Inside the abandoned baseball stadium which was left derelict for 26 years before undergoing huge renovation
THIS abandoned baseball stadium in New Jersey used to host some of baseball’s biggest stars.
Hinchliffe Stadium is one of the last surviving stadiums from baseball’s segregated era in the Negro Leagues and is set to get a massive $103 million renovation.
The stadium was built in 1932 and shared by New York Black Yankees and New York Cubans in the 1930s and 1940s.
The Negro League World Series was hosted there in 1933 when the Black Yankees faced the Philadelphia Stars.
Several legendary players played in Hinchliffe, such as Hall of Famers Josh Gibson, Judy Johnson, Oscar Charleston, Martin Dihigo, and Satchel Paige.
As well as Larry Doby and “Cool Papa” Bell.
But eventually, the stadium closed in 1997 after it fell into disrepair.
The concession stands and locker rooms were trashed by vandals, and some homeless took shelter in storage rooms.
Small fires damaged sections of the roof, and trees destroyed the bleachers.
However, now the stadium is receiving a second life and will host baseball for the first time since 1950.
Last Sunday, the New Jersey Jackals faced the Sussex County Miners.
The Jackals are a Low-A MLB minor league team from the Frontier League.
The team will play their home games at Hinchliffe Stadium this season after playing in Montclair, N.J., for 25 years.
It marked the first game a professional baseball team played at the stadium since 1950.