Negro American League
Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Infobox sports leagueThe 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.
Negro American League franchises
- Birmingham Black Barons (1937–1938; 1940–1962)
- Chicago American Giants (1937–1952)
- Cincinnati Tigers (1937)
- Detroit Stars (III) (1937)
- Indianapolis Athletics (1937)
- Kansas City Monarchs (1937–1962)
- Memphis Red Sox (1937–1959)
- St. Louis Stars (II) (1937)
- Atlanta Black Crackers (1938) / Indianapolis ABCs (IV) (1939)
- Jacksonville Red Caps (1938; 1941–1942) / Cleveland Bears (1939–1940)
- Indianapolis ABCs (III) (1938) / St. Louis Stars (III) (1939) / St. Louis–New Orleans Stars (1940–1941)
- Toledo Crawfords (1939) / Toledo–Indianapolis Crawfords (1940)
- Cincinnati–Cleveland Buckeyes (1942) / Cleveland Buckeyes (1943–1948; 1950) / Louisville Buckeyes (1949)
- Cincinnati Clowns (1943) / Cincinnati–Indianapolis Clowns (1944–1945) / Indianapolis Clowns (1946–1954)
- Baltimore Elite Giants (1949–1951) from the Negro National League
- Houston Eagles (formerly Newark Eagles) (1949–1950) / New Orleans Eagles (1951) from the Negro National League
- New York Cubans (1949–1950) from the Negro National League
- Philadelphia Stars (1949–1952) from the Negro National League
- Detroit Stars (1954–1957; 1959) / Detroit Clowns (1958) / Detroit–New Orleans Stars (1960)
- Louisville Clippers (1954)
- Raleigh Tigers (1959–1962)
- New Orleans Crescent Stars (1957)
- Mobile Havana Cuban Giants (1957)
- Newark Indians (1959)
Member timeline
Major league to 1948; minor league from 1949. <timeline> DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:600 PlotArea = left:20 right:50 bottom:20 top:20
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Period = from:1937 till:1963 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy ScaleMajor = start:1937 increment:1 gridcolor:majorGridColor
BarData =
bar:CHI # Chicago American Giants bar:KCM # Kansas City Monarchs bar:MEM # Memphis Red Sox bar:BIR # Birmingham Black Barons bar:CIN # Cincinnati Tigers bar:DET # Detroit Stars (III) bar:INA # Indianapolis Athletics bar:STL # St. Louis Stars (II) bar:ATL # Atlanta Black Crackers / Indianapolis ABCs (IV) bar:NOS # Indianapolis ABCs (III) / St. Louis Stars (III) / St. Louis–New Orleans Stars bar:JAC # Jacksonville Red Caps / Cleveland Bears bar:CRA # Toledo Crawfords / Toledo–Indianapolis Crawfords bar:BUC # Cincinnati-Cleveland Buckeyes / Cleveland Buckeyes bar:CLO # Cincinnati Clowns / Cincinnati–Indianapolis Clowns / Indianapolis Clowns bar:BAL # Baltimore Elite Giants bar:NYC # New York Cubans bar:PHI # Philadelphia Stars bar:HNO # Houston Eagles / New Orleans Eagles bar:DNO # Detroit Stars (IV) / Detroit Clowns / Detroit Stars (IV) / Detroit-New Orleans Stars bar:LOU # Louisville Clippers bar:NOC # New Orleans Crescent Stars bar:MOB # Mobile Havana Cuban Giants bar:NEW # Newark Indians bar:RAL # Raleigh Tigers
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- Note on dates: A team's bar begins with the season that team played its first game, and ends with the season after that team played its last game. For example, the Indianapolis ABCs played their first game in 1938 and played their last game in 1939. Therefore, their bar goes from 1938 to 1940.
bar:CHI from:1937 till:1953 color:sand text:"Chicago American Giants" $RightIn
bar:KCM from:1937 till:1963 color:orange text:"Kansas City Monarchs" $RightIn
bar:MEM from:1937 till:1960 color:iceblue text:"Memphis Red Sox" $RightIn
bar:BIR from:1937 till:1939 color:yellow text:" " $Right bar:BIR from:1940 till:1963 color:yellow text:"Birmingham Black Barons" $RightIn
bar:CIN from:1937 till:1938 color:brown text:"Cincinnati Tigers" $Right
bar:DET from:1937 till:1938 color:teal2 text:"Detroit Stars (III)" $Right
bar:INA from:1937 till:1938 color:darkred text:"Indianapolis Athletics" $Right
bar:STL from:1937 till:1938 color:navy text:"St. Louis Stars (II)" $Right
bar:ATL from:1938 till:1939 color:red text:"Atlanta~Black Crackers" $UpRightMargin bar:ATL from:1939 till:1940 color:red text:"Indianapolis ABCs (IV)" $LeftMargin
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bar:CRA from:1939 till:1940 color:vegasgold text:"Toledo Crawfords" $RightMargin bar:CRA from:1940 till:1941 color:vegasgold text:"Indianapolis Crawfords" $LeftMargin
bar:BUC from:1942 till:1943 color:red2 text:"Cincinnati Buckeyes" $RightMargin bar:BUC from:1943 till:1949 color:red2 text:"Cleveland Buckeyes" $RightIn
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bar:BAL from:1949 till:1952 color:yellow2 text:"Baltimore Elite Giants"
bar:NYC from:1949 till:1951 color:purple text:"New York Cubans"
bar:PHI from:1949 till:1953 color:redorange text:"Philadelphia Stars"
bar:HNO from:1949 till:1951 color:lightorange text:"Houston Eagles" $RightMargin bar:HNO from:1951 till:1952 color:lightorange text:"New Orleans Eagles" $LeftMargin
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bar:LOU from:1954 till:1955 color:claret text:"Louisville Clippers"
bar:NOC from:1957 till:1958 color:lightpurple text:"New Orleans Crescent Stars"
bar:MOB from:1957 till:1958 color:limegreen text:"Mobile Havana Cuban Giants"
bar:NEW from:1959 till:1960 color:brown text:"Newark Indians"
bar:RAL from:1959 till:1963 color:skyblue text:"Raleigh Tigers"
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</timeline>
- 1937: Formation of NAL consisting of 8 teams — Birmingham Black Barons, Chicago American Giants, Cincinnati Tigers, Detroit Stars (III), Indianapolis Athletics, Kansas City Monarchs, Memphis Red Sox and St. Louis Stars (II).
- 1938: Dropped Cincinnati Tigers, Detroit Stars (III), Indianapolis Athletics and St. Louis Stars (II); Added Atlanta Black Crackers, Indianapolis ABCs (II) and Jacksonville Red Caps.
- 1939: Dropped Birmingham Black Barons; Added Toledo Crawfords.
- 1940: Dropped Indianapolis ABCs (IV); Re-added Birmingham Black Barons.
- 1941: Dropped Indianapolis Crawfords.
- 1942: Dropped St. Louis–New Orleans Stars (merged with New York Black Yankees); Added Cincinnati-Cleveland Buckeyes.
- 1943: Dropped Jacksonville Red Caps; Added Cincinnati Clowns.
- 1948: Standings and statistics were lightly reported in print starting around 1948.
- 1951: Indianapolis Clowns relocate to Buffalo, New York but retain the Indianapolis Clowns name.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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 more games than the 2nd place Cincinnati Tigers (35–18–1) but had one more win.<ref>Template:Cite web </ref>
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.
| Year | Winning team | Manager | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Kansas City Monarchs (1) | Template:Sortname | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
| 1938 | Memphis Red Sox (1) | Template:Sortname | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
| 1939 | Kansas City Monarchs (2) | Template:Sortname | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
| 1940 | Kansas City Monarchs (3) | Template:Sortname | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
| 1941 | Kansas City Monarchs (4) | Template:Sortname | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
| 1942 | Kansas City Monarchs (5) | Template:Sortname | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
| 1943 | Birmingham Black Barons (1) | Template:Sortname | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
| 1944 | Birmingham Black Barons (2) | Template:Sortname | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
| 1945 | Cleveland Buckeyes (1) | Template:Sortname | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
| 1946 | Kansas City Monarchs (6) | Template:Sortname | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
| 1947 | Cleveland Buckeyes (2) | Template:Sortname | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
| 1948 | Birmingham Black Barons (3) | Template:Sortname | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
Post-integration champions
- 1949 Baltimore Elite Giants
- 1950 Indianapolis Clowns
- 1951 Indianapolis Clowns
- 1952 Indianapolis Clowns
- 1953 Kansas City Monarchs
- 1954 Indianapolis Clowns
- 1955 Birmingham Black Barons (first half); Detroit Stars (second half)†
- 1956 Detroit Stars
- 1957 Kansas City Monarchs
† – 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.
| Year | Winning team | Games | Losing team | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Kansas City Monarchs (1, 1–0) | 5–1–(1)Template:Note label | Chicago American Giants (1, 0–1) | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
| 1938 | Memphis Red Sox | 2–0 | Atlanta Black Crackers | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
| 1939 | Kansas City Monarchs (2, 2–0) | 4–1–(1)Template:Note label | St. Louis Stars | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
| 1943 | Birmingham Black Barons (1, 1–0) | 3–2 | Chicago American Giants (2, 0–2) | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
| 1948 | Birmingham Black Barons (2, 2–0) | 4–3–(1)Template:Note label | Kansas City Monarchs (3, 2–1) | <ref>Template:Cite web </ref> |
- Legend
- Template:Note label One game finished in a tied game.
Negro World Series
Template:Main 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.
- 1942 – Kansas City Monarchs beat Washington Homestead Grays, 4 games to 0 games
- 1943 – Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 3 games
- 1944 – Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 1 game
- 1945 – Cleveland Buckeyes beat Washington Homestead Grays, 4 games to 0 games
- 1946 – Newark Eagles beat Kansas City Monarchs, 4 games to 3 games
- 1947 – New York Cubans beat Cleveland Buckeyes, 4 games to 1 game
- 1948 – Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 1 game
References
Sources
External links
- League history and statistics from seamheads.com (through 1948 only)
Template:Negro American League Template:Negro League teams Template:Authority control