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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 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 first 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 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.
Rickwood Field,located in Birmingham,Alabama,is the oldest existing professional baseball park in the United States. It was built for the Birmingham Barons in 1910 by industrialist and team-owner Rick Woodward and has served as the home park for the Birmingham Barons and the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro leagues.
Ernest Judson Wilson,nicknamed "Boojum",was an American third baseman,first baseman,and manager in Negro league baseball. He played for the Baltimore Black Sox,the Homestead Grays,and the Philadelphia Stars between 1922 and 1945. Wilson was known for possessing a unique physique,a quick temper,and outstanding hitting skills. One of the Negro leagues' most powerful hitters,his career batting average of .351 ranks him among the top five players.
The Birmingham Black Barons were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1920 until 1960,including 18 seasons recognized as Major League by Major League Baseball. They shared their home field of Rickwood Field in Birmingham,Alabama,with the white Birmingham Barons,usually drawing larger crowds and equal press.
The East–West All-Star Game was an annual all-star game for Negro league baseball players. The game was the brainchild of Gus Greenlee,owner of the Pittsburgh Crawfords. In 1933 he decided to emulate the Major League Baseball All-Star Game,using Negro league players. Newspaper balloting was set up to allow the fans to choose the starting lineups for that first game,a tradition that continued through the series' end in 1962. Unlike the MLB All-Star game which is played near the middle of the season,the Negro All-Star game was held toward the end of the season.
The Philadelphia Stars were a Negro league baseball team from Philadelphia. The Stars were founded in 1933 when Ed Bolden returned to professional black baseball after being idle since early 1930. The Stars were an independent ball club in 1933,a member of the Negro National League from 1934 until the League's collapse following the 1948 season,and affiliated with the Negro American League from 1949 to 1952.
Arthur Lee Wilson was an American professional baseball player. He was an all-star for the Birmingham Black Barons of Negro league baseball before playing part of one season in Major League Baseball for the New York Giants in 1951. He was born in Springville,Alabama. Wilson is recognized as the last player in the Negro leagues to hit .400,having batted .435 in 1948,albeit in only 28 games played that season.
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.
The Philadelphia Pythians was one of the earliest Negro league baseball clubs,founded in 1865. African-American leaders Jacob C. White Jr. and Octavius V. Catto established the team. The Pythians were composed of primarily business and middle class professionals from the surrounding areas of Washington,D.C.,Philadelphia,and New York City. Just two years after the Civil War ended,in 1867,the Pennsylvania State Convention of Baseball,located in Harrisburg,denied the "Pythian Base Ball Club" out of Philadelphia. The team dissolved after Catto's death in 1871 and a new team formed under the Pythian name in the National Colored Base Ball League in 1887. The new team's first season went 4–1. Due to financial troubles it folded after only one season.
William Henry Greason is an American former professional baseball player who years later became a Baptist minister in Birmingham,Alabama. Greason played for the Birmingham Black Barons in the Negro leagues from 1948 to 1951 and for the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League in 1954.
The 1948 Negro World Series was the championship tournament for the 1948 season of Negro league baseball. It was the seventh edition of the second incarnation of the Negro World Series and the eleventh overall played. It was a best-of-seven playoff played between the Homestead Grays of the Negro National League and the Birmingham Black Barons,champions of the Negro American League. The Homestead Grays played home games in both Washington,D.C.,and Pittsburgh. It was the fifth appearance for the Grays in the Series,the most for any team;Birmingham made their third appearance in the Series,with each being against the Grays. The Grays won the series in five games. The Black Barons featured the 17-year-old Willie Mays in his first professional season.
Carl Holden is an American former professional baseball catcher who played in the Negro leagues,in 1960. In his only season,Holden played for the Birmingham Black Barons before going on to join different semi-professional teams. Later on,Holden helped spread awareness about the history of Negro league baseball.
Cowan "Bubba" Hyde was an American professional outfielder who played mostly in the Negro leagues from the 1920s to the 1950s. In his baseball career,Hyde played with the Memphis Red Sox,Birmingham Black Barons,Indianapolis Athletics,and the Cincinnati Tigers,as well as various teams from other leagues. An exceptional base stealer and above-average contact hitter,albeit with a low walk-ratio,Hyde participated in two East-West All-Star Games.
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 led 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 following is a timeline of the evolution of major-league-caliber franchises in Negro league baseball. The franchises included are those of high-caliber independent teams prior to the organization of formal league play in 1920 and concludes with the dissolution of the remnant of the last major Negro league team,the Kansas City Monarchs then based out of Grand Rapids,Michigan,in about 1966. All teams who played a season while a member of a major Negro league are included. The major leagues are the original Negro National League,the Eastern Colored League,the American Negro League,the East–West League,the second Negro National League and the Negro American League. Teams from the 1932 original Negro Southern League are also included which allows for the inclusion of the few high caliber minor Negro league teams.
Winfield Scott Welch,nicknamed "Gus" and "Moe",was an American Negro league outfielder and manager. Welch spent most of his playing career with minor Negro teams. He is best known as a successful manager,lauded by some as "the Connie Mack of Negro baseball"
References
- 1 2 "Meet the Players - Henry Elmore". baseballinlivingcolor.com. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
- 1 2 "Henry Elmore". coe.k-state.edu. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
- ↑ "Player Interviews" (PDF). Center for Negro League Baseball Research. Retrieved January 10, 2017.