PATERSON - Silk City will honor an historic American with deep local roots next month when they unveil a wholly renovated Larry Doby Field in Eastside Park.

Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh was visibly excited this week as he stood near first base and surveyed the project in its incipient stage of completion. "We're saying to whomever is a fan of Larry Doby, loves baseball and history, that his hometown does not forget who he was, what he did, and the impact that he had," Sayegh told InsiderNJ.

The late Larry Doby of Paterson on July 5, 1947, became the first African American ballplayer to play in the American League when he joined the Cleveland Indians organization, joining fellow history-maker Jackie Robinson. Robinson made history that same year in April as the first African American to break the color barrier as a big-league ballplayer in the National League with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

A graduate of Eastside High School, U.S. Navy veteran and college grad, the 23-year-old Doby was playing for the Newark Eagles when he answered the call and went to the Indians, thereby becoming the first player in history to go directly to the majors from the Negro leagues.

Now, "We are going to pay proper tribute to a hometown hero on a field where Eastside High School can score more victories," Mayor Sayegh told InsiderNJ.

As part of the city's $3 million refurbishment project, Larry Doby Field will include new dugouts, lights, benches, and the great player's name and Number 14 emblazoned on the field. Mayor Sayegh said he has tentatively scheduled an April 28th ribbon-cutting at the field in Paterson's sprawling Eastside Park to mark the occasion. Larry Doby's son, Larry Doby, Jr., has accepted an invitation to attend the event.

Mayor Sayegh was working as a local reporter when he interviewed Larry Doby, referred to - especially here - as "Larry Legend", on June 1, 2002 at the field's initial unveiling and dedication ceremony. Mr. Doby died the following year at the age of 79.

The mayor told InsiderNJ that in the writeup accompanying Larry Doby's Yearbook photo, the blurb notes that the local grad who would go on to make history liked "basketball and football." It made no mention of baseball.

Since becoming mayor in 2018, Sayegh has prioritized the revitalization of Paterson's baseball past, present, and future.

Built in the Great Depression above the Great Falls, opened in 1932 and condemned in 1997, Hinchliffe Stadium served as the home of two Negro League Baseball Teams before the integration of Major League Baseball.

The stadium holds the memories of 20 Hall of Fame Baseball Players, including the great Doby of Eastside High School, the first African-American ballplayer in the American League, just 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson joined the National League.

A glorious testament to Paterson's vitality and its unique contribution to American history, Hinchliffe reopened in 2023. Last month, "North Jersey Pro Soccer announced the launch of men's and women's teams that will compete in the United Soccer League and play games in the 93-year-old New Jersey stadium." Of course, Hinchliffe Stadium continues to serve as homebase for the New Jersey Jackals minor league baseball team and for local high school players, and as home of the Charles J. Muth Museum, a living chronicle of defiance to segregation by baseball heroes, Larry Doby chief among them.