PATERSON, N.J. (AP) - One of the last remaining stadiums in America where Negro League baseball was played may soon become part of a national park in New Jersey.
The U.S. Senate approved a measure Friday that would add Hinchliffe Stadium to Great Falls National Historical Park in Paterson. The measure, one of several parks provisions attached to the defense bill, now heads to President Barack Obama's desk.
The art deco structure opened in 1932 and was home to several Negro League teams, including the New York Black Yankees and the New York Cubans.
Eleven members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame played at Hinchliffe, including Larry Doby, who went to school in Paterson. Doby integrated the American League in July 1947, just months after Jackie Robinson broke the National League's color barrier.