Dyckman Oval was a sports venue in the Inwood neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It was most commonly known as a home for Negro league baseball, but was frequently used for other events, including boxing, cricket, wrestling, football, soccer, amateur baseball, and even ice skating competitions. It existed from about 1915 through 1937.
The park was on a roughly triangular block bounded by Nagle Avenue and the elevated tracks of the subway's Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (northwest, third base); 204th Street (northeast, left field); 10th Avenue (southeast, right field); and Academy Street (southwest, first base). The address of the park was sometimes given as Dyckman Street, farther to the southwest. The Dyckman train station provided easy access to the park. The park was also about a mile south of Baker Field, the athletic fields for Columbia University. Most sources list Dyckman's seating capacity as around 4,500. Some sources say the capacity was later expanded to 10,000.
An early newspaper reference to the park appeared in the Brooklyn Standard Union for June 3, 1915, reporting on an amateur ball game between two local clubs.
As early as 1917, games played by the independent black team called the Cuban Stars were being advertised in local newspapers. The Stars joined the Eastern Colored League in 1923 and operated through 1928. They also played one year, 1929, in the American Negro League. They were then independent during the 1930s.
Games involving various Negro League teams were also staged there. A number of them were night games, as Dyckman Oval had acquired lights in 1930, several years before the major league New York area teams did.
The Cubans' owner, an entrepreneur named Alejandro Pompez, had a side business in the numbers racket. This eventually got him into legal trouble, and he had to abandon the team. The days of Dyckman Oval came to an end. The stands were demolished sometime during the off-season of 1937–1938. A writer for the New York Age on April 2, 1938, p.8, lamented having gone to the ball field and finding it gone.
Very few photos of this park exist. One widely-circulated photo shows the outside of the main entrance at Nagle and Academy. The block is now mostly occupied by the Dyckman Cornerstone Community Center and its basketball courts.[1] The Monsignor Kett Playground sits where the left field area once was.
DyckmanOval was a sports venue in the Inwood neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It was most commonly known as a home for Negro league baseball...
New York, U.S. 41 Win 33–0–1 (7) Herbert Crossley PTS 7 26 Sep 1921 DyckmanOval New York City, New York, U.S. 40 Win 32–0–1 (7) Eddie Josephs PTS 12...
Connecticut, U.S. 49 Win 34–13–2 Georgie Holmes TKO 3 (8) Jul 21, 1937 DyckmanOval, Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S. 48 Win 33–13–2 Pat Robertson...
based on contemporary newspaper articles Currently: medical buildings DyckmanOval Home of: Cuban Stars (East) – independent 1916–1922 / Eastern Colored...
City, New York, U.S. 141 Win 127–10–4 Charley Gomer PTS 8 Jun 7, 1937 DyckmanOval, New York City, New York, U.S. 140 Win 126–10–4 Joe Marciente PTS 8 Jul...
68–12–7 Eddie Brink KO 3 (10), 2:36 Aug 13, 1937 27 years, 244 days DyckmanOval, New York City, New York 86 Win 67–12–7 Benny Bass KO 4 (10), 2:35 Jul...
round knockout of another veteran, the 11-29-10 Frank LoBianco, at the DyckmanOval, in New York City on June 12, 1935. Pastor fought at Yankee Stadium on...
City, New York, U.S. 15 Loss 10–4–1 Eddie McGeever PTS 8 Jun 22, 1936 DyckmanOval, Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S. 14 Win 10–3–1 Joe Boscarino...
rivalry. Escobar beat Tony Marino by thirteenth-round knockout at the DyckmanOval in Manhattan, New York, to gain universal recognition as a unified Bantamweight...
Win 58–8–6 (11) Mike Belloise UD 15 Aug 30, 1934 20 years, 166 days DyckmanOval, Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S. Won vacant NYSAC featherweight...
(5) Leo "Red" Bruce TKO 1 (10), 2:41 Jul 28, 1937 30 years, 117 days DyckmanOval, New York City, New York, U.S. 102 Win 76–14–7 (5) Deacon Leo Kelly TKO...
South Carolina, US 32 Draw 11–10–9 (2) Jim Howell PTS 8 Jul 25, 1938 DyckmanOval, New York City, New York, US 31 Loss 11–10–8 (2) John Henry Lewis KO...
(4) Jul 7, 1936 Queensboro Arena, New York City, New York, US 1 Win 1–0 Damasco Seda TKO 1 (4) Jun 29, 1936 DyckmanOval, New York City, New York, US...
Montreal, Quebec, Canada 107 Win 43–8–1 (55) Gus Platts PTS 12 Sep 26, 1921 DyckmanOval, Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S. 106 Loss 42–8–1 (55) Battling...
Arena, New York City, New York, US Terris claimed he was hit low 1 Win 1–0 Jimmy Tomasulo PTS 4 May 29, 1922 DyckmanOval, New York City, New York, US...
Quebec, Canada 91 Loss 69–12–10 Tony Marino KO 14 (15) Jun 29, 1936 DyckmanOval, Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S. Lost The Ring bantamweight...
team, the Rangers held their home games at several fields, including DyckmanOval, New York and McGoldrick Field, Greenpoint. Eastern Soccer League "The...
by Maryland, Izzy Jannazzo, in a ten-round points decision at the Dykman Oval in Manhattan. In a decisive win, Jannazzo, soon to be a top welterweight...
Kentucky, US 114 Loss 84–17–12 (1) Pedro Montañez PTS 10 Jun 8, 1936 DyckmanOval, New York City, New York, US 113 Win 84–16–12 (1) Rafael Hurtado UD 10...
Pittsburgh Crawfords (Crawfords win series 4–3) September 13, 1935 at DyckmanOval, New York, New York: New York 6, Pittsburgh 2 September 14, 1935 at Penmar...
Draw 28–4–3 (24) Frankie Jerome PTS 12 Jul 7, 1921 22 years, 300 days DyckmanOval, New York City, New York, U.S. 58 Win 28–4–2 (24) Earl Puryear UD 12...
former champion Johnny Jadick, in a ten-round points decision at the Dykman Oval in Manhattan. In a decisive win, Jannazzo put Jadick on the canvas in the...
Puerto Rican boxer Sixto Escobar in a close fifteen round decision at DyckmanOval in Manhattan. Many ringside questioned the decision of the judges that...
114 Win 35–2–5 (72) Bud Dempsey PTS 10 May 22, 1922 23 years, 161 days DyckmanOval, New York City, New York, U.S. 113 Win 34–2–5 (72) Tommy Ryan NWS 12...
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