Hinchliffe Stadium

HINCHLIFFE STADIUM

BUILT: 1932

LOCATION: Paterson, NJ

TEAMS: New York Black Yankees (1933-1937, 1939-1947); New York Cubans (1936); New Jersey Jackals (2023-)

Hinchliffe Stadium is a 10,000 seat oval that was home to the New York Black Yankees for 12 seasons of their existence, as well as the New York Cubans for one season (1936). Both teams were members of the Negro National League. Right Center Field was 460 feet away from home plate. The stadium is one of only three Negro League Stadiums that still stood as of 2009. The "Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium" worked to bring the stadium, which had fallen badly into disrepair, back to its former glory.

It was designated a national historic landmark by the National Park Service in 2014; it was the first facility dedicated solely to baseball to receive the coveted designation. The New Jersey Jackals of the Frontier League moved to the historic facility in 2023, following renovations totaling $95 million, ensuring it was once again home to professional baseball. The Jackals' first home game on May 19th served as the occasion to dedicate the renovated facility, with a number of celebrities present including comedian Whoopi Goldberg, baseball personalities Harold Reynolds, Willie Randolph, Tony Clark and Omar Minaya, New Jersey senator Corey Booker and Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh. In December of 2015, to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Hall of Famer Larry Doby, who played at the stadium as both a high schooler and a professional, the section of Liberty Street located outside the stadium was renamed "Larry Doby Lane". The ballpark is depicted on the obverse of the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor awarded posthumously to Doby in 2018, but whose design was only revealed as part of his 100th anniversary celebrations.

Further Reading

• Dan Cichalski: "NJ Negro League landmark gets grant: Ticket booths at entrance to Hinchliffe Stadium to be preserved", mlb.com, November 11, 2015. [1]
• Dan Cichalski: "Historic Hinchliffe Stadium gets new tenant in NJ Jackals", mlb.com, September 14, 2022. [2]
• Dan Cichalski: "The history of Hinchliffe Stadium through 29 Hall of Famers", mlb.com, May 18, 2023. [3]
• Dan Cichalski: "Nearly century-old 'sacred stadium' has historic reopening: Celebrities turn out for Hinchliffe Stadium ribbon cutting", mlb.com, May 19, 2023. [4]
• Dan Cichalski: "Larry Doby Lane dedicated outside Hinchliffe Stadium", mlb.com, December 15, 2023. [5]
• Gary Gillette: "Hinchliffe Stadium", in "Still Standing: Where to See Extant Negro League Ballparks", in Sean Forman and Cecilia M. Tan, eds.: The Negro Leagues Are Major Leagues: Essays and Research for Overdue Recognition, Baseball-Reference and SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2021, p. 77. ISBN ISBN 978-1-970159-63-9
• Mark Newman: "NJ Negro Leagues park gets landmark status: Home of NY Black Yankees and Cubans, Hinchliffe Stadium earns elite distinction", mlb.com, April 16, 2014. [6]
• Bob Nightengale: "'A magical place': Hinchliffe Stadium, former Negro Leagues ballpark, being restored to its former glory", USA Today, April 13, 2021. [7]

Related Sites

• Hinchliffe Stadium (Paterson, NJ) at the SABR Bio Project