When you think of major league sports in Green Bay, you probably think of football. However, one day 80 years ago, major league baseball made an appearance in Green Bay. On July 17, 1945, while World War II was still raging in the Pacific, The Chicago American Giants and the Memphis Red Sox of the Negro American League (NAL) played a regular season game at Joannes Stadium, which is in Joannes Park in Green Bay. Since Major League Baseball now recognizes the Negro Leagues as major leagues, this is the only major league baseball game played on Green Bay.
The Chicago American Giants, who ended up in fourth place in the NAL, defeated the Memphis Red Sox, who finished last, by a score of 5-3 in front of a crowd of 1,465. The Giants scored three in the first inning and two in the second to jump out to a 5-0 lead. The Sox came back with two in the third and one in the fourth, but that was all they could muster as Walter McCoy pitched a two-hit gem for the 5-3 win. Frank Pearson was the losing pitcher for Memphis.
Jannes Stadium was built in 1929 and hosted minor league baseball from 1940 through 1960. It currently hosts the amateur Green Bay Blue Ribbons and hosted the Green Bay Bullfrogs of the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer league, from 2007 through 2018. From the cache you can see the center field wall of Joannes Stadium to the southwest, but if you look to the northwest, you can see where Hagemeister Park once stood. Hagemeister, home of the Green Bay Packers from 1919 through 1922, was where the eastern portion of the current East High School and the parking lot and field to the east of the school currently reside. Further north, behind the school, is East Stadium, formerly City Stadium, where the Packers played from 1925-1956.
Use stealth, especially during school hours. If there are students hanging around, you might want to come back another time.