Homestead Grays

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Homestead Grays
HomesteadGrays CapLogo.svg
Information
League
Location
Ballpark
Established1912
Disbanded1950
Nickname(s)
  • Homestead Grays
  • Washington Homestead Grays
  • Washington Grays
League titles
Negro World Series championships

The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States.

Contents

The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and remained in continuous operation for 38 seasons. The team was originally based in Homestead, Pennsylvania, adjacent to Pittsburgh. By the 1920s, with increasing popularity in the Pittsburgh region, the team retained the name "Homestead" but crossed the Monongahela River to play all home games in Pittsburgh, at the Pittsburgh Pirates' home Forbes Field and the Pittsburgh Crawfords' home Greenlee Field.

From 1940 until 1942, the Grays played half of their home games in Washington, D.C., while remaining in Pittsburgh for all other home stands. [1] As attendance at their games in the nation's capital grew, by 1943, the Grays were playing more than two-thirds of their home games in Washington. [1]

Franchise history

The Grays grew out of an earlier industrial team. In 1900, a group of African-American players had joined together to form the Germantown Blue Ribbons, an industrial league team. For ten years, the Blue Ribbons fielded a team every season and played some of the best sandlot teams in the area. In 1910, the managers of the team retired. The players reorganized the team and named themselves the Murdock Grays. In 1912, they became the Homestead Grays, the name they retained for the remainder of the franchise's history.

1913 Homestead Grays. Cumberland Posey Jr is third from left middle row Homestead Grays 1913.gif
1913 Homestead Grays. Cumberland Posey Jr is third from left middle row
1931 Homestead Grays. Cumberland Posey Jr is standing at far left 1930-31 Homstead Grays.jpg
1931 Homestead Grays. Cumberland Posey Jr is standing at far left
Grays in 1947. From L to R: Dan Wilson, Luis Marquez, Matt "Lick" Carlisle, Sam Bankhead, Walter "Buck" Leonard Washington Grays Baseball players.jpg
Grays in 1947. From L to R: Dan Wilson, Luis Márquez, Matt "Lick" Carlisle, Sam Bankhead, Walter "Buck" Leonard

American/East-West League

The Grays did join the American Negro League in 1929, but that league lasted only one season. Cumberland Posey was their inaugural manager in organized league play. The Grays went 32-29 (with three ties) for a fourth place finish. The team operated independently again until 1932, when Posey organized the ill-fated East-West League; that league also collapsed before completing its first and only season. Jud Wilson and Posey combined to lead the 1932 team to a 24-16 record (with one tie) before the Grays joined the Negro National League in 1933

Period of dominance in the National League

Posey managed the next two seasons, leading them to a 3rd and 7th place finish, respectively. Outfielder Vic Harris (a long-time player for the Grays) became player-manager in 1936. With the near-collapse of the Pittsburgh Crawfords, Josh Gibson returned to the Grays in 1937, combining with slugger Buck Leonard to power the Grays. From 1937 to 1948, the Grays went on an unprecedented run of success in Negro league baseball. They finished first place in the league in ten of twelve seasons while competing in organized playoff baseball in six of those seasons (which they won three).

Their one challenge for the Negro National League came in 1939, which matched the top four teams (of a six team league) in a postseason tournament that required three victories. They beat the Philadelphia Stars in five games to reach the Championship Series against the Baltimore Elite Giants. They lost to Baltimore in five games. [2] The Grays rolled through the next two seasons with ease; in 1942, they competed in the re-born Negro World Series, which they lost in four games to the Kansas City Monarchs. For the 1943 and 1944 seasons, Candy Jim Taylor served as the manager for the Grays. They won the pennant each time to advance to the Series, which they won each time. Harris returned to manage the Grays for 1945, where he continued for four seasons. They went to the Series twice and won the 1948 Negro World Series, the final one to be played before the demise of quality in the leagues.

During their tenure in organized league baseball, the Grays went 629–377, which included a season each in the ANL and EWL and fifteen years spent with the Negro National League (where they went 573-332). They finished first place in the league ten times while reaching the Negro World Series (second incarnation) five times, which resulted in three championships. The Grays had just one losing season in their time in the National League (1935, when they finished 26-36), which was also one of only three times they ever finished in the bottom half of a league. [3]

Pittsburgh Steelers founder and owner Art Rooney related in a 1981 interview that he "from time to time" had "helped financially support the Negro League team, the Homestead Grays, and . . . was a better baseball fan than football fan." [4]

Post-Negro league play

Following the collapse of the Negro National League after the 1948 season, the Grays struggled to continue as an independent club and joined the minor league Negro American Association. The Grays dominated the competition, won both halves of the split-season and cruised to the league pennant. The league collapsed after the 1949 season and the Grays returned to barnstorming. After completing their 1950 season, they ultimately disbanded in May 1951. [5]

Home fields

From the late 1930s through the 1940s, the Grays played their home games at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and West Field in Munhall, PA, that still stands to this day with modern upgrades, home plate is still in the exact position that Josh Gibson, himself played catcher. The field is open to the public and currently used for the Steel Valley High School baseball teams home field.

However, during this same period the club adopted the Washington, D.C. area as its "home away from home" and scheduled many of its "home" games at D.C.'s Griffith Stadium, the home park of the Washington Senators. During these games, they were alternatively known as the Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays.

Players

Baseball Hall of Fame inductees

These Homestead Grays alumni have been inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Homestead Grays Hall of Famers
No.InducteePositionTenureInducted
4 Cool Papa Bell OF1932, 1943–19461974
Ray Brown P1937–1945
1947–1948
2006
Oscar Charleston OF1930–19311976
Ray Dandridge 3B19371987
Leon Day P19371995
Martín Dihigo P1927–19281977
Bill Foster P19311996
20 Josh Gibson C1930–1931
1937–1946
1972
Judy Johnson 3B1930, 19371975
32 Buck Leonard 1B1934–19501972
32 Biz Mackey C19272006
Satchel Paige P19311971
Cumberland Posey Founder-Owner1912–19462006
Willie Wells SS19321997
Smokey Joe Williams P1925–19321999
Jud Wilson 3B1929–1931
1941–1946
2006

AL/NL Players

The following players appeared in at least one game for the Grays and at least one game in the AL/NL.

Playoffs/Championships

Independent

SeasonManagerRecordEast Coast Championship Series
OpponentSeries
1937 Cumberland Posey 45–15–1 New York Lincoln Giants 6–4

Negro National League

SeasonManagerRecordNegro National League
Playoffs
Negro National League
Championship Series
Negro World Series
OpponentSeriesOpponentSeriesOpponentSeries
1937 Vic Harris 45–18–1Nonexistent a Clinched pennant b Nonexistent c
1938 Vic Harris 41–13
1939 Vic Harris 36–19–1 Philadelphia Stars 3–2 Baltimore Elite Giants 1–3–1
1940 Vic Harris 34–19Nonexistent a Clinched pennant b
1941 Vic Harris 51–22–2 New York Cubans 3–1
1942 Vic Harris 47–19–3Clinched pennant b Kansas City Monarchs 0–4
1943 Candy Jim Taylor 53–14–1 Birmingham Black Barons 4–3–1
1944 Candy Jim Taylor 47–24–3 Birmingham Black Barons 4–1
1945 Vic Harris 37–19–2 Cleveland Buckeyes 0–4
1948 Vic Harris 44–23–1 Baltimore Elite Giants 2–1–1 Birmingham Black Barons 4–1
TotalNNL pennants9World Series titles3

Legacy

On July 11, 2002, the Homestead High-Level Bridge which connects Pittsburgh to Homestead over the Monongahela River at Homestead was renamed the Homestead Grays Bridge in honor of the team. [6]

Washington Nationals

When the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, "Grays" was one of the three finalists (along with "Senators" and the eventual winner "Nationals") for the relocated team's new name, reflecting Washington's baseball history. [7]

The Nationals′ home field, Nationals Park, includes numerous references to the Grays:

MLB throwback jerseys

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals have worn Homestead Grays throwback uniforms in official Major League Baseball games several different times:

Pirates
Nationals
Both

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References

  1. 1 2 Snyder, Brad (2003). Beyond the Shadow of the Senators: The Untold Story of the Homestead Grays and the Integration of Baseball, p. 155. McGraw-Hill. ISBN   978-007-1431-97-2.
  2. "1939 NN2 Championship Series - Baltimore Elite Giants over Homestead Grays (3-1-1) | Baseball-Reference.com".
  3. "Homestead Grays Team History & Encyclopedia | Baseball-Reference.com".
  4. Donovan, Dan (August 28, 1988). "Works of Art". Pittsburgh Press. p. D3.
  5. "Grays out of baseball". Youngstown Vindicator. Ohio. INS. May 23, 1951. p. 29.
  6. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Homestead Span Honors Baseball Team", July 12, 2002
  7. USA Today, "In Washington, it'll be 'Let's go Nats'", November 22, 2004. Accessed April 17, 2008.
  8. MLB.com, "Brewers Honor Negro Leagues", June 2, 2006 [ permanent dead link ]
  9. MLB.com, "Nats, Mets Recognize Negro Leagues", August 11, 2006 [ dead link ]
  10. Washington Post, Nationals vs. Brewers: Jordan Zimmermann throws a gem in his first MLB game in home state.