Delano-Hitch Stadium
| The Ditch | |
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| Location | Newburgh, NY, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°29′56″N 74°01′31″W / 41.49889°N 74.02528°W |
| Owner | City of Newburgh |
| Capacity | 3,100 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1926 |
| Opened | 1926 |
| Renovated | 1998 |
| Tenants | |
| Newburgh Newts; Newburgh Hummingbirds, Newburgh Nighthawks, Newburgh Black Diamonds (former) | |
Delano-Hitch Stadium is a stadium in Newburgh, New York; it has a current capacity of 3,100.
Baseball in Newburgh goes back to the 1860s: the Hudson River club played from 1863–67, compiling an 18-18 record against many of the top teams of the day. Several other short-lived pro teams called the city home before World War I, including the Newburgh Taylor-Mades (aka Hill Climbers or Hillies, Hudson River League, 1903–1907); the Newburgh Dutchmen (New York-New Jersey League, 1913) and the Newburgh Hillclimbers (Atlantic League, 1914).
In 1916, Mrs. Annie Delano Hitch (aunt of Franklin Delano Roosevelt) donated land to the City of Newburgh for a "driving park", later known as Delano-Hitch Recreation Park. The stadium was opened in 1926, and has been primarily used for baseball. Four professional teams have called Delano-Hitch home: the Newburgh Hummingbirds in 1946, the Newburgh Nighthawks in 1995-96, the Newburgh Black Diamonds in 1998, and the Newburgh Newts briefly in 2015.
During the next half-century, the stadium was used by various amateur and semi-pro baseball teams, as well as by the semi-pro football Newburgh Raiders from 1991-96. (Despite winning four Empire Football League championships, the EFL unanimously voted to boot Newburgh out in 1997 for a variety of reasons, including the fact that Delano-Hitch wasn't really suitable for football.)
In 1995, owner Bill Cummings brought the Newburgh Nighthawks to town, as a franchise in the new Northeast League (now the Can-Am League). Despite decent attendance figures of about 1,000 per game, Cummings lost over $30,000 and sold the team to Jeff Kunion. The '96 Nighthawks won the NEL first half championship and played the Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs for the league title, losing three games to one. The final game of the championship series proved to be the last Nighthawks' game ever, as Kunion, unsatisfied with the pace of stadium renovations, folded the team.
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