| Detroit Stars | |
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| Information | |
| League |
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| Location | Detroit, Michigan |
| Ballpark |
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| Established | 1919 |
| Disbanded | 1931 |
The Detroit Stars were an American baseball team in the Negro leagues and played at historic Mack Park. The Stars had winning seasons every year but two, but were never able to secure any championships. Among their best players was Baseball Hall of Famer Turkey Stearnes.
Founded in 1919 by Tenny Blount with the help of Rube Foster, owner and manager of the Chicago American Giants, the Detroit Stars immediately established themselves as one of the most powerful teams in the West. Foster transferred several of his veteran players to the team, including player-manager Pete Hill and legendary catcher Bruce Petway. Left-hander John Donaldson, Frank Wickware, Dicta Johnson, and Cuban great José Méndez took up the pitching duties, and Texan Edgar Wesley was brought in to handle first base, a job he would hold for several years.
The Stars became a charter member of the Negro National League (NNL) in 1920. [1] New outfielder Jimmie Lyons enjoyed a brilliant season at bat, and Detroit came in second with a 35–23 record. The next season Lyons was transferred to the American Giants, and the team slumped to 32–32 and fourth place. This would be their low point for some time. For the rest of their tenure in the NNL, the Stars were consistently good (finishing under .500 only twice), but not brilliant (finishing as high as second place only twice).
The mainstays of the Detroit Stars during the 1920s were Hall of Fame center fielder Turkey Stearnes, who ranks among the all-time Negro league leaders in nearly every batting category; Hall of Fame pitcher Andy Cooper, a workhorse southpaw; pitcher Bill Holland; and first baseman Wesley, who led the league in home runs twice and batting average once. Pete Hill left after the 1921 season. Bruce Petway took his place as manager until 1926, when Candy Jim Taylor briefly held the position. Bingo DeMoss, yet another Rube Foster protégé, took over in 1927, and finally led the team to its first postseason berth in 1930. The Stars won the second-half season title, only to lose the playoff series to the St. Louis Stars.
After the collapse of the Negro National League at the end of 1931, the original Stars baseball team disbanded. They were replaced in 1932 by the Detroit Wolves of the East–West League.
During the 1920s the Stars made their home at Mack Park before moving to Hamtramck Stadium during the 1930–1931 seasons. [2]
These Detroit Stars alumni have been inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. [3]
| Detroit Stars Hall of Famers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Inductee | Position | Tenure | Inducted |
| Andy Cooper | P | 1920–1927 1930 | 2006 |
| Pete Hill | OF / 1B | 1920–1921 | 2006 |
| Cristóbal Torriente | OF / P | 1927–1928 | 2006 |
| Turkey Stearnes | CF | 1923–1931 | 2000 |
The Detroit Tigers wear Stars uniforms on Negro League Day. [4]
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 National Leagues".
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.
Norman Thomas "Turkey" Stearnes was an American baseball center fielder. He played 18 years in the Negro leagues, including nine years with the Detroit Stars (1923–1931), six years with the Chicago American Giants, and three years with the Kansas City Monarchs (1938–1940).
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.
Hamtramck Stadium, also known as Roesink Stadium is one of only 12 remaining Negro league baseball stadiums. It is located at 3201 Dan Street, in Veterans Park, in Hamtramck, Michigan. The stadium was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. The stadium is located near, and occasionally confused with, Keyworth Stadium. The stadium was rededicated on June 20, 2022, as part of the Juneteenth celebration. In 2020, the stadium's field was renamed Norman "Turkey" Stearnes Field, after Detroit Stars player Turkey Stearnes.
Edgar Wooded Wesley was a Negro league first baseman from 1917 to 1927. He played most of his career with the Detroit Stars of the first Negro National League (NNL).
The 1919 Detroit Stars baseball team competed in Negro league baseball during the 1919 baseball season. In their first year of competition, the Stars won the championship of independent western Negro league clubs. While the Seamhead website reports that the team compiled a record of 27–13, the "Game Log" below includes 44 wins based on 1919 games for which contemporaneous newspaper accounts have been located.
The 1920 Chicago American Giants baseball team represented the Chicago American Giants in the Negro National League (NNL) during the 1920 baseball season. The team compiled a 49–21–3 (.692) record and won the first NNL pennant. Rube Foster was the team's owner and manager. The team played its home games at Schorling Park in Chicago.
The 1932 Cole's American Giants baseball team represented the Cole's American Giants in the Negro National League (NNL) during the 1932 baseball season. The team compiled a 50–32 (.610) record and won the NNL pennant.
The 1925 Detroit Stars baseball team competed in the Negro National League during the 1925 baseball season. The team compiled a 56–44 record (.560) in games against National League opponents. The Stars played their home games at Mack Park located on the east side of Detroit, about four miles from downtown, at the southeast corner of Fairview Ave. and Mack Ave. The team was owned by John A. Roesink and managed on the field by catcher-manager Bruce Petway.
The 1930 Detroit Stars baseball team competed in the Negro National League during the 1930 baseball season. The team compiled a 54–41 record, had a 24-game winning streak in July and August, won the league's second-half championship, and lost to the St. Louis Stars in a postseason series billed as the "Negro World Series".
The 1923 Detroit Stars baseball team competed in the Negro National League (NNL) during the 1923 baseball season. The Stars compiled a 41–30 overall record (.577) and 39–27 against NNL opponents. They finished in third place in the NNL.
The 1920 Detroit Stars baseball team competed in the Negro National League (NNL) during the 1920 baseball season. The Stars compiled a 37–27 record (.578) and finished in second place in the NNL behind the Chicago American Giants.
The 1921 Detroit Stars baseball team competed in the Negro National League (NNL) during the 1921 baseball season. The Stars compiled a 38–46–1 record (.453) and finished fifth in the NNL.
The 1924 Detroit Stars baseball team competed in the Negro National League (NNL) during the 1923 baseball season. The Stars compiled a 35–31–1 record (.530) and finished third in the NNL.
The 1926 Detroit Stars baseball team competed in the Negro National League (NNL) during the 1926 baseball season. The team compiled a 52–47–1 record (.525) and finished fourth in the NNL. The Stars played their home games at Mack Park located on the east side of Detroit, about four miles from downtown, at the southeast corner of Fairview Ave. and Mack Ave. The team was owned by John A. Roesink and managed by Bill Riggins and Candy Jim Taylor.
The 1927 Detroit Stars baseball team competed in the Negro National League (NNL) during the 1927 baseball season. The team compiled a 52–47 record (.525) and finished fifth in the NNL. The Stars played their home games at Mack Park located on the east side of Detroit, about four miles from downtown, at the southeast corner of Fairview Ave. and Mack Ave. The team was owned by John A. Roesink and managed by Bingo DeMoss.
The 1929 Detroit Stars baseball team competed in the Negro National League (NNL) during the 1929 baseball season. The team compiled a 44–45 record (.494) and finished fifth in the NNL. The Stars played their home games at Mack Park located on the east side of Detroit, about four miles from downtown, at the southeast corner of Fairview Ave. and Mack Ave. The team was owned by John A. Roesink and managed by Bingo DeMoss.
The 1931 Detroit Stars baseball team competed in the Negro National League (NNL) during the 1931 baseball season. The team compiled a 25–33 record (.431) and finished fourth in the NNL. The Stars played their home games at Mack Park located on the east side of Detroit, about four miles from downtown, at the southeast corner of Fairview Ave. and Mack Ave. The team was owned by John A. Roesink and managed by Bingo DeMoss.
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