Encyclopedia Of Detroit
Detroit Stars
The Detroit Stars were an American baseball team that played in the Negro leagues. The team was founded by Tenny Blount and Rube Foster, owner of the Chicago American Giants, in 1919. The team played at Mack Park, at the southeast corner of Fairview and Mack avenues, and in 1920 became a charter member of the Negro National League (NNL). The team was purchased in 1925 by Steve Pierce, an African American man from the West Coast. Around 1928, a white investor named John Roesink got involved, although ownership around the league remained majority black owned.
The original team included such stars as Norman “Turkey” Stearnes, Andy Cooper, Pete Hill – all Hall of Famers – and played through 1931 when the Negro National League collapsed. Two years later, the Indianapolis ABCs were rebranded as the Detroit Stars in a new NNL. Since 1930, Hamtramck Stadium, Dan Street near Joseph Campau, was home field. By 1937, yet another team was fielded under the Stars brand, described as a “strong semi-pro team,” with Stearnes again as a draw.
The Detroit Stars uniform reappeared in the 1950s. The team was owned by Ted Rasberry, then briefly renamed Goose Tatum’s Detroit Clowns, after a Negro League star and Harlem Globetrotter. They were again the Stars from 1952 until 1961, and retired when the league again disbanded the following year.
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