The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in 1920 that are sometimes termed "Negro Major Leagues".
Oscar McKinley Charleston was an American center fielder and manager in Negro league baseball. Over his 43-year baseball career, Charleston played or managed with more than a dozen teams, including the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, Negro league baseball's leading teams in the 1930s. He also played nine winter seasons in Cuba and in numerous exhibition games against white major leaguers. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.
The first Negro National League (NNL) was one of the several Negro leagues that were established during the period in the United States when organized baseball was segregated. The league was formed in 1920 with former player Rube Foster as its president.
The second Negro National League was one of the several Negro leagues that were established during the period in the United States when organized baseball was segregated. The league was founded in 1933 by businessman Gus Greenlee of Pittsburgh.
The Homestead Grays were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States.
The Columbus Blue Birds were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Columbus, Ohio in 1931 and 1933.
William Byrd was an American professional baseball player in the Negro leagues. Born in Canton, Georgia, he was a right-handed pitcher. He was named in eight All-Star games for six seasons. Byrd also saw action with the Criollos de Caguas and Cangrejeros de Santurce clubs of the Puerto Rico Winter League, where he was considered one of the best hurlers. He died at age 83 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Felton "Skipper" Snow was a Negro leagues professional baseball player who played for the Nashville Elite Giants that later became the Columbus Elite Giants, the Washington Elite Giants, and the Baltimore Elite Giants. Snow played on the West Squad in the East-West All-Star Games of 1935 and 1936. In 1940, he became a player-manager for the Baltimore Elite Giants.
James Raleigh "Biz" Mackey was an American catcher and manager in Negro league baseball. He played for the Indianapolis ABCs (1920–1922), New York Lincoln Giants (1920), Hilldale Daisies (1923–1931), Philadelphia Royal Giants (1925), Philadelphia Stars (1933–1935), Washington / Baltimore Elite Giants (1936–1939), and Newark Dodgers/Eagles.
The St. Louis Stars, originally the St. Louis Giants, were a Negro league baseball team that competed independently from as early as 1906 to 1919, and then joined the Negro National League (NNL) for the duration of their existence. After the 1921 season, the Giants were sold by African-American promoter Charlie Mills to Dick Kent and Dr. Sam Sheppard, who built a new park and renamed the club the Stars. As the Stars, they eventually built one of the great dynasties in Negro league history, winning three pennants in four years from 1928 to 1931.
The following is a timeline of franchise evolution in Major League Baseball. The histories of franchises in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP), National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NA), Union Association (UA), and American Association (AA) before they joined the National League are also included. In 1900 the minor league Western League renamed itself the American League (AL). All of the 1899 Western League teams were a part of the transformation with the Saint Paul Apostles moving to Chicago and to play as the White Stockings. In 1901 the AL declared itself a Major League. For its inaugural major league season the AL dropped its teams in Indianapolis, Buffalo and Minneapolis and replaced them with franchises in Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore and the Kansas City Blues moved to Washington to play as the Senators.
The Negro Southern League (NSL) was one of the several Negro baseball leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The NSL was organized as a minor league in 1920 and lasted until 1936. It was considered a major league for the 1932 season and it was also the only organized league to finish its full schedule that season. Prior to the season, several established teams joined the NSL, mainly from the collapsed Negro National League.
Tom Wilson Park is a former Negro league baseball park in Nashville, Tennessee, that opened in 1929 and closed in 1946. The ballpark has since been demolished.
The Memphis Red Sox were an American Negro league baseball team that was active from 1920 to 1959. Originally named the Barber College Baseball Club, the team was initially owned and operated by Arthur P. Martin, a local Memphis barber. In the late 1920s the Martin brothers, all three Memphis doctors and businessmen, purchased the Red Sox. J. B. Martin, W. S. Martin, and B. B. Martin, would retain control of the club till its dissolution in 1959. The Red Sox played as members, at various times, of the Negro Southern League, Negro National League, and Negro American League. The team was never a titan of the Negro leagues like wealthier teams in northern cities of the United States, but sound management lead to a continuous thirty-nine years of operation, a span that was exceeded by very few other teams. Following integration the team had five players that would eventually make the rosters of Major League Baseball teams and two players that were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Knoxville Giants were a Negro league baseball professional team based in Knoxville, Tennessee between 1920 and 1932. The Knoxville Giants were a member of the Negro Southern League from 1920 to 1922 and 1931 to 1932.
Wesley "Big Train" Barrow was an American Negro league player and manager in the 1940s who was once regarded as "one of the best developers of Negro talent in the South."
Nashville, Tennessee, has hosted Minor League Baseball (MiLB) teams since the late 19th century but has never been home to a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. The city's professional baseball history dates back to 1884 with the formation of the Nashville Americans, who were charter members of the original Southern League in 1885 and played their home games at Sulphur Spring Park, later renamed Athletic Park and Sulphur Dell. This ballpark was the home of Nashville's minor league teams through 1963. Of the numerous teams to play there, the best known was the Nashville Vols, who competed from 1901 to 1963, primarily in the Southern Association.
