eastern colored league
Eastern Colored League (ECL) 1923-1928
The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs, more commonly known as the Eastern Colored League (ECL) was one of several professional Negro Leagues formed and operating during the time organized of segregated organized baseball.
The Eastern Colored League was founded in 1923 when the Philadelphia-area professional baseball clubs, Hilldale and the Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City, both associate members of the midwest-based Negro National League I, broke away from the league and realigned with white boy schedule tzar and power broker, Nat Strong, forming the East-Coast League (ECL).
The charter members of the Eastern Colored League (ECL):
- HIlldale Baseball Club
- Bacharach Giants
- Brooklyn Royal Giants
- Cuban Stars of the East,
- Lincoln Giants of New York
- Baltimore Black Sox.
The next season in 1924, the Eastern Colored League (ECL) granted membership to 2 new franchises; the Harrisburg Giants and Washington Potomacs, bringing the league to a total of 8 franchises.
Unfortunately, the Eastern Colored League was quickly raiding by the Negro National League I (NNLI) of it's most talented players, including Oscar Charleston, Biz Mackey, and John Henry Lloyd.
This provoked a war between the two Leagues that lasted for over three years.
In 1925, the Washington Potomacs moved to Wilmington, Delaware, and then disbanded in July of that same year.
The Potomacs were replaced in 1926 by the Newark Stars.
However, the Stars then abruptly folded after only 11 games.
At the end of the 1924 season the ECL and the NNLI had made peace, arranging for a new league format in which a "Colored World Series" would be instituted between the two leagues to determine the season champions.
This World Series of sorts was played annually from 1924 through 1927.
The only Eastern Colored League franchise to win the Colored World Series in the three years it was held, was Hilldale in 1925.
Beginning in 1927 the ECL was a wreck of dissensions and threats of desertion from club owners.
The New York Lincoln Giants dropped out of the ECL for the 1927 season, returning in 1928.
However, it wasn't long before more teams soon began to exit the league at an unsustainable pace.
Major franchises of great importance to the league including Hilldale, the Brooklyn Royal Giants, and the Harrisburg Giants, all dropping out.
Eager for new franchising opportunities, the Philadelphia Tigers were recruited to joing the ECL in 1928. This brought the total number of 5 teams to complete a schedule for the 1928 season.
The League staggered along from the start of the season through May, before the league finally disbanded in the midst of several unsolvable league disputes with unwilling negotiators.
By June, the league’s top officials and owners were openly arguing over issues such as player contract rights and salaries cap considerations.
The format of the league was created so that the team in first place at the conclusion of the season was declared to the Pennant winner, as was with most of the leagues operating.
Unfortunately, the unorthodox nature of the schedule combined with little incentive to enforce it on member franchises, left some teams to finish the season with more games played than others.
This would regularly occur with owners, desperate to schedule games anywhere they deemed profitable.
This led to great number of disputed championships.
In one season, two franchises claimed the Colored World Series title.
However, the League generally awarded the championship to, the team with the best winning percentage at the conclusion of the season.
Because of the difficulty in agreeing to and maintaining an even schedule, the league typically instituted a minimum number of games played threshold that needed to be achieved by each franchise to be consider for the Eastern-Colored League Pennant.
However, other times, the Pennant was simply awarded to the team with the most victories, with no consideration of games played.
The "games behind" method of recording standings was uncommon in most professional black leagues. Four of the five pennant winners went on to play in the Negro Leagues World Series (all except for the first in 1923).
IMPORTANT DATES FOR THE EASTERN COLORED LEAGUE:
- 1923: Formation of the Eastern Colored League (ECL) featuring 6 founding member franchises — Hilldale, Cuban Stars, Brooklyn Royal Giants, Atlantic City Bacharach Giants, New York Lincoln Giants, Baltimore Black Sox.
- 1924: Added: Harrisburg Giants and Washington/Wilmington Potomacs.
- 1926: Dropped: Washington/Wilmington Potomacs, added Newark Stars.
- 1927: Dropped: Newark Stars.
- 1928: Added: Homestead Grays ; Dropped Harrisburg Giants
The league broke up midway through the 1928 season due to a financial breakdown of the league's foundation. However, the individual teams continued to play out the remainder of the season anyway.
leagues
Major League Baseball
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Negro National League
Major League Baseball
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Negro Southern League
Major League Baseball
Eastern Colored League
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Eastern Colored League
Eastern Colored League
Eastern Colored League
The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs, known as the Eastern Colored League (ECL) was one of the several Negro Leagues, operating during the time organized baseball in the United States was racially segregated.
American Negro League
Eastern Colored League
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East-West League
Eastern Colored League
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Negro National League II
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Negro American League
Negro National League II
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The American Negro League, (ANL) not to be confused with the Negro American League (NAL) was one of several Negro leagues established during segregation, operating on the East Coast of the United States for one season in 1929.
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Negro National League II
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Federación Cubana de Béisbol
Federación Cubana de Béisbol
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United States League
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Nippon Professional League
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Nippon Professional League
Federación Cubana de Béisbol
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