Hinchliffe Stadium -- Paterson, NJ -- is possibly the last surviving stadium that hosted the Negro Baseball League. Preservation, the magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has just published an extraordinary story of the stadium, its background, and its possible future.
And, it's a great read. The title is: Field of Forgotten Dreams.
Here's a short excerpt from the National Trust:
It was the spring of 1937, and Irvin, a 17-year-old rising star from the nearby city of Orange with a .666 high school batting average, was at Hinchliffe trying out for a professional baseball team. Because Irvin was African American, and because of the color barrier in the major leagues, the team was not the New York Yankees or the Brooklyn Dodgers but a Negro League ball club called the Newark Eagles.
The sweet sound of home run after home run—crack, crack, crack—attracted the attention of Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard, two Negro League players preparing for a game at Hinchliffe later that day. Irvin was introduced to the two stars, whose grace, athleticism, and dapper uniforms and dress had inspired him. Indeed, Gibson had been called The Black Babe Ruth and Leonard The Black Lou Gehrig (though some wondered if Gehrig should have been dubbed The White Buck Leonard). And on this day, Irvin learned he would play alongside his two idols. He had made the Eagles.
Even though Irvin never imagined it possible at the time, with his paltry $125-a-month salary and the seemingly unshakeable reality of segregation in America, he would become one of the first African American players to make the major leagues after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, and would go on to enjoy a Hall of Fame career as a left fielder for the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs...
I know, I know that Paterson, NJ isn't in my usual 21201 coverage area. And, baseball isn't my strong suite either. (However, after moving back to Baltimore, Jacob and I are now watching, commenting on, and truly enjoying local sports -- even when the Ravens don't look like they can play football, let alone a decent game of hopscotch.)
Here's the Preservation paragraph that brings this story home to Baltimore 21201:
Today, a heap of trash -- rotting wood, old tires, twisted metal -- rises along one end of the track that rings the stadium. Empty bottles litter the old concession area. Graffiti covers the crumbling bleachers. The burned-out roof over one bathroom represents the work of arsonists or vagrants who simply wanted to stay warm.
After the passing of our great Baltimore benefactor, Clarisse Mechanic, last month I wonder -- once again -- what the future of the Morris Mechanic Theatre will be. And, that leads me to wonder...
How are we going to save the many Baltimore architectural treasures that need to be preserved, buildings that need to be re-purposed, and areas where graffiti is simply unacceptable. Let's all think about this.
Baltimore has come a long way. Let's not let Baltimore move in the direction of Paterson.
