franchise history
The Atlanta Black Crackers (originally known as the Atlanta Cubs and later the Indianapolis ABCs) were a professional baseball team playing in the Negro Leagues during the early to mid-20th century.
There was a brief period in which they played as a minor league Negro League team.
The team won the second half pennant playing in the Negro American League (NAL) in 1938 but lost the play-off for the overall season title.
The Atlanta Black Crackers were founded as the Atlanta Cubs, originally a semiprofessional team of black college students.
They began to play independently in 1919 and changed their name to the Black Crackers because fans had already begun to call them by that name. [1] [2]
They were named after the local professional white league team, the Atlanta Black Crackers, of the Class A Southern Association.
It was not unusual for white and Negro league teams to have similar names, but in this case "Cracker" was a term with a complicated history, used sometimes as a colloquial and pejorative nickname for rural Caucasians.
It was also used affectionately by residents of Florida and Georgia who had long and deep ties to that region. [3]
Atlanta Crackers joined the minor league Negro Southern League (NSL) in March 1920.
Their uniforms, bats, baseballs, and other supplies were essentially a donation from the white Southern Association. [2]
The ABCs were slated to play the 1921 season in the newly formed Negro Southeastern League under the Atlanta Cubs moniker, however no records have been found of the league ever existing. [3]
Instead, the franchise continued competing as the Black Crackers in the NSL.
From 1922 through 1925, the Black Crackers played an independent barnstorming schedule and did not participate in any league play.
After taking a two-year hiatus, the NSL re-grouped for the 1926 season and Atlanta was included in the league schedule for 1926 and 1927.
When the NSL went on hiatus in 1928, the Black Crackers returned to barnstorming.
In 1929, Atlanta returned to the Negro Southern League, this time known as the Indianapolis ABCs, however after the season they returned to barnstorming.
By 1932, the Great Depression had decimated the profits of most Negro League teams and only a few organized Negro leagues survived.
Atlanta had trouble profiting on their own causing them to go back to playing a league schedule.
The NSL was considered the highest quality surviving league and it therefore became the de facto major league for the 1932 season and was the only organized league to complete their full schedule.
After the season, the Black Crackers once again played on their own for another two seasons.
W. B. Baker brought Atlanta back to the NSL in 1935 and 1936, but the NSL collapsed for the last time after the 1936 season.
Some of its member teams folded as well, but the Black Crackers were invited into the newly organized Negro American League.
The Atlanta Black Crackers left the NSL having a few solid years, but never finishing above the middle of the pack and finishing last in 1926 and 1927.
After W. B. Baker died suddenly, new owner John H. Harden took over in 1937 barnstorming in the north. Harden put together a talented roster and the team started winning quickly.
In 1938 the Black Crackers were invited to play in a year-old major league, the Negro American League.
They went on to have a very strong season, finishing in first for the second half of the season.
However, as commonplace a combination of scheduling problems and umpire controversies caused their Pennant series with the first-half champion Memphis Red Sox to be canceled. [2]
Unable to draw sufficient crowds in Atlanta to justify the franchise, Harden took moved the team to Indianapolis the following in 1938.
At the conclusion of the 1939 season, the team disbanded due to low attendance.
The team played their home games at Ponce de Leon Park, along with the white Atlanta Crackers.
However, the Black Crackers were not allowed to play at Ponce de Leon Park when the Crackers had a home game.
The Black Crackers were then forced to play at either Morehouse College or Morris Brown College. [5]
On June 28, 1997, the Atlanta Braves wore 1938 Black Crackers home uniforms and the visiting Philadelphia Phillies wore 1938 Philadelphia Stars road uniforms. [6]
The teams wore these same uniforms again for their matchup on May 14, 2011. [7]
On April 27, 2013, the Braves sported Black Crackers throwbacks in a game against the Detroit Tigers.
On May 3, 2014, the Braves wore the Black Crackers jerseys in a game against the San Francisco Giants.
On June 20, 2015, the Braves again wore the Black Crackers uniform in a game against the New York Mets, who wore the uniform of the Brooklyn Royal Giants to honor the Negro League.
On May 15, 2016, the Braves wore Black Crackers away jerseys while playing against the Kansas City Royals, who wore Kansas City Monarchs jerseys. All game-worn gear from this game was auctioned off as a fundraiser for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. [8]
The Atlanta Black Crackers were a professional in several professional Negro Leagues, and was a major franchise within black baseball during the mid-20th century.
They were a minor Negro league team and were named after the original Atlanta Black Crackers.
In 1943, four years after the original Black Crackers ceased operations, a new team formed to determine if the Atlanta area could support a profitable black team. John H. Harden, the owner at the time the original Black Crackers disbanded, was again financing the team.
After two financially successful years barnstorming, Atlanta returned to league play in the newly rebooted Negro Southern League.
cOwner John Harden represented the Black Crackers at the meeting that founded the United States League in January 1945. [2]
By the time the season began however, the Black Crackers had moved to the rebooted Negro Southern League.
The ABCs dominated in 1945 and won both halves of the Negro Southern League (NSL) season making any play-off unnecessary. [3]
Even after winning the NSL Pennant in 1945, the Black Crackers were still struggling financially.
For the 1946 season, they split their time between barnstorming and playing league games as an associate team.
Being an associate team allowed games played against NSL teams to count for the league team in the standings, without requiring the associate team to play a committed schedule, while still being able to play non-league games. [1]
New owners in 1947 put them back as full league members without much success.
By now, Jackie Robinson had broken the Major League Baseball color line and interest in Negro league games waned dramatically.
The Black Crackers were slated to play the 1948 season in the NSL, but no season appears to have been played. Instead, Atlanta left to compete in the newly formed Negro American Association. [4]
In 1948, the newly formed Negro American Association (NAA) invited several NSL teams to abscond.
The Atlanta Black Crackers accepted the offer to replace the Danville Aces, who had dropped out.
However, it soon turned unprofitable and Atlanta continued to also play an independent schedule. [4]
The same proved true for the 1949 season, and the Atlanta Black Crackers quietly disappeared.