Comstock Park in Kent County, Michigan — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

They Played For The Love Of The Game

Grand Rapids Black Sox

Photographed by Nathan Bierma, April 20, 2025

1. They Played For The Love Of The Game Marker

Inscription.

The Grand Rapids Black Sox were a Grand Rapids-based Negro League team that traveled throughout Michigan in the 1940s & 1950s. Ted Rasberry (pictured second from the left) was pivotal in bringing Negro League Baseball to Grand Rapids. As the owner of the Grand Rapids Black Sox, Detroit Stars & Kansas City Monarchs, Ted Rasberry's efforts are still flourishing in the West Michigan community.

Erected 2019 by West Michigan Whitecaps.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Sports.

Location. 43° 2.428′ N, 85° 39.617′ W. Marker is in Comstock Park, Michigan, in Kent County. It can be reached from Ball Park Drive ¼ mile south of West River Drive, on the left when traveling south. The marker is posted inside the ballpark on the concourse along the left field side, next to Cap Room restaurant. It is only accessible during games and events at the stadium, with paid admission. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 4500 West River Drive NE, Comstock Park MI 49321, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker

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is in West Michigan

and in Greater Grand Rapids.

It is also in the American Midwest

and on the Great Lakes.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Baseball's Reserve Clause (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Old North Park Bridge (approx. 1½ miles away); Veterans' Cemetery (approx. 1½ miles away); Purple Heart Memorial (approx. 1.6 miles away); Veterans' Facility (approx. 1.7 miles away); Barber Briggs House (approx. 2.4 miles away); Plainfield Charter Township Veterans Memorial (approx. 3.1 miles away); Creston World War II Memorial (approx. 3.6 miles away).

Also see . . . Whitecaps honor Black Sox, Negro Leagues (WOOD TV, June 25, 2019).

The West Michigan Whitecaps wore stirrups, baggy pants and jerseys without names Tuesday at Fifth Third Ballpark.

They had the vintage look of baseball players from the early 1900s, but they weren’t ordinary throwback
Photographed by Nathan Bierma, April 20, 2025

2. Grand Rapids Black Sox marker next to the concourse restaurant
uniforms. The uniforms were identical to those of the Grand Rapids Black Sox, the West Michigan representative team from the Negro Leagues in the 1940s and 50s.

(Submitted on April 29, 2025, by Nathan Bierma of Grand Rapids, Michigan.)

Credits. This page was last revised on May 1, 2025. It was originally submitted on April 29, 2025, by Nathan Bierma of Grand Rapids, Michigan. This page has been viewed 145 times since then and 21 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on April 29, 2025, by Nathan Bierma of Grand Rapids, Michigan. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.