park.

City Council agreed Oct. 9 to spend $157,875 to remove invasive plant species from the park’s 60 wooded acres. George said the city will add 2,300-square-feet of new asphalt trail and resurface 3,600-square-feet of existing trail at the park. The cost for these projects will be about $230,000. The youth athletic fields at the park will be improved, including the restroom and concession areas. These improvements to the fields will be funded partially by private contributions.

The park’s upgrades will be done in phases. The first projects include building a dock at the lake which is accessible to people with disabilities and a storage unit for kayaks. Invasive plants will be removed from the park’s trail system this fall.

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources plans to do a fish count at the lake in the fall as well. A 14-acre lake centers the park. New programming will be developed to also draw more people to the park.

Kim Moultrie, City Parks and Recreation Director, said work continues to prepare the 100th anniversary celebration. Tours of the baseball stadium built at the park in 1926 will also be included in the anniversary event.

“Hosted by the Friends of Duncan Park, this community celebration will honor the rich history of the park and highlight future plans,” Moultrie said. “Activities include music in the park by Undercover Jazz, food trucks and information booths in the amphitheater.”

DUNCAN — When clients walk through the door of Joey Simpson’s Refined Skin and Body medical spa, she wants them to feel like family.

While Simpson does much of the spa’s injectable aesthetics, her husband serves as the medical director and provider, and her mother serves as the patient coordinator for her business.

Since Simpson’s family is helping her live out one of her dreams, her goal is for her clients to also feel like they’re a part of a family atmosphere when they come in for services.

After having over 20 years of experience in nursing, pharmaceutical sales and managing medical clinics with her husband, Simpson decided to venture into the aesthetics side of the medical field. She opened Refined Skin & Body in Duncan in late January to pursue a passion and to open a business that offered services she felt her community was lacking.

“It’s been a journey, but it’s been really fun,” Simpson said.

The medical spa on East Main Street offers some of the same services as a non-medical spa in addition to services that are supervised by an on-site medical doctor through the use of technology, products and tools that aren’t used at a non-medical spa.

Simpson said the business aspect of opening the spa wasn’t difficult, but the aesthetics side was more challenging.

Over the past year, she and her husband went to training sessions, spoke with medical professionals in aesthetics and received certifications in devices and procedures that cover aesthetics.

“We’ve tried to make it very encompassing in aesthetics and weight loss altogether so that if someone came here for a regular facial and had other areas they wanted to address, it can all be done under one roof,” she said.

Some of the services offered at the medical spa are microneedling with radiofrequency, neurotoxin injections, fillers, skin resurfacing with CO2 machines, body contouring, IV therapy, laser hair removal and medical-grade peels.

The spa has CO2 fractionated laser machines that cause resurfacing of the skin for better tightening and help with acne scarring, discoloration, fine lines and wrinkles.

Customers can get microneedling with radiofrequency as well through 24-karat coated needles that go into the skin and emit radiofrequency that can kill fat cells underneath the skin layer and produce results of skin tightening and stimulate the body to produce more collagen.

Simpson said the business’s weight loss program is popular.

Once a client gets to their ideal weight, they can look into body contouring services. For the weight loss program, semaglutide, an FDA-approved injectable weight loss medication is used. Clients also receive education on ways to implement good lifestyle choices and eating habits into their daily routines.

Customers can get medical-grade products from ZO Skin Health and SkinCeuticals.

The spa is 3,800 square feet and has five occupied treatment rooms.

In addition to a physician and someone who does injections, Simpson has an esthetician that focuses on makeup and facials and a medical esthetician who specializes in machines on her staff.

Simpson said as her business grows, she plans to look for a massage therapist and someone who does permanent makeup.

Over 270 people are missing in South Carolina.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Many families eagerly anticipate being together with their loved ones as the holiday season approaches.

However, for some in the Midlands, this joy is overshadowed by the haunting absence of those they hold dear.

There are 98 cases in Kershaw, Richland, and Newberry counties of people who have been reported missing.

One such case is that of Willis Frierson, affectionately known as "Benji."

His sons, Jarrick and Marquez Cain, have put up missing posters across Bishopville since his disappearance on April 30.

"I hope maybe he's standing out in the yard or walking around like how he usually does, but you know, right now, it's just hopes," his son Jarrick said in a heartfelt plea.

According to the National Missing and Unidentified Person System, South Carolina has 276 men and women missing as of October 2023.

Morgan Duncan, a 27-year-old battling schizophrenia, has been missing since Nov. 28.

His mother, Latanza Duncan, describes him as a kind and gentle soul, active in his community, "Morgan would go in his community and ask the senior citizens can take their trash out and be of some service to anyone. I say he kept busy trying to be a good citizen in our community,".

Adding, "This is just a nightmare; what I am trying to do is stay focused and bring him home. "

Investigations into missing persons cases involve meticulous processes, as explained by Carol Tarte, Lt. Special Victims Unit with the Kershaw Sheriff's Office.

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"We have to look into social media records, phone records, bank records, travel records. That can take several months to process just to get records back and then analyze them, but that time that it takes to get to that person is just significantly longer than that 24-48 hours that is portrayed on TV," she says.

Despite the challenges, Benji's family clings to hope, urging others not to give up hope even when the first critical hours pass.

"I really can't describe it. It's tough, I can tell you that, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone," Jarrick says.

As the holidays draw near, the city of Sumter and Kershaw County grapple with multiple ongoing missing person cases, including Sophia Van Dam and her son Matayo, who were reported missing in August.

The City of Sumter has four other cases, including Tommy Brailey, who has been missing since August 2017.

In Kershaw County, the search continues for Jennifer Beverly, who has been missing since Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023.

Authorities urge anyone with information on these or other cases to call Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.

DUNCAN, S.C. —

The president of AFL, a company based in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, has been suspended.

Jody Gallagher was the president and CEO of AFL, a company based in Duncan.

The company told WYFF News 4 in an email that Gallagher was suspended pending an internal investigation.

The email said Jaxon Lang had been named acting CEO.

"No other comments are available at this time," the email from AFL said.

The AFL website says Gallagher has served as President and CEO of AFL since 2003.

The website says the company is "an international manufacturer providing end-to-end solutions to the energy, service provider, enterprise, hyperscale and industrial markets."

The website says the company has 7,000 employees worldwide.

According to the company website, Gallagher has been a member of the board of directors for AFL’s parent company, Fujikura, headquartered in Tokyo.

The website says, "Headquartered in Spartanburg, SC, AFL has operations in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujikura Ltd. of Japan."

A news release from Fujikura posted on May 26, 2023, said there was an investigation related to "an improper real estate acquisition at a U.S. Subsidiary," after a whistleblowing complaint on May 3, 2023.

The release said in part:

"Based on a whistleblowing complaint made on March 3, 2023, we were made aware of suspicious activities regarding the personal misappropriation of real property owned by one of our US subsidiaries by a director of the Company, who is the CEO of such subsidiary, and launched an internal investigation immediately thereafter. Our investigation is still continuing at this moment, however, to date, it has uncovered that an improper acquisition was made with respect to land purchased in 2020 and a building built in 2022 by such subsidiary (the total value of such land and building at the time of acquisition amounts to approximately 6.5 million US dollars (equivalent to 847 million Japanese yen)). Further, our investigation to date has uncovered that the said officer disguised the purpose for acquiring the land and building to make such subsidiary acquire such property and that said officer used such property for a certain period for its personal purpose. The said officer has been suspended from the US subsidiary and the Company."

The company has not said whether this investigation lead to Gallagher being suspended.