There’s Still a Ballpark Right Here — Just Barely

I can remember covering football games there for the Evening News of Paterson. It was kind pretty run down back in the 1980s and had Astroturf. Hopefully, it doesn’t met the same fate as Roosevelt Stadium — well, both of them, the old ballpark in Jersey City torn down in the 1980s, as well as the more recently departed one in Union City, which was a WPA gem. I spent time in both back in the 80s when I wrote for the Hudson Dispatch.

Is it Hinchliffe or Hinchcliffe? The sign says the former, the article the latter. Either way, a stadium well worth preserving.

Great, great article Paul! I played football at Bergen Catholic. I remember playing there in high school, Eastside and Kennedy used to share the field for their home games. At the time I thought it was the coolest place to play. I remember going underneath to the locker rooms and hearing the fans stomp their feet…the heat coming off that artificial turf, it’s a shame what happened it.

Also this…

June 6, 1944 – All major-league games are canceled as the country’s focus is turned toward Europe while allied forces invade occupied France.

(That would be D-Day for those clueless or uncaring about history; think opening scenes of “Saving Private Ryan”).

—Ricko

June 5, 1916…
Eddie Joost’s birthday.
link

Always liked those Philadelphia A’s unis. See, you CAN do a good looking uni in only royal and white (well, here with road gray, of course).

—Ricko

For more pictures on Hinchliffe Stadium, check out
Digital Ballparks

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Besides Patterson’s Hinchliffe Stadium and Birmingham’s Rickwood Field what’s the third remaining Negro League stadium? Is it Joe Engel Stadium in Chattanooga?

For Marc, who was lamenting the lack of championships in recent Cleveland history, a 14-year-old girl from nearby North Royalton is the winner of this year’s National Spelling Bee.
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Apparently, TV commercials and other constraints are even affecting the world of competitive spelling. Time for sponsored shirts to allow for an uninterrupted bee? ;)

Paul:
In response to your Page 2 note on ESPN regarding Eye Black: Check the Florida Womens Softball team today (ESPN2). Some interesting stuff there.

[quote comment=”393082″]Besides Patterson’s Hinchliffe Stadium and Birmingham’s Rickwood Field what’s the third remaining Negro League stadium? Is it Joe Engel Stadium in Chattanooga?[/quote]

From Ballpark Digest’s write-up of Rickwood Field:

“the notion that there are only three existing ballparks once hosting Negro Leagues baseball is a load of hooey. We can name several off the cuff: Phil Welch Stadium in St. Joseph, Mo.; Jack Brown Stadium in Jamestown, N.D.; Cardines Field in Newport, R.I.; Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, N.J.; Engel Stadium in Chattanooga; Point Stadium in Johnstown, Penn.; Durkee Field in Jacksonville; Municipal Stadium in Hagerstown, Md.; McCormick Field in Asheville, N.C.; and, of course, Rickwood Field. We’re guessing there’s lots more.”

Of course, Hagerstown and Asheville’s parks have both been rebuilt since 1980, and calling them Negro League stadiums is sort of like saying the New York Yankees still play in original Yankee Stadium.

No links or screengrabs, but it appears that Dartmouth baseball has the Detroit Tiger “D” thing going on. Their hats have the same old english D (all cornered edges) as the Tigers, but their helmet stickers have the rounded edge D, similar to what Detroit has on their home jerseys.

On another note, that Wittels kid just keeps hitting, but it looks like the 56 game hitting streak will carry over to next season with a loss today. Not sure if anyone has posted already on his stirrups, but he’s got kind of a ’70s thing going, with them pulled high but still showing solid color.

[quote comment=”393088″][quote comment=”393082″]Besides Patterson’s Hinchliffe Stadium and Birmingham’s Rickwood Field what’s the third remaining Negro League stadium? Is it Joe Engel Stadium in Chattanooga?[/quote]

From Ballpark Digest’s write-up of Rickwood Field:

“the notion that there are only three existing ballparks once hosting Negro Leagues baseball is a load of hooey. We can name several off the cuff: Phil Welch Stadium in St. Joseph, Mo.; Jack Brown Stadium in Jamestown, N.D.; Cardines Field in Newport, R.I.; Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, N.J.; Engel Stadium in Chattanooga; Point Stadium in Johnstown, Penn.; Durkee Field in Jacksonville; Municipal Stadium in Hagerstown, Md.; McCormick Field in Asheville, N.C.; and, of course, Rickwood Field. We’re guessing there’s lots more.”

Of course, Hagerstown and Asheville’s parks have both been rebuilt since 1980, and calling them Negro League stadiums is sort of like saying the New York Yankees still play in original Yankee Stadium.[/quote]

I kept reading “one of the three remaining Negro Leagues ballparks,” in various articles regarding Hinchliffe and it didn’t seem right. I was unsure what criteria was used because I believed Ray Winder Field in Little Rock regularly hosted Negro League games too. Glad to know there really are more than three left. In any case, I hope old ball parks across the country are saved. As a nation we’ve lost too much history in the name of progress.

I’m from just outside of Paterson, and Hinchcliffe is an absolute gem. I was so proud to see the Doby family come out to celebrate its new historic status. What a beautiful facility, even today.

[quote comment=”393095″][quote comment=”393093″][quote comment=”393089″][quote comment=”393078″]June 5, 1916…
Eddie Joost’s birthday.
link

Always liked those Philadelphia A’s unis. See, you CAN do a good looking uni in only royal and white (well, here with road gray, of course).

—Ricko[/quote]

Were the A’s one of the first teams to have separate home and road hats? Also, when did the A’s wear pinstripe hats? It’s not listed on the Dressed to the Nines website.[/quote]

If they did have pinstriped hats, it must have been very early in the 20th century. I don’t recall seeing any such hats (without getting off my butt to double check Okkonen’s book).

White Sox had different home and road hats in the Black Sox era. White with pinstripes at home, gray with pinstripes on the road (again, would have to check Okkonen for others).

—Ricko[/quote]
link are actually shown on DTT9s.

Looks like separate caps for home and road was link.

Also, wasn’t there some discussion the other day about the Phillies never having jerseys with the city name on them? There they are with the link.[/quote]

there was, of course, the never worn 1992 prototype (from bill henderson)

while it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing wordmark, there have been plenty worse that saw the field of play

[quote comment=”393096″][quote comment=”393095″][quote comment=”393093″][quote comment=”393089″][quote comment=”393078″]June 5, 1916…
Eddie Joost’s birthday.
link

Always liked those Philadelphia A’s unis. See, you CAN do a good looking uni in only royal and white (well, here with road gray, of course).

—Ricko[/quote]

Were the A’s one of the first teams to have separate home and road hats? Also, when did the A’s wear pinstripe hats? It’s not listed on the Dressed to the Nines website.[/quote]

If they did have pinstriped hats, it must have been very early in the 20th century. I don’t recall seeing any such hats (without getting off my butt to double check Okkonen’s book).

White Sox had different home and road hats in the Black Sox era. White with pinstripes at home, gray with pinstripes on the road (again, would have to check Okkonen for others).

—Ricko[/quote]
link are actually shown on DTT9s.

Looks like separate caps for home and road was link.

Also, wasn’t there some discussion the other day about the Phillies never having jerseys with the city name on them? There they are with the link.[/quote]

there was, of course, the never worn link (from bill henderson)

while it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing wordmark, there have been link that saw the field of play[/quote]

Thanks, that Phillies prototype looks good enough to be worn. Having the two stars in the name Philadelphia, balances perfectly with the usual Phillies jersey.

Regarding the old Philadelphia A’s pinstripe hat, I was referring to horizontal stripes, like the Pirates adopted in 1976. Once saw a 1911 b&w photo of the A’s Chief Bender, and he was wearing a white hat with what I presume to be blue pinstripes.

[quote comment=”393099″][quote comment=”393098″]
Regarding the old Philadelphia A’s pinstripe hat, I was referring to horizontal stripes, like the Pirates adopted in 1976. Once saw a 1911 b&w photo of the A’s Chief Bender, and he was wearing a white hat with what I presume to be blue pinstripes.[/quote]

link

(hope the link works, its the photo linked to the 1909 Philadelphia A’s DTTN entry)[/quote]

Thanks, I didn’t see that type of hat pictured in the DTTN uniform database section. Thinking more about the Phillies, I always liked the Liberty Bell logo on their sleeves on the circa 1976 uniforms. If I were redesigning the Phillies uniforms, I would move replace the numbers on the sleeve with the Liberty Bell permanently. Next, utilize the sharp “Philadelphia” font for the road uniforms as was discussed before.

[quote comment=”393098″][quote comment=”393096″][quote comment=”393095″][quote comment=”393093″][quote comment=”393089″][quote comment=”393078″]June 5, 1916…
Eddie Joost’s birthday.
link

Always liked those Philadelphia A’s unis. See, you CAN do a good looking uni in only royal and white (well, here with road gray, of course).

—Ricko[/quote]

Were the A’s one of the first teams to have separate home and road hats? Also, when did the A’s wear pinstripe hats? It’s not listed on the Dressed to the Nines website.[/quote]

If they did have pinstriped hats, it must have been very early in the 20th century. I don’t recall seeing any such hats (without getting off my butt to double check Okkonen’s book).

White Sox had different home and road hats in the Black Sox era. White with pinstripes at home, gray with pinstripes on the road (again, would have to check Okkonen for others).

—Ricko[/quote]
link are actually shown on DTT9s.

Looks like separate caps for home and road was link.

Also, wasn’t there some discussion the other day about the Phillies never having jerseys with the city name on them? There they are with the link.[/quote]

there was, of course, the never worn link (from bill henderson)

while it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing wordmark, there have been link that saw the field of play[/quote]

Thanks, that Phillies prototype looks good enough to be worn. Having the two stars in the name Philadelphia, balances perfectly with the usual Phillies jersey.

Regarding the old Philadelphia A’s pinstripe hat, I was referring to horizontal stripes, like the Pirates adopted in 1976. Once saw a 1911 b&w photo of the A’s Chief Bender, and he was wearing a white hat with what I presume to be blue pinstripes.[/quote]

Ah, sorry. My bad. Misunderstood about the stripes.
Thanks for finding that “PHILA.”
When the discussion came up this week I was thinking they’d had that at least once, and then forgot to check on it.

Remember the episode of M*A*S*H when Trapper John hollers from off-screen, “Hawkeye, want to see the pinstriped suit to end all pinstriped suits?” Then walks into the shot (accompanied by a very proud Korean tailor) wearing a gray pinstriped suit, but the stripes were horizontal? Similar misunderstanding, I guess. (Alan Alda cracks up so bad you have to wonder if they surprised him with it).

—Ricko

Hinchliffe Stadium is a real gem, and as Ricardo alludes to above, it is one of several WPA-era stadia in North Jersey that either have faced or will be facing the wrecking ball. Schools Stadium on Bloomfield Avenue in Newark was a gorgeous horseshoe that looked like a mini Harvard Stadium. I remember attending a Wayne Valley – Newark West Side game there back in 1991. The structural integrity of the stadium was so compromised that aluminum bleachers had been set up on the cinder track, and the fans were not allowed on the concrete stands. However, just being in that grand of an edifice for a high school football game made the whole experience more special. Schools Stadium is now a weed-strewn lot, with only the scoreboard still standing. (I understand a “new” Schools Stadium will be going up in its place, but the sense of history will be gone.)

Another WPA-era gem that is not long for this world is Foley Field in Bloomfield. Unlike Hinchliffe and Schools, Foley is not a full horseshoe, but rather an enormous (by NJ high school standards) single set of concrete and steel stands on the home side of the field. It’s another stadium that’s seen a lot of history, to include the 1937 Bloomfield HS Bengals (for whom my grandfather played), who went undefeated and un-scored-upon. Like Schools Stadium, I understand there are plans to replace Foley Field with a “new, state-of-the-art” facility. It’s a damn shame, though, that more generations of young athletes will not get to experience the thrill of playing ball in these monuments to sport.

[quote comment=”393105″]Mariners and Angels are have a turn back the clock game today with the Mariners wearing teal unis from 1995, and the angels in CA Angels gear.[/quote]
Paging Mr. Vilk…

I mean, seriously, Griffey couldn’t have waited until today to retire? A classic should have gone out wearing a classic.
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That’s one of the few jerseys I’d actually consider buying…at sale prices, of course.

Say, guys, what if the Seahawks went with teal instead of neon green? Would you wear that?

Philly’s MLS wore Flyers shirts during their Pre-game against Chicago.

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(Not the best pic)

Quick discussion about basketball. I personally think that the situation with the “baggy” look in basketball in general can easily be solved if everyone went with at least SOME form of S.o.D.

The fitted jersey gives the sophisticated look up top, and the long, sometimes baggy shorts don’t bother me as long as they’re not hanging off the players’ asses, at the risk of LOOKING like a bunch of asses.

I may or may not get some backlash for saying this, but I know some of you will agree that

this:
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and this:
link

looks a LOT better than

this:
link

and this:
link

size-wise, of course. Design-wise, the Lakers and “Relics” have timeless designs.

The SOD shirt, while fitting better, still look a bit like muscle shirts to me. Would rather them cut a bit more like typical basketball jerseys of the past.
Something like this…
link

—Ricko

[quote comment=”393114″]The SOD shirt, while fitting better, still look a bit like muscle shirts to me. Would rather them cut a bit more like typical basketball jerseys of the past.
Something like this…
link

—Ricko[/quote]

I agree. SODs without the wide shoulders would be perfect. I’d make the shorts a little shorter, hitting right above the kneecap, and slimmer, obviously.

Say, that’s a very ‘today’ looking jersey the Big O is wearing, isn’t it? Looks good to me, though.

[quote comment=”393108″]I mean, seriously, Griffey couldn’t have waited until today to retire? A classic should have gone out wearing a classic.
link
That’s one of the few jerseys I’d actually consider buying…at sale prices, of course.

Say, guys, what if the Seahawks went with teal instead of neon green? Would you wear that?[/quote]

I’m sorry, but I love the old teal jerseys and hats. I was 12 in 1995, and I just remember seeing Griffey stuff EVERYWHERE and I loved it to death. It was before I started getting sick of seeing the same crap everywhere. I’d see Griffey stuff, and of course the Jordan stuff (before the spin-off Jordan and Jumpman brands… when it was more Nike Air Jordan), and I just thought “awesome.” I don’t like teal as a color, but I miss it with the Mariners, and I miss the brighter shade of teal with the Marlins. I thought they were great, and at that age, now I look back and that’s MY era. Years from now, my kids will say “eewwww teal?” “Yes, kids. (F-ing) TEAL!” I’ll remember it just as fondly as my love for the powder blue Royals of George, Bo, and Charlie. I remember those with nostalgia because of all my visits to KC as a kid, even though obviously they wore white. Strange, just like my love for the teal I guess.

It’s actually not an apostrophe in the school name of Hawai’i, but it’s called an “okina”, which is used in between vowels in Hawaiian dialect to let people know there is a pause in between the letters.

For instance, noon is pronounced “noon”, but in Hawaiian dialect, “no’on” is pronounced “noh on”

It’s like an accent mark if that makes sense. I know when I put the team name on the scoreboard at the WAC baseball tournament and it was spelled “Hawai’i”, all the Rainbow administrators were pretty happy.

Frank

Indianapolis still has Bush Stadium, but no longer uses it and it is falling slowly into ruin. The stadium was the home of the Indianapolis Clowns in the Negro Leagues. The stadium was an active baseball stadium up until 1996.

[quote comment=”393085″]Paul,
The stadium is only 10 minutes from Rutt’s Hut in Clifton. Go get a ripper.
SZ[/quote]
River View East in Elmwood Park > Rutt’s
(One man’s opinion…)

I take a dicey shortcut off of Rt. 19 past Hinchliffe when visiting family in Wayne. My wife looks at me like I have three heads when I tell her Hinchliffe (aka “that dump?”) used to host professional sporting events. What a disaster it has become, especially when you consider the equally historic Great Falls are a stone’s throw away. Sad to say, but no matter how much money they pump into the stadium, it will probably all be for naught. There will always be the homeless, gangs and crackheads to contend with.