Let me begin by making clear that this page is not dedicated to the famous ballpark where Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, making his professional debut. That Roosevelt Stadium was in Jersey City, a few miles to the south. It no longer exists.
This Roosevelt Stadium was built around the same time, though, during the 1930's as a WPA project. To the best of my knowledge and that of the all-knowing Charlie O'Reilly, professional baseball was never played here. That's a shame because this is a nice little ballpark. A fully roofed grandstand runs from midway down the 3rd base line, around home plate, down the 1st base line, and finishes by wrapping around the right field foul pole and extending a short way into right field. An interesting touch is the light towers in play in front of the stands.
The "seating" is just concrete steps onto which one presumably puts seat cushions. Used primarily for high school baseball and football, the artificial turf isn't very attractive, but one can understand the economic benefit. I intend to catch a high school game in the summer when the field is set up for baseball and update these photos at that time.
I am surprised that no short season or independent team ever set up shop in this great little park. Prior to these days of even the low minors getting $25,000,000 ballparks, this would appear to be much nicer than some other facilities. True, there is absolutely no parking, but with some metal benches attached to those concrete steps and a little imaginative marketing, Roosevelt could surely have ably housed low level professional ball.
Above is a glimpse at how they built them in the old days, with nice architectural touches and arches. The stadium is well maintained and looks pretty good for it's age. A throwback that never got a chance to really strut it's stuff.
Reader Comments
Was just looking at your webpage, and saw a reference to Roosevelt Stadium in Union City, NJ. You mentioned that, to you knowledge, pro baseball was never played here. But actually it was, back in the 1940's. (Excerpt from an article) After World War II, Mickey Steiman played the outfield and batted clean-up for the Union City Reds in 1946. This club was a white semi-pro team and a member of the Metropolitan Baseball Association. They played their home games at Roosevelt Stadium in Union City, New Jersey. It had a seating capacity of 15,000. Just thought I'd let you know!
- Louis, Union City, New Jersey
I can fill in a few gaps about Roosevelt Stadium which was the home of pro-football for two seasons in 1938 and 1939. Sam Zuccaro moved the American Association franchise Bushwick's from Brooklyn's Dexter Park to Union City from the 1938 season. The Union City Rams finished 2-5-1 in league play attracting a record 11,000 fans to the home game against the Jersey City Giants on 20 November 1938. The Rams had a working agreement with the NFL Brooklyn Dodgers. The Rams returned to Roosevelt Stadium for 1939 but finished last in the 4-team Southern Divison with a 2-5-2 record. I have attached two program covers (see below) from home games - in 1938 against Clifton, and in 1939 against George Halas' Newark Bears. Unlike the NFL, The American association did not operate a "color bar" and the second cover features Joe Lillard who had been a NFL player up to 1933.
- Tony, Southampton, England
I lived across the street from it on 24th & Summit & recently heard that there are plans to demolish the stadium to build a new high school with a football field on the "roof". My feeling is that it should be conserved as there are not many grand stadiums for kids to play in. How can one compare to playing in a field with bleachers to playing in an actual stadium. It should not go the route that the JC Roosevelt Stadium went -- just a memory. Aside from the HS football and baseball games being played there, it held the annual Thanksgiving football rivalry that started in the early 1900's, I remember -- a time when the stadium was flooded in the winter for ice-skating as well as other community events.
- Claire