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 waterfowl. Established in 2017, the team plays its home games at Grainger Stadium, which opened in 1949 and holds 4,100 people. Kinston has hosted farm clubs for 11 different major league franchises and one minor league club in its history. Professional baseball in Kinston dates back to a 1908 squad in the Eastern Carolina League.