Chicago Giants

Last updated
Chicago Giants
Information
League
  • Independent (1910–19)
  • NNL1 (1920–21)
Location Chicago, Illinois
Established 1910
Disbanded 1921
Nickname(s)

The Chicago Giants were a professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois which played in the Negro leagues from 1910 to 1921. [1]

Contents

History

The team was founded by Frank Leland after he and his partner, Rube Foster, split up the Leland Giants in 1910. Frank Leland's new club was sometimes also known as Leland's Chicago Giants, until a court injunction forced Frank Leland to stop using the name Leland Giants. [2]

A 1910 article about an upcoming game and parade, announced everyone would wear the team colors, "white and maroon." [3]

After Leland's death, November 14, 1914, [4] the team came under the control of longtime player Charles "Joe" Green.

In 1920, the Chicago Giants became a founding member of the Negro National League (NNL). They played as a travelling team, without a home field, and finished in last place in both 1920 and 1921. Their best player was a young catcher/shortstop named John Beckwith, who was purchased by Rube Foster for his Chicago American Giants after the 1921 season.

Franchise continuum

Chicago Giants
The Chicago Unions and the Chicago Columbia Giants merged for the 1901 season creating the Chicago Union Giants, who later changed their name to the Leland Giants. The Leland Giants then split into two teams for the 1910 season creating the Chicago Giants and the new Leland Giants, who later changed their name to the Chicago American Giants.

Players

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rube Foster</span> American baseball player (1879–1930)

Andrew "Rube" Foster was an American baseball player, manager, and executive in the Negro leagues. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Henry Lloyd</span> Negro league baseball player (1884–1964)

John Henry Lloyd, nicknamed "Pop" and "El Cuchara", was an American baseball shortstop and manager in the Negro leagues. During his 27-year career, he played for many teams and had a .343 batting average. Lloyd is considered to be the greatest shortstop in Negro league history, and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candy Jim Taylor</span> American baseball player (1884–1948)

James Allen "Candy Jim" Taylor was an American third baseman and manager in Negro league baseball. In a career that spanned forty years, he played as an infielder in the early years of the 20th century for over a dozen black baseball teams; by the mid-1920s, he would play less regularly, with his final game came at 58. In 1920, the same year of the start of the golden era of Negro league baseball, he would take on the responsibilities of manager, where he would manage 1,967 games for twelve teams. Described as one of the great strategists of his era, Taylor is the all-time winningest manager in the Negro league era, having 955 wins along with two Negro World Series titles and one additional pennant in 27 seasons as manager. He has the most seasons managed by an African American manager along with having the seventh most for a manager in the history of baseball.

The Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" Foster, they were charter members of Foster's Negro National League. The American Giants won five pennants in that league, along with another pennant in the 1932 Negro Southern League and a second-half championship in Gus Greenlee's Negro National League in 1934.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Hill</span> Baseball player

John Preston "Pete" Hill was an American outfielder and manager in baseball's Negro leagues from 1899 to 1925. He played for the Philadelphia Giants, Leland Giants, Chicago American Giants, Detroit Stars, Milwaukee Bears, and Baltimore Black Sox. Hill starred for teams owned by Negro league executive Rube Foster for much of his playing career.

The Philadelphia Giants were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1902 to 1911. From 1904 to 1909 they were one of the strongest teams in black baseball, winning five eastern championships in six years. The team was organized by Sol White, Walter Schlichter, and Harry Smith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leland Giants</span> Negro league baseball team (1901–1910)

The Leland Giants, originally the Chicago Union Giants, were a Negro league baseball team that competed independently during the first decade of the 20th century. The team was formed via a merge of the Chicago Unions and the Chicago Columbia Giants in 1901, and then split in 1910 to form the Chicago Giants and what would become known as the Chicago American Giants. The team was named after its owner and manager, Frank Leland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Leland</span> Baseball player

Frank C. Leland was an American baseball player, field manager and club owner in the Negro leagues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steel Arm Johnny Taylor</span> American baseball player

John Boyce Taylor was the second-oldest of four baseball-playing brothers, the others being Charles, Benjamin, and James. Taylor was an American pitcher and played in professional pre-league and Negro league baseball from 1903 to 1925.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chappie Johnson</span> Baseball player

George "Chappie" Johnson Jr. was an American baseball catcher and field manager in the Negro leagues. He played for many successful teams from 1895 to 1920 and he crossed racial boundaries as a teacher and coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Pettus</span> Baseball player

William Thomas Pettus was an American baseball first baseman in the Cuban League and Negro leagues. He played from 1902 to 1923 with several teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Wallace</span> Baseball player

Richard Felix Wallace was an American baseball shortstop and manager in the Negro leagues. He played from 1903 to 1924 with several teams, including the Lincoln Giants and the St. Louis Giants. He was Captain of the St. Louis Giants in 1912. He managed from 1909 to 1921.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Harris</span> Baseball player

Nathan Harris was an American baseball third baseman and captain in the pre-Negro leagues. He played for many of the best teams between 1900 and 1910.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Wright (infielder)</span> Baseball player

George Martin Wright, nicknamed "Jess", was an American baseball shortstop and second baseman in the pre-Negro leagues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Green (baseball, born 1878)</span> Baseball player

Charles Albert "Joe" Green was an American baseball outfielder and manager in the pre-Negro leagues and the beginning of the Negro National League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dangerfield Talbert</span> American baseball player

Dangerfield F. Talbert was an American baseball third baseman in the pre-Negro leagues.

Albert Toney was an American baseball shortstop in the pre-Negro leagues. He played most seasons for Chicago teams such as Chicago Union Giants, Leland Giants, and Chicago Giants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Robinson (baseball)</span> Baseball player

Al Robinson was an American baseball first baseman in the pre-Negro leagues. He played mostly for the Brooklyn Royal Giants. His playing was compared to pre-Negro leagues rival Chappie Johnson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Lindsay (pitcher)</span> American baseball player

William Lindsay, nicknamed the "Kansas Cyclone" and "Lightning", was a Negro leagues pitcher for several years before the founding of the first Negro National League.

References

  1. "Chicago Giants franchise history". seamheads.com. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  2. "Frank C. Leland Enjoined From Using the Name Leland Giants" Chicago Broad Ax, Chicago, IL, Page 2, Column 2
  3. "Chicago Giants Will Raise Flag Sunday" Chicago Broad Ax, Chicago, IL, Page 2, Columns 4 and 5
  4. "Certificate and Record of Death of Frank Leland" Chicago Department of Health, Chicago, IL, November 14, 1914