Sports
Pete Hill
1882–1951 · baseball player and manager
Hall of Fame outfielder chosen by Rube Foster as the first player-manager of the Detroit Stars when the club was founded in 1919.
- Born
Culpeper County, Virginia- Died
Buffalo, New York
aged 69- Birth name
- John Preston Hill
- Also known as
- John Preston Hill
- Detroit years
- 1919–1921
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Pete Hill was one of the great Black outfielders of the early twentieth century, a line-drive hitter who starred for Rube Foster's Leland Giants and Chicago American Giants. When Detroit businessman Tenny Blount founded the Detroit Stars in 1919 with Foster's backing, Foster sent Hill to run the new club as its player-manager. Hill led the Stars at Mack Park on the east side through their early seasons, and in 1920 the team became a charter member of the Negro National League. Under his leadership the Stars were immediately one of the strongest clubs in the West, giving Detroit's growing Black community, swelled by the Great Migration, a team of its own. He later played and managed in Milwaukee and Baltimore. Hill was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006, and in 2010 the Hall recast his plaque to correct his first name to John.
Highlights
- First player-manager of the Detroit Stars, from 1919
- Stars were charter members of the Negro National League in 1920
- Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006
- Plaque corrected in 2010 to read John Preston Hill
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Played here · 1919–1921
Mack Park (site)
Demolished
Home field of the Detroit Stars during Hill's years as player-manager.