Negro National League (1920–1931)
Template:Short description Template:For Template:Infobox sports league
The first Negro National League (NNL I) 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.
League history
Founding
Led by Rube Foster, owner and manager of the Chicago American Giants, the NNL was established on February 13, 1920, by a coalition of team owners at a meeting in a Kansas City YMCA.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The formation included the creation of the NLL constitution, written by journalist Cary B. Lewis, David Wyatt from the Indianapolis Ledger, Elwood C. Knox from the Indianapolis Freeman, and attorney Elisha Scott.<ref name="nk">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>
The new league was the first African-American baseball circuit to achieve stability and last more than one season. At first the league operated mainly in midwestern cities, ranging from Kansas City in the west to Pittsburgh in the east; in 1924 it expanded into the south, adding franchises in Birmingham, Alabama, and Memphis, Tennessee.
Competition
The two most important east coast clubs, the Hilldale Club of Darby, Pennsylvania, and the Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City, were affiliated with the NNL as associate clubs from 1920 to 1922, but did not compete for the championship. In 1923 they and four other eastern teams formed the Eastern Colored League (ECL) and raided the NNL for many of its top players, including John Henry Lloyd, Biz Mackey, George Scales, George Carr, and Clint Thomas, and signing Oscar Charleston, and Rube Curry in 1924. The war between the two leagues came to an end in 1924, when they agreed to respect each other's contracts and arranged for the Colored World Series between their champions.
Difficulties and demise
The NNL survived controversies over umpiring, scheduling, and what some perceived as league president Rube Foster's disproportionate influence and favoritism toward his own team. It also outlasted Foster's decline into mental illness in 1926, and its eastern rival, the ECL, which folded in early 1928. The NNL finally fell apart in 1931 under the economic stress of the Great Depression.
Legacy
The Negro American League, founded in 1937 and including several of the same teams that played in the original Negro National League, would eventually carry on as the western circuit of black baseball. A second Negro National League was organized in 1933, but eventually became concentrated on the east coast.
To distinguish between the two unrelated leagues, they are usually referred to as the first Negro National League (NNL I) and the second Negro National League (NNL II).
Negro National League franchises
- Chicago American Giants (1920–1931) – Known as the Chicago Columbia Giants in 1931; Associate team 1931.
- Chicago Giants (1920–1921)
- Cuban Stars (1920–1930) – Known as the Cincinnati Cubans in 1921.
- Dayton Marcos (1920, 1926)
- Detroit Stars (1920–1931)
- Indianapolis ABCs (1920–1924, 1925–1926) – Dropped from league mid-season 1924 but returned the following season.
- Kansas City Monarchs (1920–1931) – Associate team 1931.
- St. Louis Giants (1920–1921) – Replaced by St. Louis Stars in 1922, which was virtually the same team with new owners.
- St. Louis Stars (1922–1931) – Replaced the St. Louis Giants.
- Columbus Buckeyes (1921)
- Cleveland Tate Stars (1922–1923) – Dropped out mid-season 1923.
- Toledo Tigers (1923) – Mid-season replacement for Cleveland Tate Stars.
- Pittsburgh Keystones (1922)
- Milwaukee Bears (1923)
- Birmingham Black Barons (1924–1925, 1927–1930) – Associate team 1931.
- Cleveland Browns (1924)
- Memphis Red Sox (1924–1925, 1927–1930) – Mid-season replacement in 1924 for Indianapolis ABCs.
- Cleveland Elites (1926) – Closely related to both Cleveland Hornets and Cleveland Tigers.
- Cleveland Hornets (1927) – Closely related to both Cleveland Elites and Cleveland Tigers.
- Cleveland Tigers (1928) – Closely related to both Cleveland Hornets and Cleveland Elites.
- Nashville Elite Giants (1930)
- Cleveland Cubs (1931)
- Indianapolis ABCs (2nd team) (1931)
- Louisville White Sox (1931)
- Columbus Blue Birds – Associate team 1931.
- Cuban House of David – Associate team 1931.
Member timeline
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bar:CAG # Chicago American Giants bar:CHG # Chicago Giants bar:CSW # Cuban Stars (West) bar:DAY # Dayton Marcos bar:DET # Detroit Stars bar:IND # Indianapolis ABCs bar:KCM # Kansas City Monarchs bar:STL # St. Louis Stars bar:COL # Columbus Buckeyes bar:CTS # Cleveland Tate Stars bar:TOL # Toledo Tigers bar:PIT # Pittsburgh Keystones bar:MIL # Milwaukee Bears bar:BIR # Birmingham Black Barons bar:CLB # Cleveland Browns bar:MEM # Memphis Red Sox bar:CLE # Cleveland Elites bar:CLH # Cleveland Hornets bar:CLT # Cleveland Tigers bar:NAS # Nashville Elite Giants / Cleveland Cubs bar:IN2 # Indianapolis ABCs (II) bar:LOU # Louisville White Sox
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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 Cleveland Tate Stars played their first game in 1922 and played their last game in 1923. Therefore, their bar goes from 1922 to 1924.
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bar:CHG from:1920 till:1922 color:oceanblue text:"Chicago Giants" $Right
bar:CSW from:1920 till:1921 color:sand text:"Cuban Stars~(West)" $UpRight2 bar:CSW from:1921 till:1922 color:sand text:"Cincinnati~Cubans" $UpRight2 bar:CSW from:1922 till:1931 color:sand text:"Cuban Stars (West)" $Right2
bar:DAY from:1920 till:1921 color:purple text:" " $Right bar:DAY from:1926 till:1927 color:purple text:"Dayton Marcos" $Right
bar:DET from:1920 till:1932 color:iceblue text:"Detroit Stars" $Right2
bar:IND from:1920 till:1927 color:green text:"Indianapolis ABCs" $Right
bar:KCM from:1920 till:1932 color:yellow text:"Kansas City Monarchs" $Right2
bar:STL from:1920 till:1922 color:redorange text:"St. Louis Giants" $Right2 bar:STL from:1922 till:1932 color:redorange text:"St. Louis Stars" $Right2
bar:COL from:1921 till:1922 color:brown text:"Columbus Buckeyes" $Right
bar:CTS from:1922 till:1924 color:red text:"Cleveland Tate Stars" $Right
bar:TOL from:1923 till:1924 color:navy text:"Toledo Tigers" $Right
bar:PIT from:1922 till:1923 color:teal2 text:"Pittsburgh Keystones" $Right
bar:MIL from:1923 till:1924 color:gray text:"Milwaukee Bears" $Right
bar:BIR from:1924 till:1926 color:gold text:" " $Right bar:BIR from:1927 till:1931 color:gold text:"Birmingham Black Barons" $Right2
bar:CLB from:1924 till:1925 color:blue text:"Cleveland Browns" $Right
bar:MEM from:1924 till:1926 color:red2 text:" " $Right bar:MEM from:1927 till:1931 color:red2 text:"Memphis Red Sox" $Right2
bar:CLE from:1926 till:1927 color:kelleygreen text:"Cleveland Elites" $Right
bar:CLH from:1927 till:1928 color:yelloworange text:"Cleveland Hornets" $Right
bar:CLT from:1928 till:1929 color:gray2 text:"Cleveland Tigers" $Right
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</timeline>
- 1920: Formation of NNL consisting of 8 teams – Chicago American Giants, Detroit Stars, Kansas City Monarchs, Indianapolis ABCs, St. Louis Giants, Cuban Stars, Dayton Marcos and Chicago Giants.
- 1921: Dropped Dayton Marcos; Added Columbus Buckeyes.
- 1922: Dropped Columbus Buckeyes, Chicago Giants; Added Cleveland Tate Stars, Pittsburgh Keystones.
- 1923: Dropped Cleveland Tate Stars (mid-season), Pittsburgh Keystones; Added Toledo Tigers (mid-season), Milwaukee Bears.
- 1924: Dropped Toledo Tigers, Milwaukee Bears, Indianapolis ABCs (mid-season); Added Cleveland Browns, Birmingham Black Barons, Memphis Red Sox (mid-season).
- 1925: Dropped Cleveland Browns; Re-added Indianapolis ABCs.
- 1926: Dropped Memphis Red Sox, Birmingham Black Barons; Added Cleveland Elites, re-added Dayton Marcos.
- 1927: Dropped Dayton Marcos, Indianapolis ABCs; Re-added Birmingham Black Barons, Memphis Red Sox.
- 1929: Dropped Cleveland Tigers.
- 1930: Added Nashville Elite Giants.
- 1931: Dropped Memphis Red Sox, Birmingham Black Barons, Cuban Stars; Added Louisville White Sox, (new) Indianapolis ABCs. League fell apart before season end.
League champions
Pennant winners
From 1920 through 1924, 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. This led to some disputed championships and two teams claiming the title. The 1931 season did not finish all games, which meant that while St. Louis was awarded the title, non-member Pittsburgh Crawfords disputed their status as champion.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> From 1924 to 1927, the pennant champion went to play in the Negro World Series. 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.
| Year | Winning team | Manager | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | Chicago American Giants | Template:Sortname | citation | CitationClass=web
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| 1921 | Chicago American Giants (2) | Template:Sortname | citation | CitationClass=web
}} </ref> |
| 1922 | Chicago American Giants (3) | Template:Sortname | citation | CitationClass=web
}} </ref> |
| 1923 | Kansas City Monarchs | Template:Sortname Template:Sortname |
citation | CitationClass=web
}} </ref> |
| 1924 | Kansas City Monarchs (2) | Template:Sortname | citation | CitationClass=web
}} </ref> |
| 1925† | Kansas City Monarchs (3) | Template:Sortname | citation | CitationClass=web
}} </ref> |
| 1926† | Chicago American Giants (4) | Template:Sortname Template:Sortname |
citation | CitationClass=web
}} </ref> |
| 1927† | Chicago American Giants (5) | Template:Sortname | citation | CitationClass=web
}} </ref> |
| 1928† | St. Louis Stars | Template:Sortname | citation | CitationClass=web
}} </ref> |
| 1929 | Kansas City Monarchs (4) | Template:Sortname | citation | CitationClass=web
}} </ref> |
| 1930† | St. Louis Stars (2) | Template:Sortname | citation | CitationClass=web
}} </ref> |
| 1931 | St. Louis Stars (3) | Template:Sortname | citation | CitationClass=web
}} </ref> |
† – 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, unless one team won both halves.
League play-offs
From 1925 through 1931, the NNL 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. 1929 and 1931 saw Kansas City win both halves.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
| Year | Winning team | Games | Losing team | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | Kansas City Monarchs (first half) | 4–3 | St. Louis Stars (second half) | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1926 | Chicago American Giants (second half) | 5–4 | Kansas City Monarchs (first half) | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1927 | Chicago American Giants (first half) | 4–1 | Birmingham Black Barons (second half) | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1928 | St. Louis Stars (first half) | 5–4 | Chicago American Giants (second half) | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 1930 | St. Louis Stars (first half) | 4–3 | Detroit Stars (second half) | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
Colored World Series
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} For the duration of the league, a Colored World Series took place four times, from 1924 through 1927. The NNL Pennant winner met the champion of the rival Eastern Colored League. Three out of the four years, the Negro National League team (below in bold) won.
| Year | Winning team | Games | Losing team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 | Kansas City Monarchs | 5–4–(1)Template:Ref label | Hilldale Club |
| 1925 | Hilldale Club | 5–1Template:Ref label | Kansas City Monarchs |
| 1926 | Chicago American Giants | 5–4–(2)Template:Ref label | Bacharach Giants |
| 1927 | Chicago American Giants | 5–3–(1)Template:Ref label | Bacharach Giants |
- Legend
- Template:Note label Denotes a tied game.
Notes
References
External links
- League history and statistics from seamheads.com
Template:Negro National League (1920–1931) Template:Negro League teams