 The logo of the Eastern Colored League | |
| Classification | Major league |
|---|---|
| Sport | Negro league baseball |
| First season | 1923 |
| Ceased | 1928 |
| No. of teams | ~10 |
| Country | United States |
| Most titles | Hilldale (3) |
The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs, more commonly known as the Eastern Colored League (ECL), was one of the several Negro leagues, which operated during the time organized baseball was segregated.
The ECL was founded in 1923 when the Philadelphia-area Hilldale Club and the Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City, both associate members of the midwest-based Negro National League (NNL), broke with the NNL and allied with the white promoter Nat Strong to form an east coast league. The charter members were: Hilldale, the Bacharach Giants, the Brooklyn Royal Giants, the Cuban Stars (East), the Lincoln Giants of New York, and the Baltimore Black Sox. In 1924 the Harrisburg Giants and Washington Potomacs joined, bringing the circuit to eight clubs. The ECL raided the NNL for players, including Hall of Famers Oscar Charleston, Biz Mackey, and John Henry Lloyd, starting a war that lasted for two years.
In 1925 the Washington Potomacs moved to Wilmington, Delaware, but still disbanded in July. Their 1926 replacement, the Newark Stars, folded after only 11 games.
At the end of the 1924 season the two leagues made peace and arranged for a Colored World Series between their champions. This series was played each year from 1924 through 1927. The only ECL club to win the World Series was Hilldale in 1925.
Beginning in 1927 the league was wracked by dissension between club owners. New York's Lincoln Giants dropped out for that season.[ citation needed ] They returned the next, but then Hilldale, the Brooklyn Royal Giants, and the Harrisburg Giants all dropped out. The Philadelphia Tigers were recruited to bring the league up to five teams for 1928.[ citation needed ] The ECL staggered through May, but finally disbanded in the midst of disputes over player contracts at the beginning of June.
The team in first place at the end of the season was declared the Pennant winner. Due to the unorthodox nature of the schedule (and little incentive to enforce it), some teams frequently played many more games than others did in any given season. This led to some disputed championships and two teams claiming the title. Generally, the team with the best winning percentage (with some minimum number of games played) was awarded the Pennant, but other times it was the team with the most victories. The "games behind" method of recording standings was uncommon in most black leagues. Four of the five pennant winners went on to play in the Negro World Series (all except for the first in 1923).
| Year | Winning team | Manager | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 | Hilldale Club | John Henry Lloyd | [1] |
| 1924 | Hilldale Club | Frank Warfield | [2] |
| 1925 | Hilldale Club | Frank Warfield | [3] |
| 1926 | Bacharach Giants | Dick Lundy | [4] |
| 1927 | Bacharach Giants | Dick Lundy | [5] |
For the duration of the league, a Colored World Series took place four times, from 1924 through 1927. The ECL Pennant winner met the champion of the rival Negro National League. Three out of the four years, the Eastern Colored League team (below in bold) succumbed.
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".
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 Negro World Series was a post-season baseball tournament that was held from 1924 to 1927 and from 1942 to 1948 between the champions of the Negro leagues, matching the mid-western winners against their east-coast counterparts. The series was also known as the Colored World Series, especially during the 1920s, and as the Negro League World Series, in more recent books, though contemporary black newspapers usually called it simply, the "World Series", without any modification. A total of eleven Series were contested in its prime, which ultimately saw nine teams compete for a championship and seven who won at least one. The Homestead Grays were the winningest and most present team in the tournament, winning three times in five appearances, while Dave Malarcher and Candy Jim Taylor won the most titles as manager with two each.
The American Negro League (ANL) was one of several Negro leagues established during the period in the United States in which organized baseball was segregated. The ANL operated on the East Coast of the United States in 1929.
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.
William Julius "Judy" Johnson was an American professional third baseman and manager whose career in Negro league baseball spanned 17 seasons, from 1921 to 1937. Slight of build, Johnson never developed as a power threat but achieved his greatest success as a contact hitter and an intuitive defenseman. Johnson is regarded as one of the greatest third basemen of the Negro leagues. In 1975, he was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame after being nominated by the Negro Leagues Committee.
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.
The Bacharach Giants were a Negro league baseball team that played in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
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 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 / Baltimore Elite Giants (1936–1939), and Newark Dodgers/Eagles.
The Hilldale Athletic Club were an American professional Negro league baseball team based in Darby, Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia.
The Harrisburg Giants were a U.S. professional Negro league baseball team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Originally formed in April 1890 by Colonel William "C.W." Strothers as an amateur team, they became semi-professional by 1894. They joined the Eastern Colored League (ECL) for the 1924 season with Hall of Fame center fielder Oscar Charleston as playing manager. The Giants became known primarily for their hitting; along with Charleston, outfielder/first baseman Heavy Johnson, winner of the batting triple crown for the 1923 Kansas City Monarchs, was signed away from the rival Negro National League. Speedy outfielder Fats Jenkins, a well-known professional basketball player and member of the New York Rens, also played for Harrisburg throughout its tenure in the ECL.
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 (NL) 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.
Merven John "Red" Ryan, born Mervin Ferguson, was an American baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues. He played from 1915 to 1932 with several teams, playing mostly with the Hilldale Club.
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 1925 Colored World Series was the second edition of the championship series in Negro league baseball. The series featured a rematch between the Hilldale Club of Darby, Pennsylvania, champion of the Eastern Colored League (ECL), and the Kansas City Monarchs, champion of the Negro National League (NNL) and winner of the previous year's match in the first Colored World Series. In 1925, Hilldale won the best-of-nine series, five games to one.
The 1926 Colored World Series was the championship tournament for the 1926 season of Negro league baseball. It was the third overall Series played. It matched the Chicago American Giants, champions of the Negro National League (1920–1931), and the Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City, New Jersey, champions of the Eastern Colored League. Initially planned as a best-of-nine series, two ties meant that the series went eleven games. Chicago won just once in the first six games, but games 1 and 4 had ended in ties, meaning that they only trailed three games to one when the Series shifted to Chicago. They were down to their final game after losing the eighth game, but the Chicago American Giants proceeded to win the next three games to complete the comeback and win their first ever World Series.
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