On Hinchcliffe Stadium
After over two decades of calling the campus of Montclair University home, the New Jersey Jackals of the Independent Frontier League started the 2023 season in a new home: Hinchcliffe Stadium in Paterson, NJ.
A non-MLB-affiliated minor league team playing in a league that draws about 2,100 fans per game on average playing in a multi-purpose stadium that was built before World War II may not seem particularly noteworthy on the surface. Yet when we consider that a few decades ago some of the best players to ever step between the lines played in Hinchcliffe Stadium, it certainly becomes worthy of baseball fans’ attention. Baseball fans might also like baseball live scores from present day games as well.
Hinchcliffe Stadium, newly renovated, refurbished, and reopened, is one of only five stadia still standing that was the regular home of Negro League Baseball teams. The New York Cubans called Hinchcliffe their home field in 1936 and the New York Black Yankees used the stadium as their regular home field, first as an Independent Club from 1933 through 1935, then as part of the second iteration of the Negro National League in 1937 and 1938.
Although the Cubans and Black Yankees on a team level weren’t nearly as a successful over those years as their American League counterparts who played in the Bronx, they certainly had individual players who would have excelled in any league.
Future Hall of Famer Judy Johnson and multiple time All-Stars Alex Radcliff and Luis Tiant Sr. suited up for the Cubans in 1936, while all-time great Martin Dihigo was still a dominant player manager for them. When the Black Yankees were regular tenants in Hinchcliffe, the legendary Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe and NNL All-Star Harry Kincannon took the field for the home team.
The Cubans and Black Yankees may not have been as good as the New York Yankees, but the Homestead Grays, Pittsburgh Crawfords, Kansas City Monarchs and Newark Eagles fielded some teams over that stretch that certainly were, and all of them came through Paterson, NJ as visitors to take on the Cubans and Black Yankees. We certainly don’t have time to comprehensively cover all the All-Time greats who played for those teams in the 1930’s but a short list of visiting players in Hinchcliffe Stadium in the 1930s would include:
Bullet Rogan, Buck Leonard, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige, Willie Wells, Mule Suttles, Leon Day, Ray Dandridge, and Ray Brown*. All of them have plaques hanging in Cooperstown and some of them are in the best to ever play discussion.
(*Ray Brown, although not as well known as Bullet Rogan and Double Duty Radcliffe, was not only the best pitcher for the 1938 Homestead Grays – whose .759 winning percentage was much better than the DiMaggio led dynasty in the Bronx – he also posted a 136 OPS+ on the season, playing the outfield when he didn’t pitch.)
After MLB became fully integrated, Hinchcliffe continued to host local high school sports teams (another future MLB Hall of Famer, Larry Doby, played his high school sports in Hinchcliffe), professional but lower level soccer and football games as well as celebrity concerts and events. But after years of disrepair and neglect, was eventually closed – many assumed for good – in 1997. Fortunately, thanks in no small part to local citizen groups, after years of planning, the stadium was renovated and reopened this past May.
Still a multi-purpose field for football, soccer, track, softball and other entertainment events, it still has the oblong look of stadiums from the pre-war era, albeit now with high end artificial turf. When its main residents are playing, a fence 320’ down the left field line that bows out to 385’ in dead center stands. The right field dimensions are pre-determined by the old school aluminum on concrete bleachers that run along the side of the stadium. A temporary fence – about 15’ feet high in right center and over 40’ feet high in right field runs to the right field foul pole 327’ feet away from home plate.
As far as the on-field play, minor league teams that are not affiliated with MLB are not going to have the next Larry Doby on their roster, yet the quality of play is better than you might expect. There have been too many former Frontier League players to eventually reach the show to list here (Former Gateway Grizzlies and current Toronto Blue Jays reliever Trevor Richards for one, is carving himself out a nice MLB career) but in 2021 alone, 47 former Frontier League players signed contracts with MLB affiliated minor league teams and six former Frontier League players made their MLB debut.
More specifically, and as can be verified both through the Frontier League’s season statistics and my own personal experience as a fan: In terms of development, Frontier League hitters are far ahead of the Frontier League pitchers, and you don’t need to look further than Hinchcliffe Stadium’s home team to see it. The New Jersey Jackals as a team are posting a .296/.402/.522 triple slash line in 2023 and although they are the league’s best offensive team, nine other teams are sporting a team OBP of .350 or better and five others have SLG .450 or better.
Anecdotally, a game I attended had three home runs hit – two well over 400’, a third completely out of the stadium – with more distance than any long balls I’ve ever seen hit in the dozens of affiliated minor league games I’ve attended. For most baseball fans, me included, hard-hit balls and runs make for a fun experience from a fan’s perspective.
If you’re a baseball fan and in the area, checking out the new Hinchcliffe Stadium is worth the price of admission ($15-$20) and then some. If you’re someone who appreciates history – both baseball’s and America’s – being where some of the most influential people in those regards showed their skill is priceless.
