This list of minor Negro league baseball teams consists of teams that played in the various minor Negro baseball leagues, as well as the independent teams, teams that played in proto-leagues and teams that played after integration.
In Negro league baseball, organized major league play began in 1920, however informal "proto" leagues arose in the 1880s. Most teams up to about 1920 were able to survive, and even profit, by barnstorming small towns and playing local semi-pro teams. After 1920, most teams found financial security by forming leagues, but it was common for teams each season to play as many games outside of the league's schedule. Generally, leagues in the north were major while leagues in the south were minor.
With the integration of Organized Baseball beginning 1946, Negro leagues lost elite players to white leagues causing former major Negro leagues to slip to minor league status, and historians do not consider any Negro league "major" after 1950. By default, leagues established after integration are considered minor league, as is the one of two 1940s majors that continued after 1950. Also at this time, Negro leagues began to appear in the west.
Below are some of the better-documented leagues:
Below is the list of minor Negro league teams. Teams in bold are considered to have been of major league caliber for at least one season of their existence. Other teams included in this list were either a semi-pro, barnstorming or traveling team and not necessarily a member of a league.
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Birmingham Black Barons | 1920 | 1961 | NSL (1920–23, 26, 31–36) NNL1 (1924–25, 27–30) NAL (1937–38, 40–61) |
| [1] |
Birmingham Giants | 1907 | 1909 | Independent (1907–09) | [2] | |
Mobile Black Bears | [3] | ||||
Mobile Tigers | [ citation needed ] | ||||
Montgomery Grey Sox (I) | 1920 | 1921 | NSL (1920) Independent (1921) | [4] | |
Montgomery Grey Sox (II) | 1931 | 1932 | Independent (1931) NSL (1932) | [5] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gurdon Panthers | 1951 | 1951 | Arkansas–Louisiana–Texas League | [6] | |
Hot Springs Arlingtons
| 1896 | 1904 | Southern Negro League (1897) | Rube Foster (1901) | [7] |
Little Rock Black Travelers | [3] | ||||
Little Rock Quapaws | 1896 | 1900 | Southern Negro League (1897) | [8] | |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles White Sox | 1946 | 1946 | WCNBL (1946) | [9] | |
Oakland Larks | 1946 | 1946 | WCNBL (1946) | [10] | |
San Diego Tigers | 1946 | 1946 | WCNBL (1946) | [11] | |
San Francisco Sea Lions | 1946 | 1946 | WCNBL (1946) | [12] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Denver White Elephants | [ citation needed ] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ansonia Cuban Giants | 1891 | 1891 | Connecticut State League | The Ansonia Cuban Giants were an all-black team in an otherwise all-white league | [ citation needed ] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Washington Capital Citys | 1887 | 1887 | National Colored Base Ball League (1887) | Folded before playing an official game | [13] [14] [15] |
Washington Potomacs club
| 1923 | 1925 | Independent (1923) ECL (1924–25) | [3] | |
Washington Homestead Grays (See Homestead Grays ) | 1939 | c. 1950s | NNL2 (1939–48) Independent (1949–c. 50s) |
| [16] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ethiopian Clowns (See Indianapolis Clowns ) | c. 1930s | 1942 | Independent (c. 1930s–42) |
| [ citation needed ] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Atlanta Black Crackers (I) club
| 1919 | 1939 | Ind.(19,22–25,28,30–31,33–34,37) NSL(I)(20–21,26–27,29,32,35–36) NAL (1938–39) |
| [17] [18] |
Atlanta Black Crackers (II) | 1943 | 1949 | Independent (1943–44) NSL (II) (1945–47) NAA (1948–49) | [17] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago American Giants | 1910 | 1952 | Independent (1910–19) NNL1 (1920–31) NSL (1932) NNL2 (1933–35) Independent (1936) NAL (1937–52) |
| [19] |
Chicago Brown Bombers | 1945 | 1945 | USL (1945) | [20] | |
Chicago Columbia Giants | 1899 | 1900 | Independent (1899–1900) |
| [21] |
Chicago Giants | 1910 | 1921 | Independent (1910–19) NNL1 (1920–21) |
| [22] |
Chicago Unions | 1887 | 1900 | Independent (1887–1900) |
| [23] |
Leland Giants | 1901 | 1909 | Independent (1901–09) |
| [24] [25] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indianapolis ABCs (I) | c. 1913 | 1926 | Independent (1913–19) NNL1 (1920–26) | [18] | |
Indianapolis Clowns club
| c. 1930s | 1962 | Independent (c. 1930s–42) NAL (1943–55) Independent (1956–62) | [ citation needed ] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kansas City Giants | 1909 | 1911 | Independent (1909–11) |
| [26] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Louisville Black Colonels | [3] | ||||
Louisville Buckeyes (See Cleveland Buckeyes ) | 1949 | 1949 | NAL (1949) | [27] | |
Louisville Fall City | 1887 | 1887 | NCBBL (1887) | [28] | |
Louisville White Sox (1914–1915) | 1914 | 1915 | Independent (1914–15) | [29] | |
Zulu Cannibal Giants | 1934 | 1937 | Independent (1934–37) |
| [23] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Detroit–New Orleans Stars (See Detroit Stars (IV) ) | 1960 | 1961 | NAL (1960–61) |
| [30] |
Monroe Monarchs | 1920s | 1935 | Negro Southern League (1932) |
| [31] |
New Orleans Ads | 1920 | 1920 | Negro Southern League (1920) |
| [32] |
New Orleans Black Pelicans | 1926 | 1950 | Negro Southern League (1926) Independent (1927–29, 1932–44, 1946–49) Texas Colored League (1930–31) Negro Southern League (1945, 1950) | [33] | |
New Orleans Creoles | 1945 | 1952 | Independent (1945–46, 1952) Negro Southern League (1947–48, 1950–51) Negro Texas League (1949) | [33] | |
New Orleans Crescent Stars | 1921 | 1937 | Independent (1921–22, 1932–37) | [30] | |
New Orleans Eagles (See Newark Eagles ) | 1950 | 1951 | NAL (1950–51) |
| [34] : 5 |
New Orleans Stars | 1924 | 1924 | Independent (1924) | [33] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baltimore Black Sox (I) | 1916 | 1933 | Independent (1916–22) ECL (1923–28) ANL (1929) Independent (1930–31) EWL (1932) NNL2 (1933) | [35] | |
Baltimore Elite Giants club
| 1919 | 1951 | Independent (1919–29) NNL1 (1930) NSL (1931–1932) NNL2 (1933–48) NAL (1949–51) |
| [36] |
Baltimore Lord Baltimores | 1887 | 1887 | NCBBL (1887) | [37] | |
Baltimore Grays | 1942 | 1942 | NML (1942) |
|
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boston Resolutes | 1887 | 1887 | NCBBL (1887) | [38] | |
Boston Royal Giants | IL (1906) |
| [ citation needed ] [39] | ||
Boston Blues | 1946 | 1946 | USL (1946) | [40] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Detroit Stars (I) | 1919 | 1931 | Independent (1919) NNL1 (1920–31) | [41] | |
Detroit Stars (IV) club
| 1954 | 1961 | NAL (1954–61) | [ citation needed ] | |
Page Fence Giants | 1895 | 1898 | Independent (1895–98) |
| [42] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Minneapolis Keystones | |||||
St. Paul Colored Gophers | 1907 | 1911 | Independent (1907–11) |
| [43] |
Twin City Colored Giants | [ citation needed ] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kansas City Monarchs | 1920 | 1965 | NNL1 (1920–31) Independent (1932–36) NAL (1937–61) Independent (1962–65) |
| [44] |
Kansas City Royal Giants | 1910 | 1912 | Western Independent Clubs (1910–1912) |
| [45] |
St. Louis Stars (I) | 1906 | 1931 | Independent (1906–19) NNL1 (1920–31) |
| [46] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bacharach Giants (I) | 1916 | 1929 | Independent (1916–22) ECL (1923–28) ANL (1929) |
| [ citation needed ] |
Cuban Giants | 1885 | c. 1915 | Independent (1885–1906) NA (1907–09) Independent (1910–c. 15) |
| [47] |
Cuban X-Giants | 1897 | 1907 | Independent (1897–1905) IL (1906) NA (1907) |
| [48] |
Jersey City Colored Athletics | [ citation needed ] | ||||
Newark Dodgers | 1933 | 1935 | Independent (1933) NNL2 (1934–35) |
| [49] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brooklyn Royal Giants | 1905 | 1942 | Independent (1905–06) NA (1907–09) Independent (1910–22) ECL (1923–27) Independent (1928–42) |
| [50] |
Harlem Stars | [ citation needed ] | ||||
Lincoln Giants | 1911 | 1930 | Independent (1911–22) ECL (1923–26) Independent (1927) ECL (1928) ANL (1929) Independent (1930) |
| [51] |
Lincoln Stars | 1914 | 1917 | Independent (1914–17) |
| [52] |
New York Black Yankees | 1931 | 1959 | Independent (1931–35) NNL2 (1936–48) Independent (1949–59) |
| [53] |
New York Cubans | 1935 | 1950 | NNL2 (1935–36) NNL2 (1939–48) NAL (1949–50) |
| [54] |
Schenectady Mohawk Giants | 1913 | 1914 | Independent (1913–14) | [55] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cincinnati Browns | 1887 | 1887 | NCBBL (1887) |
| [ citation needed ] |
Cleveland Buckeyes club
| 1942 | 1950 | NAL (1942–50) |
| [27] |
Dayton Marcos | c. 1910s | c. 1930s | Independent (c. 1910s–19) NNL1 (1920) Independent (1921–25) NNL1 (1926) Independent (1927–c. 30s) | [57] | |
Toledo Rays | 1945 | 1945 | USL | [58] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oklahoma Monarchs | 1910 | 1910 | Independent (1910) | [59] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Portland Rosebuds | 1946 | 1946 | WCNBL (1946) | [60] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Active Club of Philadelphia | 1800s | [61] | |||
Anchor Giants | early 1900s | [61] | |||
Bacharach Giants (II) | 1931 | 1942 | Independent (1931–33) NNL2 (1934) Independent (1935–42) |
| [ citation needed ] |
Harrisburg Giants | 1922 | 1927 | Independent (1922–23) ECL (1924–27) | [62] | |
Harrisburg Monrovians | [ citation needed ] | ||||
Hilldale Club | 1916 | 1932 | Independent (1916–22) ECL (1923–28) ANL (1929) Independent (1930–31) EWL (1932) |
| [63] |
Homestead Grays club
| c. 1912 | c. 1950s | Independent (c. 1912–28) ANL (1929) Independent (1930–31) EWL (1932) Independent (1933–34) NNL2 (1935–48) Independent (1949–c. 50s) |
| [16] |
Philadelphia Pythians | 1867 | 1887 | Independent (1867–86) NCBBL (1887) | [64] | |
Philadelphia Giants | 1902 | 1916 | Independent (1902–05) IL (1906) NA (1907–09) Independent (1910–16) | [65] [66] | |
Philadelphia Stars | 1933 | 1952 | Independent (1933) NNL2 (1934–48) NAL (1949–52) | [67] | |
Pittsburgh Crawfords club
| 1931 | 1940 | Independent (1931–32) NNL2 (1933–38) NAL (1939–40) | [68] | |
Pittsburgh Keystones (I) | 1887 | 1887 | NCBBL (1887) | [69] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chattanooga Black Lookouts | 1920 | 1927 | NSL (1920, 1926–27) |
| [70] |
Chattanooga Choo-Choos | 1940 | 1946 | NSL (1940–46) | [ citation needed ] | |
Knoxville Giants | 1920 | 1932 | NSL (1920–22, 1931–32) |
| [71] |
Memphis Red Sox | 1923 | 1962 | Independent (1923) NNL1 (1924–25, 27–30) NSL (1926, 31–36) NAL (1937–62) | [72] | |
Nashville Elite Giants (See Baltimore Elite Giants ) | 1919 | 1934 | Independent (1919–29) NNL1 (1930) NSL (1931–1932) NNL2 (1933–34) |
| [36] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Austin Black Senators | [ citation needed ] | ||||
Brenham Merchants | [ citation needed ] | ||||
Dallas Black Giants | 1908 | 1949 | |||
Houston Eagles (See Newark Eagles ) | 1949 | 1950 | NAL (1949–50) |
| [49] [73] |
San Antonio Black Bronchos | 1908 | 1909 | Independent (1908–09) | [74] | |
San Antonio Black Indians | [ citation needed ] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Seattle Steelheads | 1946 | 1946 | WCNBL (1946) | [75] |
Team | 1st Yr | Last Yr | Affiliation(s) | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
All Cubans | 1899 | 1905 | Independent |
| [ citation needed ] |
All Nations | 1912 | 1925 | Independent |
| [ citation needed ] |
Chappie Johnson's Stars |
| [ citation needed ] | |||
Colored House of David | [ citation needed ] | ||||
Cuban Stars (East) club
| 1916 | c. 1934 | Independent (1916–22) ECL (1923–28) ANL (1929) Independent (1930–c. 34) |
| [ citation needed ] |
Cuban Stars (West) club
| 1906 | 1932 | IL (1906) NA (1907–09) Independent (1910–19) NNL1 (1920–30) Independent (1931) EWL (1932) |
| [ citation needed ] |
Ethiopian Clowns (See Indianapolis Clowns ) | c. 1930s | 1942 | Independent (c. 1930s–42) |
| [ citation needed ] |
Mineola Black Spiders | c. 1932 | c. 1937 | Independent |
| [ citation needed ] |
New York Gorhams | 1886 | 1892 | Independent (1886) NCBBL (1887) Independent (1888–92) |
| [76] |
Secret Nine | 1931 | 1931 | Independent |
| [33] |
Tennessee Rats | c. 1911 | c. 1926 | Independent |
| [ citation needed ] |
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 Brooklyn Royal Giants were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1905 by John Wilson Connor (1875–1926), owner of the Brooklyn Royal Cafe, the team initially played against white semi-pro teams. They were one of the prominent independent teams prior to World War I before organized league play began.
John Preston "Pete" Hill was an American outfielder and manager in baseball's Negro leagues from 1899 to 1925. He played for the Philadelphia Giants, Leland Giants, Chicago American Giants, Detroit Stars, Milwaukee Bears, and Baltimore Black Sox. Hill starred for teams owned by Negro league executive Rube Foster for much of his playing career.
The New York Lincoln Giants were a Negro league baseball team based in New York City from 1911 through 1930.
The Pittsburgh Keystones was the name of two historic professional Negro league baseball teams that operated in 1887 and again in 1921 and 1922. The first team was a member of the first black baseball league in 1887, the League of Colored Baseball Clubs. The league only lasted a week, which resulted in a 3-4 record for the Keystones, and included Weldy Walker, the second African-American to play in the major leagues and future hall of famer, Sol White.
William S. Monroe was an American infielder in baseball's Negro leagues. He was also known by the nickname of "Money." During a 19-year career from 1896 to 1914, he played on many of the greatest teams in black baseball. He was a good hitter and slick fielding third base and second baseman who was compared to major league star Jimmy Collins. Monroe played all four infield positions, but spent his prime seasons at third base and second base.
The New York Lincoln Stars were a Negro league baseball team that played in New York City from 1914 to 1917. Their home stadium was the Lenox Oval, located at Lenox Avenue and 145th Street in Manhattan. Although they lasted less than four years, they were a good team that featured three players who would later be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame—Oscar Charleston, John Henry Lloyd, and Louis Santop.
Irvin Woodberry "Chester" Brooks was an American baseball player in the Negro leagues.
Cornelius Randall Robinson, known professionally as Neil Robinson, was a major league baseball player in the segregated Negro leagues. Also known by the nicknames Neal and Shadow, he primarily played as a center fielder in the 1930s and 1940s, but as a semipro player he alternated between the outfield, shortstop, and third baseman. For the majority of his twenty-three year career, Robinson played for the Memphis Red Sox. Prior to being acquired by Memphis, he played one season for the Homestead Grays and three seasons with the Cincinnati Tigers.
The American Series was the name given to the exhibition baseball games played between Cuban and American teams in Cuba. Before the Cuban Revolution, American teams would regularly travel to Cuba and play various professional, all-star and/or amateur Cuban teams throughout the country. The series usually took place either in the fall, after the end of the American season, or during spring training before the season began. The first American Series took place in 1879, with then minor league Worcester team going 2–0 against its Cuban opponents.
Pythias Russ was an American catcher, shortstop, and right-handed batter in the Negro leagues whose career and life were cut short by illness.
The Long Branch Cubans were a professional baseball team that played from 1913 to 1916. It was the first U.S. minor league baseball team composed almost entirely of Cubans. Several players, including Dolf Luque and Mike González, went on to play in the major leagues. The Cubans played in Long Branch, New Jersey from 1913 to 1915, except for the first half of the 1914 season, when they played in Newark, New Jersey. In 1916, they started the season playing in Jersey City, New Jersey as the "Jersey City Cubans." Later that summer, they moved their home games to Poughkeepsie, New York, where they were usually referred to as the "Long Branch Cubans." In late July 1916 they briefly moved to Harlem and finally to Madison, New Jersey in August.
José Leblanc Vargas, nicknamed "Cheo" and "Count", was a Cuban baseball pitcher in Negro league baseball. He played most of his career with the midwestern Cuban Stars, including in the first two seasons of the original Negro National League. His career earned run average of 2.31, as well as 7.8 wins above replacement (WAR) per 162, are among the best marks for qualified pitchers in the recognized Negro major leagues.
The French Lick Plutos were an early independent Negro league baseball club, which was based in French Lick, Indiana, from 1912 to 1914. They were alternately known as the Red Devils.
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.
O'Neal Pullen was an American Negro league catcher for the Brooklyn Royal Giants and Baltimore Black Sox in the early 1920s.
Ted Kimbro was an American Negro league infielder in the 1910s.
Bertram Johnson was an American Negro league outfielder in the 1930s.