In the early 1980s, the popularity of minor league baseball was on the rise across the country.  In the 1984, several local business, community and civic leaders were interested in bringing minor league baseball to the City of South Bend .  The group soon learned that the Midwest League was looking to add two expansion teams.  In 1985, South Bend Mayor Roger O. Parent met with Robert and Debbie Staley from Decatur, IL .  The Staleys had recently purchased an expansion team and were looking for a place to call home and South Bend was the perfect fit.

In March 1985, Mayor Parent announced that the city would build a minor league baseball stadium in Downtown South Bend, located on the edge of the Studebaker Corridor with the intent to begin playing baseball in 1986.  The stadium would serve as a catalyst for economic redevelopment in the area. 

In January 1986, it was announced that a 10-year player development contract had been signed with the Chicago White Sox and the Class A Affiliate would be known as the South Bend White Sox.

The stadium financing was secured and construction began in 1986 and in August of the same year, the Staleys sold the team to Eric Margenau and Jay Action from New York . 

Stadium construction was completed in April 1987 and the ballpark was named Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium.  Stanley Coveleski was a Hall of Fame player who settled in South Bend after his successful baseball career came to an end in 1929.  The stadium is now affectionately known as “The Cove”.

In 1990, Alan Levin assumed ownership of the team.  In 1994, the team contemplated a name change and settled on the South Bend Silver Hawks as a tribute to the Studebaker Silver Hawk automobile that was once manufactured across the street from the stadium.

The player development contract with the South Bend White Sox expired after the 1996 season and the South Bend Silver Hawks announced a new affiliation with the Arizona Diamondbacks, which continues to this day.

In 2005, the City of South Bend was faced with the possibility of losing the South Bend Silver Hawks amid rumors that the team would be purchased by another out of town owner and relocated to Marion, IL .  However, the intent of the Midwest League and the City of South Bend was to keep baseball in South Bend and the deal was declined.