A shrine is remembered

Photo courtesy Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium and Richard Pender

The number of locations that can claim hallowed-ground status in two sports, particularly when one of them is racing, are few indeed. One is Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey. Built in 1933, it’s one of the last surviving ballparks where the Negro Leagues played, including the Black Yankees and New York Cubans.

Hinchliffe (not “hinch-cliff,” as it’s commonly mispronounced) was also a center point of post-war, East Coast racing, on a track surrounding the baseball and football fields. That heritage will be marked in a Hinchliffe Reunion starting at noon on Sunday, September 5. Among the veteran race cars being displayed will be the restored White Phantom, first owned by Sam Alperti and driven on the AAA circuit through the mid-1930s by Wild Bill Morrissey, before he went on to drive Midgets, including at Hinchliffe.

Photo courtesy Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium and Richard Pender

We obtained this period photo, taken at the old Reading Fairgrounds in Pennsylvania, from Morrissey’s nephew, Richard Pender. Richard also sent this photo of the White Phantom as it appears now, restored by Artie Conck of Summit, New Jersey. The reunion is at Hinchliffe in Paterson, the subject of an intense restoration effort. For information, call Ronny Dennis at 718-344-0502.