PATERSON, N.J. – The man of the hour was impossible to miss on this bright, sunny morning. John Briggs paired his navy-blue suit with a bright red Phillies cap, the sun practically illuminating the scarlet lid.
In this part of New Jersey, where Yankees and Mets fans dominate, that particular shade tends to stand out. For Briggs, 82, it represents the team that gave him a shot, signing him at 18 out of Paterson’s Eastside High School – the alma mater of Larry Doby – in October 1962. But it doesn’t go unnoticed.
“He joins us today, in his Philadelphia Phillies hat, to rub it in this Mets fan’s face,” Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh joked in his opening remarks of a rededication ceremony to open a refurbished John Briggs Field in the city. “But today it’s all about Johnny Briggs. And Johnny Briggs knows that his city loves him. And today, as a token of our appreciation for Johnny Briggs, we have completely transformed the field named in his honor.”
The city chose Jackie Robinson Day to hold the ceremony because of what Robinson meant for all those who came after him.
“Robinson broke the color barrier in the National League with the Brooklyn Dodgers so that Johnny Briggs and many others could play on a baseball field in the Major Leagues,” Sayegh said. “And so Johnny Briggs, a trailblazer in his own right … who today I’m going to call an MVP – Most Valuable Patersonian – we’re honoring a local legend, an MVP, with a new and improved field to pay tribute to the past, to focus on the present, and to of course have a brighter future.”
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The field – nestled between a hill leading down from Eastside’s rival, Kennedy High School, and the Passaic River – will be used by Little League teams and the Kennedy Knights softball team, who now have fresh grass to run on, new fences to shoot for and upgraded lights to play under.
It’s all a part of a larger renovation of Paterson’s Westside Park that is expected to be completed in September. Briggs Field is the first of the refurbished facilities to reopen, with a riverwalk, baseball field, playground and more to follow.
“This is the first part of the Westside Park project to cut the ribbon,” Sayegh said. “Johnny: You’re that important.”
Growing up in the city, Briggs played games in the Old Timers Midget Baseball League in Westside Park. He was a star in baseball, basketball, football and track at Eastside 20 years after Doby starred for the Ghosts in those same sports.
“I played Little League baseball as an 8-year-old and I didn’t have a glove of my own,” Briggs, a left-handed outfielder and first baseman, said when asked about his memories of playing ball in the city. “I had to learn how to use a glove backwards because they wanted me to be a catcher [using a mitt made for a right-hander]."
“You can’t be afraid if you’re going to be a catcher,” he continued. “You gotta learn how to catch the ball. Once you learn how to catch the ball, everything after that is easy. Guys tend to get a little bit afraid if the ball hits them, and it’s all over. That’s it for them.”
Briggs caught on and never looked back. After signing with the Phillies, he spent just one season in the Minor Leagues in 1963 before making his debut on April 17, 1964. He played parts of eight seasons in Philadelphia before being traded to the Brewers in April 1971. Briggs had his best years in Milwaukee. Across four-plus seasons, he hit 80 of his 139 home runs and compiled 14.4 of his 24.0 bWAR. In his 12-year career, which ended with the Twins in 1975, Briggs batted .253/.355/.416 with 1,041 hits, 507 RBIs and 601 runs.
After his playing career ended, Briggs returned to Paterson and worked as a corrections officer in the Passaic County Sherrif’s Department for 25 years. He volunteered his time, too, serving as a recreation supervisor in the city overseeing baseball leagues, holding clinics and counseling youngsters. His sons Jalen and Julian – who were among the family in attendance, along with Briggs’ wife, Renvy – played on the field named after their father.
“Johnny, your city loves you and who you are, what you’ve done and what you mean to us,” Sayegh said. “Today, this field helps us tell the story of a proud Patersonian.”