Thursday, October 18, 2018

Happy Willie Horton Day!



Former Tiger Willie Horton is a legend in Michigan — and for good reason.

Raised on Detroit's west side the youngest of 21 children, Horton signed with his hometown Detroit Tigers as a teenager out of Northwestern High and wore the Old English D for 15 seasons.

The stocky left fielder hit 325 career home runs, and helped lead the Tigers to victory in the 1968 World Series.

Since 2004, the State of Michigan has recognized October 18 as Willie Horton Day in honor of Horton's outstanding career, both on and off the playing field.

This year, on his 76th birthday, the Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium pays tribute to the life and legacy of one of America's greatest living ballplayers, Detroit's own Willie Horton.

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

City of Hamtramck releases new pre-development plan for Hamtramck Stadium


June 27, 2018

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. The City of Hamtramck released yesterday a draft of the SmithGroupJJR pre-development plan for historic Hamtramck Stadium. The draft is close to final; however, it is currently being reviewed by the National Park Service and is subject to revision.
Located in Veterans Park, the Hamtramck Stadium field is currently being used for community cricket, soccer, and other recreational activities, but the condition of the diamond itself isn’t yet suitable for baseball. The historic grandstand, which hasn't been used since the 1990s, is currently closed to the public.
Hamtramck Stadium was built in 1930. The stadium was home to the Negro National League Detroit Stars in 1930-1931 and again in 1933. The field was also home to the Detroit Wolves of the Negro East-West League in 1932, and to the Negro American League Detroit Stars in 1937. 

Baseball historian and ballpark expert Gary Gillette has identified at least 18 members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown who played or managed Negro League games in Hamtramck. They include Detroit’s own superstar slugger Norman “Turkey” Stearnes, as well as immortals like Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. Gillette is the founder and president of the Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium as well as the founder and president of the Detroit Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research.
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Hamtramck Stadium Pre-Development Report.pdf

About FHHS
Founded in 2012, the Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium is a Michigan nonprofit organization. FHHS is devoted to restoring and preserving historic Hamtramck Stadium and ensuring its future through educational, cultural, and recreational programming honoring the history of Negro League Baseball and amateur sports in Hamtramck and Detroit.
In addition to getting Hamtramck Stadium listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Friends installed a State of Michigan Historic Marker for the Stadium in Hamtramck’s Veterans Park in 2014. In 2017, the Friends provided the historical research used by the City of Hamtramck to obtain an African American Civil Rights Grant from the National Park Service.

For more information about Hamtramck Stadium, email us at HamtramckStadium@gmail.comvisit us on Facebook, or go to www.hamtramckstadium.org.

The Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium are proudly affiliated with the nonprofit Piast Institute, of Hamtramck, Michigan, which serves as our fiduciary. 
To make a tax-deductible donation and help support the renovation of Hamtramck Stadium, click here.

Friday, June 22, 2018

Touching base



Friends and supporters, as our renovation efforts at Hamtramck Stadium ramp up this summer, we want to keep in touch. If you'd like your name added to our email list, please send us your email address, and we'll keep you in the loop.

You can reach us at HamtramckStadium@gmail.com.

In case you missed it, Comerica Bank recently signed on as our first corporate sponsor. With your support, the cry of "Play Ball!" will soon be heard again on Dan Street.

For more information, click here.

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Historic Hamtramck Stadium gets its first corporate sponsor

Former Negro Leaguer Ron Teasley, Joyce Stearnes Thompson (daughter of Hall of Famer Turkey Stearnes),
Gary Gillette, and Mike Wilson represent the Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium at the Detroit Tigers'
2018 Negro Leagues Legacy Luncheon June 8 at Comerica Park.

Comerica Bank donates $20,000 toward restoration of historic Negro League ballpark 


DETROIT  The Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium are pleased to announce Comerica Bank as the first corporate sponsor of the stadium’s renovation project. The announcement was made recently during the Negro Leagues Legacy Luncheon at Comerica Park.
Comerica Bank presented a $20,000 check to FHHS during an on-field ceremony before the Detroit Tigers-Cleveland Indians Negro Leagues Tribute game.
“Hamtramck Stadium has played a significant role in the history of the region,” says Comerica president Michael T. Ritchie. “As one of only a handful of remaining Negro League ballparks, the site is an important reminder of African-American history here in metropolitan Detroit and across the country.
“We’re honored to support this project, and we hope our commitment inspires other organizations to help preserve this historic stadium and for the community to enjoy and remember the contributions of great Negro League players like Norman 'Turkey' Stearnes, Josh Gibson, and Satchel Paige for generations to come.”
“The stadium represents one of five remaining locations where major Negro League teams once played home games and represents a historic period in the Detroit community,” says Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium president Gary Gillette.
“As a field that’s welcomed at least 18 members of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, Hamtramck Stadium deserves the preservation efforts and attention it’s beginning to receive. We look forward to completing this project for both the Hamtramck and Detroit communities.”
The Hamtramck Stadium field is currently being used for cricket, soccer, yoga and other recreational activities, but the condition of the diamond itself isn’t yet suitable for baseball. 

The grandstand, which hasn't been used since the 1990s, is currently closed to the public, but the City of Hamtramck has a new plan for redevelopment.
Hamtramck Stadium was built in 1930. The stadium was home to the Negro National League Detroit Stars in 1930-1931 and again in 1933. The field was also home to the Detroit Wolves of the Negro East-West League in 1932, and to the Negro American League Detroit Stars in 1937. The stadium was acquired by the City of Hamtramck in 1940 and renovated in 1941 by the Wayne County Road Commission. 

It was also the home field for Hamtramck’s 1959 Little League World Series champions.
Comerica Bank previously supported FHHS in securing and installing a Michigan Historic Marker in Hamtramck at Veterans Park in 2014.
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About FHHS
Founded in 2012, the Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium is a Michigan nonprofit organization. FHHS is devoted to restoring and preserving historic Hamtramck Stadium and ensuring its future through educational, cultural, and recreational programming honoring the history of Negro League Baseball and amateur sports in Hamtramck and Detroit.
In addition to getting Hamtramck Stadium listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Friends installed a State of Michigan Historic Marker for the Stadium in Hamtramck’s Veterans Park in 2014. In 2017, the Friends provided the historical research used by the City of Hamtramck to obtain an African American Civil Rights Grant from the National Park Service.

For more information about Hamtramck Stadium, visit us on Facebook or go to www.hamtramckstadium.org.

The Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium are proudly affiliated with the nonprofit Piast Institute, of Hamtramck, Michigan, which serves as our fiduciary. 
To make a tax-deductible donation and help support the renovation of Hamtramck Stadium, click here.

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Tigers-Indians Negro Leagues Weekend tribute series June 8-10 to benefit Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium



When the Detroit Tigers take on the division rival Cleveland Indians June 8-10 at Comerica Park, fans who purchase the special Negro Leagues Weekend package not only get a game ticket and a Detroit Stars fedora, but a portion of the ticket price benefits the Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium.

CLICK HERE to purchase your tickets now before they're long gone!



Tuesday, May 8, 2018

New photos of Negro Leagues legend Turkey Stearnes discovered nearly 40 years after his death

Summer of '79: A gravely ill Turkey Stearnes pays a final visit to Tiger Stadium, where
he was never allowed to play because of the color of his skin. (John Collier/Detroit Free Press)







































By Dave Mesrey

Every picture tells a story, and this one is no exception. 

In the summer of 1979, a group of aging African-American ballplayers gathered in Greenup, Kentucky, at the home of newspaper publisher Tom Stultz for the first annual Negro Leagues baseball reunion

What started out as a birthday party for Clint "The Hawk" Thomas turned into a full-fledged reunion featuring the likes of Ray DandridgeBuck Leonard, Buck O’Neil, and Judy Johnson. 

Former Detroit Stars center fielder Norman "Turkey" Stearnes made the trip from Detroit, traveling by plane for just the second time in his life. The Nashville native, then 78, had retired to Detroit, where after his baseball career he'd worked for nearly 30 years in the foundry at the Ford Motor Company's storied Rouge complex. 

It was there at the Rouge in the 1950s, long before there was a Motown Records, that Stearnes worked alongside a young Berry Gordy. 

Stearnes, a prolific home-run hitter who starred for the Stars in the 1920s and '30s (first on the city's east side at Mack Park and later at Hamtramck Stadium), was a man of few words. 

He let his bat do the talking.  

Stearnes was “one of the greatest hitters we ever had," Satchel Paige once said. "He was as good as Josh [Gibson]. He was as good as anybody who ever played ball.”

"Turkey Stearnes was a five-tool player and one of the greatest power hitters in baseball history — not just Negro League history," says baseball historian Gary Gillette. "There's no doubt that he would have been a superstar in Major League Baseball if he had been allowed to cross the color line. 

"Tragically, he received his due way too late, decades after his death when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame."

When Detroit Free Press sportswriter Joe Lapointe got home from the Negro Leagues reunion, he and Freep photographer John Collier invited Stearnes to a photo shoot at Tiger Stadium, where Stearnes was never allowed to play because of the color of his skin.

Baseball Hall of Famer Norman "Turkey" Stearnes.
John Collier/Detroit Free Press
No one knew it at the time, but in the summer of '79 Turkey Stearnes was gravely ill. 

"That was the last time with my dad before he passed," says Stearnes' daughter Joyce Stearnes Thompson. "He looks so frail, but it was a glorious moment — a moment he had been denied."

Collier's signature photo from that day eventually made its way to Cooperstown, when Stearnes was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000. 

Taking his stance at home plate, his bat softly cradled in his massive hands, Stearnes cast his gaze deep into the outfield, where he sat as a spectator for so many days in the bleachers in the 1950s and '60s

"In his eyes, you can see the story of the Negro Leagues," says Gillette, founder and president of the Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium. "It’s the triumph of determination over discrimination, and the triumph of dignity over despair." 

Standing in the same left-handed batter's box once occupied by his white crosstown contemporary Ty Cobb, a dying Stearnes stares stoically into center field

He is the luckiest man on the face of the earth.

"I remember his hands — he had very large hands, and the way he gripped the bat, you could tell he was a pro," says Lapointe. "I remember he was dressed really sharp. He still had an athletic physique, and his clothes brought that out. The magic moment ... was when he picked up the bat and took his stance in the batter's box. ... He just snapped back into this batting stance, and he looked like a power hitter for sure."

"Dad would always wear clothes that were a little too big for him," says daughter Rosilyn Brown. "But we wanted him to look sharp, so we went to Sears and got him something that really fit.

"I let him pick out his shoes, and he came back with a pair of house shoes. I said, 'Dad, you can't wear house shoes to the reunion!'”

Collier was sifting through his photo archives recently when he made a remarkable discovery: two never-before-seen pictures of Turkey Stearnes from that fateful day at Tiger Stadium. 

John Collier/Detroit Free Press




















In honor of Stearnes' 117th birthday, we are publishing them here for the first time today. 

"John Collier was excellent," Lapointe says. "He's very imaginative, and he sees things with a good eye. He's aware of more than a lot of photographers, and he sees a picture where some don't." 

"Dad didn't laugh a lot," Thompson says, "so that visual gives me some closure. It feels good to see my dad smiling."

"I loved to see Dad smile," says Brown. "I think he was smiling because he was happy he finally got a chance to swing his bat at Tiger Stadium."