Bob Sullivan Passes Away at 96
A local hero in Grand Rapdis, MI but also one in the Netherlands has passed away last Tuesday. At the age of 96, Bob Sullivan left us for baseball’s Eternal Hunting Grounds.
Through the Facebook page Takemeouttotheballgame2024, the Dutch Baseball Hangout learned about the passing of Bob Sullivan. His death was announced Wednesday by Fans of Valley Field, the nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing the historic baseball field owned by and named after Sullivan.
Bob Sullivan was a business man in Grand Rapids, where he started a carpet and furniture store. His business went very well as he started his own semi-pro baseball team, the Grand Rapids Sullivans. The team played in every NBC World Series tournament from 1955 to 1987, winning four championship titles.
Sullvian was a welcome guest at the Haarlem Baseball Week in the Netherlands. From 1963, the Sullivans, as the team was called in the Netherlands, was a regular participant in this (bi-)annual tournament, winning it in 1963, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1988, and 1990. 1996 would be the last year that the Sullivans participated in the tournament.
Next to running his business and his baseball team, Sullivan was a scout for the Detroit Tigers as well. Sullivan discovered more than seventy players who made it to the Bigs.
In 1996, the local ballpark in Grand Rapids, Valley Field, was renamed Sullivan Field, to honor the man that has meant a lot for baseball in Grand Rapids. The man was a philanthropist as he donated to donated to the Grand Rapids Parks Department to cover the entry fee at public pools for kids who lived in the city.
Next to giving kids the opportunity to swim for free, Sullivan also started Little League baseball in Grand Rapids and sponsored teams in football and basketball.
It is clear he touched many lives in Grand Rapids. He will be missed.