Whiting, N.J.: I’m a Yankees fan since 1978, but I was deeply offended at the deceitful way they marketed their “Satchel Paige Bobblehead Night” event on Thursday, May 11, at the stadium. Paige was pictured wearing a Yankees uniform as if he were a member of our team at one time. He was a member of the New York Black Yankees, a Negro Leagues team, for only one year in 1941. Jackie Robinson didn’t break Major League Baseball’s color barrier until 1947 and the Yanks could have elevated Paige to the big leagues then, but we didn’t and the Cleveland Indians grabbed him in 1948.
Built in 1932, Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson is one of a handful of ballparks still standing where Negro Leagues played. See inside the massive renovation.
After almost three decades of neglect and dodging the wrecking ball, Hinchcliffe Stadium, one of only two remaining Negro League stadiums still standing has a second life. Erected in 1932 the stadium in Paterson, N.J., was home to the New York Black Yankees and the Black Cubans (1930s through 1945), but the stadium sat dormant, abandoned since 1997.