Bugle Field was a Baltimore based, predominantly wooden stadium utilized by the two primary Negro League teams of the 1916 to 1950 era, the Baltimore Black Sox, (1916-1933), and the Baltimore Elite Giants, (1938-1950). The Black Sox had a short tenure at the park, moving into the park permanently in 1932 before folding during the 1934 season. The Elite Giants were the park's primary tenants until its dismantlement during the 1949 Negro National League Championship Series. It was located on the northeast corner of Federal Street and Edison Highway, address 1601 Edison Highway. The site is in use today as the headquarters and local manufacturing plant of Rockland Industries, the first major corporation on record in Baltimore County, Maryland. [1]
An earlier Negro League baseball field was the "Maryland Baseball Park", 1923–1929. Games were also played at the old Westport Stadium, near Old Annapolis Road (Maryland Route 648) and Waterview Avenue, in the Westport neighborhood of southwest Baltimore. The site location was impacted by the routing and construction, in the early 1950s, of the Baltimore–Washington Parkway (Interstate 295) going north into downtown on Russell Street.
Players that the field served include Major League Baseball and Negro League players Roy Campanella, Leon Day, Joe Black, Junior Gilliam, Jud Wilson, "The Ghost" Oliver Marcelle, and Dick Lundy. Short time Washington Senators player Lou Thuman was said to have been discovered by Senators scouts while playing at Bugle Field, which was owned by the owners of the Senators ball club, also operators of a local laundry. Mr. Thuman played a total of five games in 1939 and 1940 with the Senators before being drafted into World War II and enduring a career-ending injury. [2]
Bugle Field had opened in 1910,(Baltimore Sun, September 19, 1949, p.28) and its 40th season would be its last. The final game was played on September 18, 1949. The Elites defeated the Chicago American Giants 5-4 to take a two games to none lead in the playoff series.(Baltimore Sun, September 19, 1949, p.18) Despite being compelled to stage their next game at a neutral site in Virginia and finish the series in Chicago, the Elites would go on to sweep the Giants four games to none.(Baltimore Sun, September 23, 1949, p.42)
Leon Day was an American professional baseball pitcher who spent the majority of his career in the Negro leagues. Recognized as one of the most versatile athletes in the league during his prime, Day could play every position, with the exception of catcher, and often was the starting second baseman or center fielder when he was not on the mound. A right-handed pitcher with a trademark no wind-up delivery, Day excelled at striking batters out, especially with his high-speed fastball. At the same time, he was an above-average contact hitter, which, combined with his effectiveness as a baserunner and his tenacious fielding, helped cement Day as one of the most dynamic players of the era.
The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and disbanded after its 1962 season.
The second Negro National League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated.
The Baltimore Black Sox were a professional Negro league baseball team active between 1913 and 1936, based in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Baltimore Elite Giants were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues from 1920 to 1950. The team was established by Thomas T. Wilson, in Nashville, Tennessee as the semi-pro Nashville Standard Giants on March 26, 1920. The team was renamed the Elite Giants in 1921, and moved to Baltimore, Maryland in 1938, where the team remained for the duration of their existence. The team and its fans pronounced the word "Elite" as "ee-light".
Municipal Stadium is a stadium in Hagerstown, Maryland, United States. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Hagerstown Suns minor league baseball team. It was built in 1930, as a project of the Works Progress Administration, in a short time period of six weeks. It holds 4,600 people.
Benjamin Harrison Taylor was an American first baseman and manager in baseball's Negro leagues. Taylor played for the Birmingham Giants, Chicago American Giants, Indianapolis ABC's, St. Louis Giants, Bacharach Giants, Washington Potomacs, Harrisburg Giants, and Baltimore Black Sox. His playing career played lasted from 1908 to 1929. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.
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 and Baltimore Elite Giants (1936–1939), and Newark Dodgers/Eagles.
Westport is a neighborhood in south Baltimore, Maryland. Westport is a majority African-American neighborhood that has struggled with crime, housing abandonment, and unemployment in the past decade. The neighborhood is bordered by the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River on the east, the city neighborhoods of Cherry Hill, Brooklyn and the southwestern Baltimore County community of Lansdowne to the southwest, Hollins Ferry Road and the Mount Winans and Lakeland neighborhoods to the west, and Interstate 95 to the north, along with the South Baltimore communities of Federal Hill and Otterbein. The Baltimore–Washington Parkway runs through the middle of Westport and intersects with Interstate 95, the main East Coast super-highway, north to south, Maine to Florida.
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.
Rockland Industries, Inc. is a textile manufacturing company and the inventor of coated blackout curtain and drapery linings. The company is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland and has manufacturing facilities in Bamberg, South Carolina. Rockland Industries has sales in the United States and in more than 90 countries worldwide.
Joseph Carl Cambria, also known as "Papa Joe," was an American professional baseball scout and executive who was a pioneer in recruiting Latin American players. From 1929 through 1940, he owned several Minor League Baseball teams, as well as the Negro league Baltimore Black Sox. He is best known, however, for his work as a scout for Major League Baseball, especially for his work in Cuba. From the mid-1930s until his death in 1962, he recruited hundreds of Cuban players for the Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins. Cambria was described as "the first of many scouts who searched Latin America for inexpensive recruits for their respective ball clubs."
James Burton "J. B." Hairstone, also known as "Harry", was an American baseball outfielder in the Negro leagues. He was described as a "brainy" player and was one of the "original" Baltimore Black Sox players, playing for the team during a period (1916–1921) when they were transitioning from a semipro team to a major professional team that would later be one of the founding members of the Eastern Colored League. In 1922, he finished his professional playing career with the Bacharach Giants. He was a manager late in his career, and also served as an umpire. In 1925, he was seriously injured by a bayonet wound suffered while serving at a National Guard encampment.
The Memphis Red Sox were a Negro League baseball team that was active from 1920 to 1959. The franchise won the 1938 Championship in their second season in the Negro American League but, despite assembling some talented line-ups in the 1940s, never replicated the success of that year.
Oriole Park (V) is the name used by baseball historians to designate the longest-lasting of several former major league and minor league baseball parks in Baltimore, Maryland, each one named Oriole Park.
Hubert Van Wike Simmons was an American Negro League Baseball pitcher and outfielder. He batted and threw right handed.
Coordinates: 39°18′34.5″N76°34′19.2″W / 39.309583°N 76.572000°W
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