Meet South Bend

Before getting started with this new series of posts, credit. The idea of the Google Earth shot of the visiting stadium is from The Wisconsin Sports Bar. The part about the miscellany about the team and the town is from No Rhubarb! One last thing before getting started. Thanks to MWLGuide.com for having a lot of this information in easily accessible locations.

Now, Let's Meet South Bend...

Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium is the home of the South Bend Silver Hawks. It is named after Stanley Coveleski, a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Coveleski is a native of Pennsylvania, but settled in South Bend after his playing days were over.

The stadium has been the only home of the Silver Hawks. But, the team was not always known as the Silver Hawks. When they joined the Midwest League as an expansion team in 1988, the squad was known as the South Bend White Sox. Silver Hawks was not used as a nickname until 1995.

South Bend was a Chicago White Sox affliate from 1988 until 1996. The team has been a farm club for the Arizona Diamondbacks since 1997.

Did you know that the team the White Sox were the parent club of the Appleton Foxes from 1966 through 1986?

Did you know that South Bend played the final game at Goodland Field? On August 29, 1994 Greg Norton, who is now with the Seattle Mariners, caught a line drive for the final out in the last game in Appleton Foxes history. South Bend won 8-1 in front of over 3,000 fans.

South Bend has won Midwest League Championships in 1989, 1993, and 2005. They have made the MWL Championship Series in 1990, 2001. That 2005 championship was a victory over the Timber Rattlers in Game Five of a best-of-five series.

Added this paragraph about Retired Numbers after the original posting was made:
The Silver Hawks also have retired four numbers. The first is #42 for Jackie Robinson. The second is #4 for Jeff Reinebold, who is in the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame for his 503 wins as a High School baseball coach, was a coach for the Silver Hawks from 1988-2000. The third is #12 for Rick Patterson, the manager of the 1989 MWL Championship team. The fourth is #18 for Tony Franklin, the manager of the 1993 MWL Championship team.

The most well-known feature of South Bend, Indiana is a small private college with a legendary football program. Although, the hockey team had a much better season.

But, there are other features in this city of just over 100,000* in Northwestern Indiana. The main ones of interest to this blogger would be:

College Football Hall of Fame

Studebaker National Museum

The Sox/Silver Hawks were not the first pro team in South Bend. The city had an entry in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1943-1954. The team was known as the South Bend Blue Sox.

*-according to the 2000 census