Carolina League
The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...
and the
Single-A
Class A, also known as Single-A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for each ...
Jim Perry Stadium
Jim Perry Stadium is a baseball stadium in Buies Creek, North Carolina. It is home to the Campbell Fighting Camels baseball team. Previously known as Taylor Field, the venue dates back to the 1940s and Campbell's junior college baseball days. ...
on the campus of
Campbell University
Campbell University is a private Baptist university in Buies Creek, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (Southern Baptist Convention). Southern Baptist ConventionColleges and Universities sbc.n ...
The Houston Astros began to scout locations for a baseball stadium to locate a team in Fayetteville in April 2016. In August 2016, a two-team expansion to the Carolina League was approved, with the first franchise assigned to
Kinston, North Carolina
Kinston is a city in Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States, with a population of 21,677 as of the 2010 census. It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791. Kinston is located in the coastal plains region of ...
.
The Fayetteville City Council approved plans to build a new stadium by 2019. This required the team to find a temporary location to play the 2017 and 2018 seasons. On November 17, it was announced the team would play at Jim Perry Stadium on the campus of Campbell University in Buies Creek and be known as the Buies Creek Astros for their first two seasons. The Astros signed a 30-year lease agreement with the city of Fayetteville in December 2016.
The Buies Creek Astros replaced the
Bakersfield Blaze
The Bakersfield Blaze were a minor league baseball team in Bakersfield, California. They played in the Class A – Advanced California League. They played their home games at Sam Lynn Ballpark. Opened in 1941, the stadium is well known for facin ...
at the Class A-Advanced level, but are not the continuation of the Blaze. The Blaze folded along with the
High Desert Mavericks
The High Desert Mavericks were an American Minor League Baseball team in Adelanto, California, that played their home games at Heritage Field at Stater Bros. Stadium. They played in the Class A-Advanced California League. The franchise had eigh ...
after the 2016 season, contracting the California League and expanding the Carolina League. The Mavericks were replaced by the Kinston-based
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 local colorful wa ...
A name-the-team contest was launched to select a name for the team upon its move to Fayetteville. The finalists, selected from over 1,400 suggestions, were "Fatbacks," "Fly Traps," "Jumpers," "Wood Dogs," and "Woodpeckers." The chosen name, "Woodpeckers," was selected in honor of the
red-cockaded woodpecker
The red-cockaded woodpecker (''Leuconotopicus borealis'') is a woodpecker endemic to the southeastern United States.
Description
The red-cockaded woodpecker is small to mid-sized species, being intermediate in size between North America's two ...
which was once plentiful in Fayetteville but is now an endangered species. The team's colors are black, gray, and red.
The Woodpeckers won in their first game, defeating the
Potomac Nationals
The Potomac Nationals were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They were located in Woodbridge, Virginia, and played their home games at Northwest Federal Field at Pfitzner Stadium. After the 2019 season, the team relocated to F ...
on the road by a score of 15-0 on April 4, 2019. The Woodpeckers played their first home game at Segra Stadium on April 18, 2019, versus the
Carolina Mudcats
The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and play their home games at Five County Stadium. ...
. Fayetteville was defeated by Carolina, 7–5, before a sellout crowd of 6,202 people.
In conjunction with
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Woodpeckers were organized into the
Low-A East
The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unt ...
. In 2022, the Low-A East became known as the Carolina League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization.