Delano-Hitch Stadium was the home of the Newburgh Nighthawks of the independent Northeast League.
Newburgh has been valiantly attempting to rekindle minor league baseball for the past several years, but no team has been able to stick. In 1995, the Newburgh Nighthawks joined the fledgling Northeast League, but failed after one season. 1996 saw a new Nighthawks franchise, relocated from Sullivan County (I think). They left after the 1996 season to become the Waterbury Spirit and the stadium was idle for the 1997 season. In 1998, the Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds of the Atlantic League set up shop in Delano-Hitch for one season while waiting for their ballpark to be built in Easton, Pennsylvania. In 1999, the ballpark is empty, waiting for another chance.
My visit to Delano-Hitch was in 1996 and I got a very mixed impression. The main grandstand is great, an old roof-covered structure, built in 1926 and painted a rich blue. It is small, though, with the seats extending only about halfway to the 1st and 3rd base bags. This meant that most of the sets were behind the screen, which I personally can not tolerate. The seats were not-very-comfortable plastic buckets.
There were erector set bleachers down each line, but these were in very bad shape and looked like a strong breeze might blow them over. The concessions consisted of portable food trailers in the grass behind the main grandstand and the souvenir stand was a card table. The food was quite good, however, especially the sausage and pepper hero.
The view of the game was just fine and there were some fun between inning activities, like the bug races beyond the left field fence. Despite the somewhat ramshackle appearance, there was a good atmosphere at Delano-Hitch and we all had a good time.
I think this could be a great minor league ballpark, but it needs a lot of work. I have heard that improvements were made for 1998 and that renovation is currently underway in hopes of luring another team. I hope this happens, because Newburgh is a city trying to make a comeback from a couple of really bad decades, and a well-supported team in a nice facility can help foster the community spirit so critical to urban renewal.
