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Tampa in Hillsborough County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)
 

Cyrus Greene Park

 
 
Cyrus Greene Park Marker Side 1 image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Tim Fillmon, September 19, 2016
1. Cyrus Greene Park Marker Side 1
Inscription.
The City of Tampa acquired the Cyrus T. Greene property in 1931, which was named in honor of the executive secretary of the Tampa Urban League. By the 1940s, the baseball field created at Cyrus Greene was known as the 22nd Street Park. It served as the hime field for several semi-professional teams of the Florida State Negro Baseball League from the mid-1940s-1950s. These included the Pepsi-Cola Giants, Tampa Rockets, Tampa Grandstanders, Tampa Black Smokers, Tampa Blue Sox, Tampa Athletics, and the Tampa All Stars. In 1947, the Tampa Rockets won the League's championship. From the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, the Tampa Grays, of the African American West Coast Baseball League, played its home games on this field. Teams from the Negro League, including the New York Black Yankees and the Indianapolis Clowns, trained in Florida and Sometimes played in this park.

Several star players from Tampa whose home field was the 22nd Street Park played for Negro League teams during their baseball careers. Black players were restricted from Major League baseball until 1947, so the Negro League represented the highest level of accomplishment for black players. These great athletes included Hipolito Arenas, J.B. Broome, Clifford "Quack" Brown, Benjamin "Billy" Felder, John "Bey" Gibbons, Walter "Dirk" Gibbons, and Raydell
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"Lefty Bo" Maddix.

In 1968, Billy Reed, Benjamin Rouse, George Sullivan, and James Hargrett, Sr. organized the Belmont Heights Little League, whose games were played at Cyrus Greene Park. Belmont Heights reached the championship games of the Little League World Series in 1975, 1980, and 1981, and played in the semi-final round in 1973. Future major leaguers Derek Bell and Gary Sheffield both played on the 1980 team. A team from Belmont Heights, including future major leaguers Dwight Gooden, Floyd Yuma's and Vance Lovelace, played in the Senior League World Series game in 1979, and Belmont Heights won the Junior League World Series in 1982.

Cyrus Greene Park, known for many years as the 22nd Street Park, stands as a legacy to African American ball players from Tampa. Many of these athletes achieved great success both during and after segregation. Members of Tampa's community who inspired this marker hope that the future will also be bright for those who now play and for those who will play at Cyrus Greene Park.
 
Erected 2011 by Hillsborough County Historical Advisory Council, East Tampa Community Partnership.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African AmericansParks & Recreational AreasSports. A significant historical year for this entry is 1931.
 
Location. 27° 
Cyrus Greene Park Marker Side 2 image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Tim Fillmon, September 19, 2016
2. Cyrus Greene Park Marker Side 2
58.858′ N, 82° 26.093′ W. Marker is in Tampa, Florida, in Hillsborough County. Marker is on North 22nd Street (Florida Route 585) south of East Dr Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard (Florida Route 574), on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2101 East Dr Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard, Tampa FL 33610, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Middleton Senior High School (approx. half a mile away); College Hill Cemetery (approx. 0.6 miles away); Sgt. Nick Matassini (approx. 0.7 miles away); Il Cimitero Dell’Unione Italiana (approx. 0.7 miles away); Ossuarium Memoriale (approx. 0.7 miles away); Florida Sentinel Bulletin (approx. ¾ mile away); Old People's Home (approx. one mile away); St. Benedict the Moor School (approx. one mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Tampa.
 
Cyrus Greene Park Marker looking north image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Tim Fillmon, September 19, 2016
3. Cyrus Greene Park Marker looking north
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on September 11, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 7, 2020, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. This page has been viewed 466 times since then and 48 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on June 7, 2020, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024