Negro American League

Last updated
Negro American League
ClassificationMajor league (to 1948)
Sport Negro league baseball
First season1937
Ceased1962
No. of teams~18
Country United States
Most titles Kansas City Monarchs  (8)
Notes
Declined to minor league status after integration from 1949

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.

Contents

Negro American League franchises

Annual final standings: 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948

Member timeline

Major league to 1948; minor league from 1949.

Negro American League

League champions

Pennant winners

From 1939 through 1942 and 1944 through 1947, the team in first place at the end of the season was declared the Pennant winner. Due to the unorthodox nature of the schedule (and little incentive to enforce it), some teams frequently played many more games than others did in any given season. For example, the 1937 season featured Kansas City being first place with a 52–19–1 record (.732). However, they still competed in a Championship Series, albeit against the third place team in the Chicago American Giants (36–24–1), who played fewer games than the 2nd place Cincinnati Tigers (35–18–1) but had one more win. [2]

This led to some disputed championships and two teams claiming the title. Generally, the team with the best winning percentage (with some minimum number of games played) was awarded the Pennant, but other times it was the team with the most victories. The "games behind" method of recording standings was uncommon in most black leagues. From 1942 until 1948, the pennant winner (as determined by record or by postseason series victory) went on to the Negro World Series.

  Pennant awarded by victory in the Championship Series
YearWinning teamManagerReference
1937 Kansas City Monarchs (1) Andy Cooper [3]
1938 Memphis Red Sox (1) Ted Radcliffe [4]
1939 Kansas City Monarchs (2) Andy Cooper [5]
1940 Kansas City Monarchs (3) Andy Cooper [6]
1941 Kansas City Monarchs (4) Newt Allen [7]
1942 Kansas City Monarchs (5) Frank Duncan [8]
1943 Birmingham Black Barons (1) Winfield Welch [9]
1944 Birmingham Black Barons (2) Winfield Welch [10]
1945 Cleveland Buckeyes (1) Quincy Trouppe [11]
1946 Kansas City Monarchs (6) Frank Duncan [12]
1947 Cleveland Buckeyes (2) Quincy Trouppe [13]
1948 Birmingham Black Barons (3) Piper Davis [14]

Post-integration champions

† – Pennant was decided via a split-season schedule with the winner of the first half of the season playing the winner of the second half of the season.

League play-offs

On numerous occasions, the NAL split the season into two halves. The winner of the first half played the winner of the second half for the league Pennant. As mentioned above, disputes also occurred in the split season finishes. Five times a League Championship Series was played, with varying games needed to win the Series; the 1938 series ended prematurely because of problems with finding a suitable venue for the rest of the series.

YearWinning teamGamesLosing teamReference
1937 Kansas City Monarchs (1, 1–0)5–1–(1) T Chicago American Giants (1, 0–1) [15]
1938 Memphis Red Sox 2–0 Atlanta Black Crackers [16]
1939 Kansas City Monarchs (2, 2–0)4–1–(1) T St. Louis Stars [17]
1943 Birmingham Black Barons (1, 1–0)3–2 Chicago American Giants (2, 0–2) [18]
1948 Birmingham Black Barons (2, 2–0)4–3–(1) T Kansas City Monarchs (3, 2–1) [19]
Legend

Negro World Series

For the duration of the league, a Negro World Series took place seven times, from 1942 through 1948. The NAL Pennant winner met the champion of the rival Negro National League. Five out of the seven years, the Negro American League team (below in bold) succumbed.

Related Research Articles

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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kansas City Monarchs</span> Negro League baseball team in Kansas City, Missouri

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. Wilkinson was the first white 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 Baseball team did. The Monarchs won ten league championships before integration, and triumphed in the first Negro World Series in 1924. The Monarchs had only one season in which they did not have a winning record and produced more major league players than any other Negro league franchise. It was disbanded in 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candy Jim Taylor</span> American baseball player (1884–1948)

James Allen "Candy Jim" Taylor was an American third baseman and manager in Negro league baseball. In a career that spanned forty years, he played as an infielder in the early years of the 20th century for over a dozen black baseball teams; by the mid-1920s, he would play less regularly, with his final game came at 58. In 1920, the same year of the start of the golden era of Negro league baseball, he would take on the responsibilities of manager, where he would manage 1,967 games for twelve teams. Described as one of the great strategists of his era, Taylor is the all-time winningest manager in the Negro league era, having 955 wins along with two Negro World Series titles and one additional pennant in 27 seasons as manager. He has the most seasons managed by an African American manager along with having the seventh most for a manager in the history of baseball.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East–West All-Star Game</span> Annual Negro league baseball game

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 white 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Radcliffe</span> Baseball player

Alex Radcliffe was a baseball player in the Negro leagues. He is widely acknowledged to have been the best third baseman in the history of the Negro American League. He was the brother of Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe. He is also sometimes referred to as Alex Radcliff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Cooper</span> American baseball player

Andrew Lewis Cooper, nicknamed "Lefty", was an American left-handed pitcher in baseball's Negro leagues. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. An alumnus of Paul Quinn College, Cooper played nine seasons for the Detroit Stars and ten seasons for the Kansas City Monarchs, and briefly played for the Chicago American Giants. The Texan was 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) tall and weighed 220 pounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indianapolis Clowns</span> Former professional baseball team in the Negro American League

The Indianapolis Clowns were a professional baseball team in the Negro American League. Tracing their origins back to the 1930s, the Clowns were the last of the Negro league teams to disband, continuing to play exhibition games into the 1980s. They began play as the independent Ethiopian Clowns, joined the Negro American League as the Cincinnati Clowns and, after a couple of years, relocated to Indianapolis. Hank Aaron was a Clown for a short period, and the Clowns were also one of the first professional baseball teams to hire a female player.

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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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Benjamin</span> American baseball player

Jerry Charles Benjamin was an American Negro league baseball center fielder who played from 1931 to 1948. He played for the Knoxville Giants, Memphis Red Sox, Indianapolis ABCs/Detroit Stars, Birmingham Black Barons, Homestead Grays, Newark Eagles, and New York Cubans. Benjamin was part of the famous Grays that won nine pennants in eleven years, for which Benjamin was part of eight Negro National League pennant teams along with two Negro World Series championships in four Series appearances. In those contests, he batted .220 with five total runs batted in (RBI) while stealing five bases in eighteen hits. A three-time East-West All-Star, he had a .372 batting average in 1943. He led the league in a variety of categories over his sixteen season career. He led the league in triples twice. In 1937, he led the league in walks (thirty), stolen bases (thirteen), games (52). He led the league in stolen bases (thirteen) in 1930. He led the league in at-bats four times. In center field, he led the league six times in games played, twice in putouts, three times in assists, and two times each in errors committed and double plays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Strong</span> American baseball player (1914–1978)

Theodore Reginald Strong, Jr., was an American Negro league baseball player who played from 1936 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1951 for the Chicago American Giants, Indianapolis Athletics, Kansas City Monarchs, Indianapolis ABCs, and Indianapolis Clowns.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lloyd Davenport</span> American baseball player

Lloyd Benjamon Davenport was an American baseball outfielder who played for several clubs of the Negro and Minor leagues during 17 seasons spanning 1934–1953. Listed at 5' 4" (1.65 m), 150 lb. (68 kg), Davenport batted and threw left-handed. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, he was nicknamed "Ducky".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winfield Welch</span> American baseball player

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"

Alvin "Bubber" Gipson, Sr. was an American Negro league pitcher in the 1940s. A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, Gipson spent most of his career in Birmingham as a mainstay of the Black Barons' pitching staff.

References

  1. Graham, Tim (22 September 2004). "Class Clowns The Indianapolis Clowns Have A Rich Place In Buffalo Baseball History; For Example, Hank Aaron Was "Discovered" At Offermann Stadium". The Buffalo News.
  2. "1937 NAL Championship Series - Kansas City Monarchs over Chicago American Giants (5-1-1) | Baseball-Reference.com".
  3. "1937 Negro American League Season Summary | Baseball-Reference.com".
  4. "1938 Negro American League Season Summary | Baseball-Reference.com".
  5. "1939 Negro American League Season Summary | Baseball-Reference.com".
  6. "1940 Negro American League Season Summary | Baseball-Reference.com".
  7. "1941 Negro American League Season Summary | Baseball-Reference.com".
  8. "1942 Negro American League Season Summary | Baseball-Reference.com".
  9. "1943 Negro American League Season Summary | Baseball-Reference.com".
  10. "1944 Negro American League Season Summary | Baseball-Reference.com".
  11. "1945 Negro American League Season Summary | Baseball-Reference.com".
  12. "1946 Negro American League Season Summary | Baseball-Reference.com".
  13. "1947 Negro American League Season Summary | Baseball-Reference.com".
  14. "1948 Negro American League Season Summary | Baseball-Reference.com".
  15. "1937 NAL Championship Series - Kansas City Monarchs over Chicago American Giants (5-1-1) | Baseball-Reference.com".
  16. "1938 NAL Championship Series - Memphis Red Sox over Atlanta Black Crackers (2-0) | Baseball-Reference.com".
  17. "1939 NAL Championship Series - Kansas City Monarchs over St. Louis Stars (4-1) | Baseball-Reference.com".
  18. "1943 NAL Championship Series - Birmingham Black Barons over Chicago American Giants (3-2) | Baseball-Reference.com".
  19. "1948 NAL Championship Series - Birmingham Black Barons over Kansas City Monarchs (4-3-1) | Baseball-Reference.com".

Sources