Hamtramck Stadium / Hamtramck Stadium

When the Negro National League was founded in 1920, one of its eight charter teams was the Detroit Stars, who played at Mack Park on Detroit’s East Side. A 1929 fire damaged Mack Park, so owner John Roesink built Hamtramck Stadium in 1930 on land leased from the Detroit Lumber Company. The new stadium had a twelve-foot-high metal outfield fence, box seating, and bleachers down the right field line. In May 1930, some 9,000 fans attended the grand opening, where former Detroit Tiger Ty Cobb threw out the first pitch. In June 1930, Michigan’s first night baseball game was played here; the Stars played the Kansas City Monarchs under a portable lighting system. In 2012, Hamtramck Stadium was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. After the Civil War, black and white baseball players could play on the same teams. But by 1900, black players were excluded from white professional leagues. More than 4,000 African Americans and Latinos played baseball in U.S. professional Negro leagues while baseball was segregated. The Detroit Stars and Detroit Wolves represented the city in four major Negro leagues. National Baseball Hall of Fame members who called Hamtramck Stadium home included Norman “Turkey” Stearnes, “Cool Papa” Bell and “Smokey Joe” Williams. Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson played on visiting teams here. In the 1930s, in addition to Negro league games, the stadium hosted community and scholastic baseball and football, midget car races and boxing matches.