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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 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 Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City,Missouri,and owned by J. L. Wilkinson,they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1930. J. L. Wilkinson was the first Caucasian owner at the time of the establishment of the team. In 1930,the Monarchs became the first professional baseball team to use a portable lighting system which was transported from game to game in trucks to play games at night,five years before any major league team did. The Monarchs won ten league championships before integration,and triumphed in the first Negro League World Series in 1924. The Monarchs had only one season in which they did not have a winning record. The team produced more major league players than any other Negro league franchise. It was disbanded in 1965.
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.
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.
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".
The Hilldale Athletic Club were an American professional Negro league baseball team based in Darby,Pennsylvania,west of Philadelphia.
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 Montgomery Grey Sox were a Negro Southern League (NSL) baseball team based in Montgomery,Alabama. While the NSL was regarded as a minor league throughout most of its existence,with the collapse of the first Negro National League in 1931,the league is considered a major league for that one season.
Samuel Streeter was an American baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues. He played professionally from 1920 to 1936 with several teams,mostly with the Birmingham Black Barons and the Pittsburgh Crawfords. Streeter started for the East in the inaugural East-West All-Star Game in 1933.
John Cunningham was a Negro leagues shortstop and for several years before the founding of the first Negro National League,and in its first season.
Henry H. Hannon,Jr. was a Negro leagues outfielder and manager who played from 1908 to 1914 and later managed the Montgomery Grey Sox.
Claude "Steel Arm" Dickey was a Negro leagues pitcher for the first Negro Southern League and Negro National League. Researchers currently believe his real name is Claude Dickey,based on census records and World War I draft registration cards. Newspaper reports show he appears as Walter Claude,John Claude,and Jean Claude. Many reports simply call him Steel Arm Dickey.
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 lead 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.
Marion Cunningham,nicknamed "Daddy",was an American Negro league first baseman in the 1920s.
John G. Washington was an American Negro league first baseman in the 1930s and 1940s.