GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Nestled on the corner of sixth street and Valley Avenue on the city’s west side sits Sullivan field. What used to be called Valley field has been a mecca for baseball in Grand Rapids since the 1930’s.
Over the years, upkeep on the field didn’t become a priority. But four years ago a group of neighbors founded the Fans of Valley Field group to bring the park back to life.
“Valley field was started in the 30’s. Like 1934 till 1937 is the idea of when it opened but it has a ton of rich history. I think over 70 plus MLB players have played here or started here and the moved to the majors. Bob Sullivan was a huge benefactor for the city so in the 90’s it became Sullivan Field and so now it’s paying homage to Valley and Sullivan field,” said Steve Tibbe.
The Grand Rapids Black Sox and even legendary negro league player and MLB Satchel Paige played here. Now it’s the home field for Union High School.
“Kinda feels like a honor to play here, have all of our practices here. Fans of Valley field does a great job of helping us out. The city helps us out and just to have such a historic park, we talk about the history of the field and all the guys that used to play out here. Last year we went down to Detroit and played at a field down there, one of the only Negro League fields left in the country. It’s just really cool to be able to talk about the history and baseball is such a historic game. It’s America’s pastime. It’s pretty cool for the guys to experience that here,” said Union Head Coach Eric Zudweg.
As a part of the activation for the park, Union and Fans of Valley Field organized a baseball tournament that was played for the second year in a row this weekend.
“Me as a player playing on this field, it gives me lots of memories. Good and bad. And it’s something to always look back on. Yeah it is kinda exciting to know that there are people here who want to watch the game and see what you can do and just supporting the team in general,” said Union senior Israel Jackson.
The park hosts more than just baseball. They’ll start their summer concert series in a few weeks but also have plans to renovate the grandstands that are original from the 30’s. There’s work do be done but Fans of Valley Field hope to welcome any former players and neighbors to help complete the projects and continue to share its history with the teams who play there.
“It’s a really good field. Union has been, we’ve bee working with them really closely so meeting the high schoolers and having the help us and show some pride in our community has been really heart warming for us,” said Tibbe.
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