PATERSON, N.J. — Hall of Famers equivalent to Monte Irvin and Larry Doby graced the grounds at Hinchliffe Stadium throughout its heyday. Could modern-day stars like Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso comply with of their footsteps?
That’s the dream for Paterson mayor André Sayegh, who desires to host a serious league sport between the Yankees and his beloved Mets on the former Negro Leagues ballpark in New Jersey. With Birmingham, Alabama’s Rickwood Field — one other still-standing Negro Leagues venue — lately being awarded a serious league sport in 2024, Sayegh has been doubling down on the concept Hinchliffe ought to get a “Field of Dreams” sport, too.
In Sayegh’s good world, the Yankees would don the uniforms of the New York Black Yankees, whereas the Mets would tackle the look of the New York Cubans. The two Negro Leagues groups known as Hinchliffe dwelling.
“It’s only natural that that would bode well for us,” Sayegh advised the Daily News, referring to subsequent yr’s sport between the Cardinals and Giants at Rickwood Field. “And then in 2025, we’re making the pitch for Paterson to get it.”
Hinchliffe decayed dramatically after being deserted in 1997, to the purpose that cracked pavement, damaged glass, graffiti and vegetation obscured any remnants of an operational stadium.
But it has undergone an enormous redevelopment venture with a price ticket that exceeds $100 million. The initiative broke floor in April 2021 and features a multisport athletic facility, amongst different public companies and points of interest.
“It’s been great to be involved in this from the start,” Yankees senior advisor Omar Minaya, who has been championing Hinchliffe’s rebirth, advised The News. “The mayor, I call him America’s baseball mayor. He’s dynamic. He cares about baseball. He reached out to me early on the project. And I said, ‘Hey, I’m in. I’m supporting you all the way.’ But to see it where it is today — being where it was two or three years ago — it’s unbelievable.”
Sayegh and Minaya spoke on Wednesday whereas members of the Yankees hosted a youth clinic at Hinchliffe as a part of their annual HOPE Week initiative. The occasion happened on the 76th anniversary of Doby, a Paterson native, breaking the American League’s shade barrier.
The afternoon additionally gave Sayegh an opportunity to tout his final aim in entrance of precise main league gamers. They appeared supportive of his marketing campaign.
“To see a picture of what it looked like before and to see it now, it’s like night and day,” Nestor Cortes mentioned. “Hopefully we can have a big league game here soon. We would be looking forward to that.”
“It would be super, super fun to be a part of it.”
Jose Trevino agreed, insisting {that a} main league sport at Hinchliffe is “100%” possible.
“It feels like it can hold some people,” he advised The News of the 7,800-seat park. “It could be a special event. It’s a special stadium. A lot of big leaguers played there, Hall of Famers. I don’t see why not. It could accommodate two big league teams. It would be pretty cool.”
In addition to youth groups, the Frontier League’s New Jersey Jackals already play at Hinchliffe. However, a number of points would have to be addressed if Major League Baseball had been to ever play a sport on the National Historic Landmark.
Cortes instantly identified the stadium’s tight locker rooms, which resemble that of a highschool fitness center, not an opulent massive league facility. Hinchliffe additionally options two completely different turfs — one is used to cowl a working monitor — and there may be some unevenness and provides the place the surfaces meet within the outfield. Multi-million-dollar athletes might have reservations about enjoying on that.
Jackals gamers have additionally famous that it’s exhausting to select up baseballs, as Hinchliffe’s interior bowl boasts white concrete. The stadium doesn’t have a batter’s eye, both, one thing Trevino observed straight away.
“I always think like that because I’m a catcher, so I want to see what’s coming towards me,” he mentioned.
In addition, Hinchliffe options dimensions which might be far smaller than MLB norms. Even with a towering internet — designed to be a 40-foot wall — in proper discipline, the listed distance is just 327 toes from dwelling plate. A ball should clear the online to be a house run, however the wall itself is just 270 toes deep.
While it’s a stable 385 toes to the centerfield wall, left is just 320 toes away. And these components of the outfield don’t embody tall nets.
“Maybe as a pitcher, the fence is a little too short,” Cortes mentioned. “But we will make it occur. As lengthy as we’ve these nets coming all throughout the outfield, we’re good.
“The game is growing. We’re trying to expand to different countries. So it’s only right that we at least attempt to do something here, because the job they’ve done here is amazing.”
Sayegh exhibited the identical can-do perspective.
The mayor dismissed issues about Hinchliffe’s accessibility and the dearth of close by parking, stating that offers may very well be reached with native heaps and that transportation may very well be offered from close by cities.
And as for a few of the different components that fall beneath MLB requirements?
“We can surmount any obstacles,” Sayegh mentioned. “If it’s a question of dimensions of the field, we can accommodate Major League Baseball. If it’s parking, we can accommodate Major League Baseball and the fans. We made this [renovation] happen. We can make [an MLB game] happen as well.”
In the previous, MLB has merely mentioned that the league is “thankful for all the interest that exists to host special major league games and events in the future,” when requested about enjoying at Hinchliffe. “We are continuing to evaluate the many opportunities in determining our special event schedule for upcoming seasons.”
Minaya didn’t need to definitively say if Hinchliffe is able to fielding a serious league sport.
“I’m not the one to answer that,” he mentioned, however the former common supervisor does imagine that the revived stadium will entice folks from throughout — particularly as soon as a museum detailing the realm’s Black baseball historical past and Hinchliffe’s glory days is full.
“As long as baseball is being played here, this is going to continue to grow popular,” Minaya mentioned. “Not only in Paterson, not only in New Jersey. It’s going to be something of a national place that people want to come and see.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com