Newark Little Giants

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Newark Little Giants
Information
League
Location Newark, New Jersey
Founded1884
Folded1890
League championships1886, 1888
Former name
  • Newark Trunkmakers (1888)
  • Newark Domestics (1884-1885)
Manager Charlie Hackett (1887) [1]

The Newark Little Giants were a professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey in the late 1880s. They won two league championships in the minor leagues.

Contents

History

A baseball card showing Sam Trott, a catcher for the Little Giants Samuel W. "Sam" Trott, Catcher, Newark, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes MET DP846503.jpg
A baseball card showing Sam Trott, a catcher for the Little Giants

The Little Giants started out in the Eastern League, where they played from 1884 to 1886. They were known as the Newark Domestics in 1884 and 1885. They won the 1886 Eastern League pennant. For the 1887 season, they moved to the International Association. [1] [2] : 286–287, 344–345 

They played the 1888 season as the Newark Trunkmakers, winning the Central League in that league's single season of existence. [2] : 246  They returned to the Little Giants name for two final seasons in 1889 and 1890, as part of the Atlantic Association. [2] : 210 

1887: The first African-American battery

Newark featured the first all African-American battery (pitcher and catcher pairing) for a mixed-race team in organized baseball, in 1887. George Stovey was one of the team's best pitchers, with a 2.46 ERA with a win-loss record of approximately 33-14, and a .255 batting average. He pitched to catcher Moses Fleetwood Walker, who had been the first African-American to play in the major leagues a few years before. [3] [4] The team was noted for their diversity at the time, fielding African-American, Irish, and German battery pairs. [5]

In 1887, the Little Giants had an exhibition game scheduled against the major league Chicago White Stockings that contributed to the formalization of the baseball color line. Chicago's team captain, Cap Anson, sent a telegram to the Little Giants threatening that the White Stockings would not play if Stovey or Walker played. Neither played, and the game went on as scheduled, with Newark defeating Chicago 9-4. The next day, the International Association passed a resolution that the league would not approve any further contracts to Black players. This racial segregation would last until Jackie Robinson played for the Montreal Royals of the International League (the current form of the International Association) in 1946. [1] [6] [7] : 2 

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mancuso, Peter. "July 14, 1887: The color line is drawn in baseball". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved February 5, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 Sumner, Benjamin Barrett (2000). Minor league baseball standings : all North American leagues, through 1999. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. ISBN   978-0-7864-0781-1 . Retrieved February 5, 2026.
  3. ↑ Mancuso, Peter. "May 2, 1887: The first African-American battery". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  4. ↑ Husman, John R. "May 1, 1884: Fleet Walker's major-league debut". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  5. ↑ McKenna, Brian. "George Stovey". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved February 5, 2026.
  6. ↑ Husman, John R. "Moses Fleetwood Walker". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  7. ↑ Holway, John (1975). Voices from the great Black baseball leagues. New York: Dodd, Mead. ISBN   978-0-396-07124-2 . Retrieved February 5, 2026.
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