Nearly century-old 'sacred stadium' has historic reopening

PATERSON, N.J. – Before city officials cut the ribbon to rededicate the renovated Hinchliffe Stadium on Friday, there was a lot of talk of ghosts. “Field of Dreams” was cited several times, and stars of the Negro Leagues who played on the field here were mentioned. Plus, there were several shout-outs to the Eastside High School Ghosts and their rivals, the Kennedy Knights.

Come Thanksgiving, Hinchliffe Stadium will once again see Eastside and Kennedy face off on the gridiron. But before that stands a summer of baseball with the New Jersey Jackals of the Frontier League at the former home of the New York Black Yankees, New York Cubans and Newark Eagles.

• The history of Hinchliffe Stadium through 29 Hall of Famers

“This stadium truly is sacred ground,” Paterson business administrator Kathleen Long said in her remarks. “This third-base line doesn't just lead from home plate to the edge of the Great Falls and the water below. This line connects our youth through history to the generations who came before, including those who were given a place to play when so many stadium gates were locked.”

The gates to Hinchliffe were unlocked on Wednesday for a soft opening that featured a baseball doubleheader between Eastside and Don Bosco Prep followed by Kennedy vs. Paterson Charter School, but Friday’s ceremony brought out some heavy hitters.

Comedian and TV host Whoopi Goldberg had a front-row seat with Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh and his wife, Farhanna, on one side and MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds and Yankees adviser Omar Minaya on the other. U.S. Senator Cory Booker gave a rousing speech – but only after acknowledging six-time All-Star Willie Randolph, “the greatest second baseman ever to play the game of baseball,” and Goldberg, “one of the greatest EGOTs ever to come to be.” Tony Clark, executive director of the MLB Players Association, was seated among the 300 VIPs, and three-time Manager of the Year Joe Maddon and MLB Network insider Tom Verducci stood among others gathered on the green turf.

“This is not a state landmark, this is an American landmark,” Booker said. “And as your United States Senator, the whole country today can look to this point in Paterson and say, ‘Hallelujah!’

“This stadium is a testimony to the best of who we are in America. This stadium was first built during the Great Depression. When our nation was on our knees, Paterson voters came together and chose to back a bond worth $217,000. … Our Paterson forefathers and mothers decided the Depression was exactly the time for us to show that the American pastime can live. And that not just a field will be built, but it will become a sanctuary for those who cannot yet see the dignity, the divinity and the humanity of all people.”

Built in about seven months and opened in 1932, Hinchliffe Stadium was condemned in 1997 after general maintenance and basic repairs went unaddressed. The school district – which then as now controls the stadium – was given a $4.8 million estimate to renovate the site, or $4 million to tear it down.

Instead, nothing was done, and the stadium sat abandoned for 24 years. Brian LoPinto, who was born in Paterson and played baseball at Hinchliffe for neighboring Clifton just before it closed, co-founded the Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium in 2002 to advocate for its rehabilitation.

“It’s been a long road, but now it’s a new road and I’m looking forward to attending as many events here as possible,” LoPinto said. “It’s 26 years in the making. That’s a very long time. So many kids in Paterson are now adults that never had the chance to experience Hinchliffe Stadium. Hopefully, some of those folks will come back and experience it with their own families.”

In April 2021, just as the COVID-19 vaccines were first being distributed, ground was broken on what became a $103 million renovation that refurbished the stadium for baseball, football and track, along with space for a food court, a museum and an adjacent senior housing complex and parking garage.

“My mom used to tell us: ‘Big goals produce big results. Little goals produce little results,’” Reynolds told the crowd, particularly the hundreds of elementary school students in the grandstand. “So I’m telling you right now, this was a big goal, and it’s going to produce big results.”

The museum, slated to open this fall, sits some 450 feet from home plate, beyond the center-field fence. It will celebrate and honor Paterson’s own Larry Doby and the Negro Leagues as an official extension of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City.

Goldberg, whose son-in-law is from Paterson, spoke of a conversation she had with Mayor Sayegh.

“We were talking about all the players, and you know, a lot of women played baseball,” she said. “Black women played baseball. But we never hear about them, we don’t see pictures. So I said, when you do this, when you build the museum, make sure you include them. Because people tend to forget that this is an American pastime, not a man’s pastime.”

That pastime was celebrated in spirit on Friday and will be observed in reality this weekend, when the Jackals open their 54-game home schedule, which includes nods to the past with Negro League Night on Sunday, a Juneteenth celebration on June 19 and Larry Doby Day on July 5, the 76^th anniversary of his debut.

“This puts Paterson in the win column. This is a victory for history,” Sayegh said. “[Hinchliffe] is where legends called home. This sacred stadium tells the story of the struggle for social justice and American integration. … Hinchliffe Stadium is a game-changer and it is the real Field of Dreams. To paraphrase arguably the most famous quote from that movie, ‘If you build it, they will come.’ We have built Hinchliffe Stadium back again, and we are here.”