A youth baseball diamond in Paterson that has not hosted a single game in two years is finally getting fixed up. The city is investing nearly $1.4 million to renovate Little Larry Doby Field in Eastside Park, adding synthetic turf, new lighting, dugouts and benches, with officials aiming to have it ready by Thanksgiving.
The field has existed since 1951, according to PIX11, and sits right next to Big Larry Doby Field, the high school-sized ballpark that underwent its own nearly $3 million renovation last year. Once the turf goes in, the smaller field will be playable year-round. Public Works Director Billy Rodriguez, who played on the field as a kid and now coaches there, told the outlet that people will be able to play just 15 minutes after the rain stops once the new surface is installed.
A Field Named for a Trailblazer
The park carries the name of Larry Doby, who became the first Black player in the American League in 1947 when he signed with the Cleveland Indians directly from the Negro Leagues' Newark Eagles, just 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color line. Doby was the 23-year-old son of Paterson, having starred at Eastside High School from 1938 to 1942, where he earned all-state honors in football, basketball and baseball and led the school to municipal titles in 1941 and 1942, according to the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office.
Paterson first honored him at Eastside Park on June 1, 2002, unveiling a six-foot bronze statue titled “Larry At Bat” in a ceremony attended by Doby himself alongside fellow Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, per MLB.com. Big Larry Doby Field's own $2.8 million overhaul wrapped in May 2025, adding synthetic turf, portable pitching mounds and Doby's retired No. 14 engraved into center field.
City Leaders Frame It as an Investment in Kids
Mayor Andre Sayegh said the city is responsible for giving young people the best opportunities possible, per the PIX11 report. Rodriguez, who both coaches at the field and helps oversee the project as public works director, said Doby's legacy inspired him to perform and improve. State Senator Benjie Wimberly added that keeping young people busy gives them opportunities for greatness, according to the same account.
The Little League field's renovation includes turf, new dugouts, new lighting and new benches, work that follows two years in which the field hosted no games at all. The project is part of a broader $20 million municipal push to revitalize 15 Paterson parks, an effort backed by federal funding secured by the late U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., according to the City of Paterson. Other projects funded under that same initiative include overhauls at Westside Park, Lou Costello Memorial Park and local splash pads.
More Money Flowing Into Eastside Park
Passaic County also chipped in this year, awarding Paterson $100,000 from its Open Space Trust Fund in May specifically for the Eastside Park Fitness Area Improvement Project, according to Passaic County. The county distributed more than $3.7 million in open space grants to local municipalities in 2026, part of a wider pattern of public money flowing into the historic park.
Eastside Park itself sits inside the Eastside Park Historic District, formally designated a Municipal Historic District by the Paterson City Council in May 2014 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The surrounding district contains 19th-century residential structures alongside the public parkland that now houses both Doby fields. City historic-landmark records list the Eastside Park Historic District as a 2014 National Register and State Register district. According to the City of Paterson, an Eastside Park Historic District National Register nomination was documented on April 20, 2015.
The investment in the Little League field also follows Paterson's $100 million restoration of Hinchliffe Stadium, a 10,000-seat National Historic Landmark that reopened in May 2023 with a museum honoring Negro League history and Doby's athletic career, according to Jersey Digs. Eastside High School's baseball team played the stadium's first official game there on May 17, 2023, against Don Bosco Prep before eventually moving back to its renovated home at Big Larry Doby Field in 2025.
