Columbia, SC. The government built them a big stadium and the Mets decided it was a better place.
The stadium here is a historical building. It has seen the likes of Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig (the teams would stop here for exhibition games on the way north from Spring Training) , even Dale Murphy (important to Georgians anyway). Jim Bouton(sp) pitched here in his comeback attempt.
More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayson_Stadium
The city wanted to build a new stadium for the team, but, do it on the cheap and more nefarious reasons are suspected (I have my opinions, but, I’ll leave it for the papers and FBI).
All they need to do is upgrade the infrastructure of the old stadium, we don’t need a new one.
I think the Mets had a farm club in Columbia once before.
Yes, they used to barnstorm north from spring training. Savannah was one frequent stop; Birmingham (old Rickwood Field), as I recall, was another.
Teams don’t do that anymore; it was fun. And it allowed fans in cities like Savannah to see the big leaguers up close.
They also abandoned the practice of playing an annual exhibition game against the AAA team.