negro national league
Negro National League (NNLI) 1920-1931
The first iteration of the Negro National League is also known as the Negro National League I or (NNLI), and was one of the several Negro Leagues established during the period in the United States when organized professional baseball was segregated.
The Negro National League I was founded in 1920 by player / manager and, businessman, Rube Foster. After creating the NNLII, Foster installed himself as league president.
Foster would be the owner, leader, and manager of the Chicago American Giants, in the Negro National League I (NNLI) when it was established on February 13, 1920, by a coalition of team owners at a meeting in a Kansas City YMCA. [1]
"This new league will be the first African-American baseball circuit to achieve stability and last for more than just one season.”, stated league officials at inception.
At first the NNLI mostly operated mainly in the major midwestern cities, ranging from Kansas City in the West to as far as Pittsburgh in the East.
In 1924, the Negro National League I expanded into southern territories, planting its flag by adding franchises in Birmingham, Alabama (Birmingham Black Barons), and Memphis, Tennessee (Memphis Red Sox).
The two most important East Coast ball clubs, the Hilldale Baseball Club of Darby, Pennsylvania, and the Bacharach Giant of Atlantic City, were affiliated with the NNLI as associate clubs in name only from 1920 to 1922, as they did not compete for the championship in those seasons.
As it turns out, those franchises had their sights set on even higher ground.
The next season in 1923, Hilldale and Bacharach joined up with four other Eastern franchises to forming the Eastern Colored League (ECL).
Soon after it’s formation the ECL, it began raiding the Negro National League I (NNLI) of many of its most talented players, including John Henry Lloyd, Biz Mackey, George Scales, George Carr, Clint Thomas.
Then dealing the Negro National League I another major blow in 1924, when the Eastern Colored League (ECL) poached both Oscar Charleston, and Rube Curry.
The war between the two leagues peaked in 1924 and began winding down that fall when the two leagues would come to an agreement to respect the contracts of one another’s and also establish an annual Colored World Series between their best clubs.
Some would say that the Eastern Colored League literally finessed the NNLI, getting the better end of the bargain.
They had already succeeded in raiding the NNLI of its most talented and fan favorite players.
However, the Negro National League I did survive, and overcame other such controversies over lack of qualified professional umpiring, scheduling, and what some perceived as Rube Foster's disproportionate influence in directing favoritism toward his team, the Chicago American Giants.
The longer his career in professional Negro League Baseball would last, the more erratic Foster’s behavior appeared.
The NNLI did outlast the sudden mental decline Foster for which he began to find debilitating around 1926.
Its eastern rival, the Eastern Colored League (ECL), which periodically had raided the NNLI, folded in early January 1928.
The Negro National League I (NNLI) lasted a little longer, eventually folding just 3 seasons later in 1931, under heavy economic strain from the Great Depression.
During the 1932 season the only league to survive was the Negro Southern League, which had been known mostly as an official Negro Minor League.
Many of the teams from the NNLI would later go on to join the Negro American League (NAL), founded in 1937, including several teams that played in the original Negro National League.
A second Negro National League, the Negro National League II was organized in 1933, and it would become heavily concentrated on the East Coast of the United States.
To distinguish between the two unrelated leagues, we refer to the first Negro National League as the NNLI and the second iteration as the NNLII.
From 1920 through 1924, the team that finished in first place at the end of the season was declared the Pennant winner.
This was in part due to the unorthodox nature of the schedule and little incentive or league organization to enforce it, some teams frequently played more games than others in a given season.
This led to some disputed championships; one in particular where two franchises separately and independently claimed the league title, with little to say rom the league office.
In the 1931 season, the league was not able to finish all of its games, which means that while St. Louis was awarded the title for that season, non-member Pittsburgh Crawfords disputed their status as champion.
In the 1931 season, the league awarded St. Louis the title with Gus Greenlee’s Pittsburgh Crawford's, non-members, disputing the leagues authority.
- 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.
- Chicago American Giants (1920–1931) – Known as the Chicago Columbia Giants in 1931; Associate team 1931.
- 1921: Dropped Dayton Marcos; Added Columbus Buckeyes.
- 1922: Dropped Columbus Buckeyes, Chicago American Giants; Added Cleveland Tate Stars, Pittsburgh Keystones.
- 1923: Dropped Cleveland Tate Stars (mid-season), Pittsburgh Keystones; Added Toledo Tigers (mid-season), Milwaukee Bears.
- 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 the Cleveland Tate Stars.
- Pittsburgh Keystones (1922)
- Milwaukee Bears (1923)
- Birmingham Black Barons (1924–1925, 1927–1930) – Associate team 1931.
- Cleveland Browns (1924)
- 1924: Dropped Toledo Tigers, Milwaukee Bears, Indianapolis ABCs (mid-season); Added Cleveland Browns, Birmingham Black Barons, Memphis Red Sox (mid-season).
- Memphis Red Sox (1924–1925, 1927–1930) – Mid-season replacement in 1924 for Indianapolis ABCs.
- 1925: Dropped Cleveland Browns; Re-added Indianapolis ABCs.
- Cleveland Elites (1926) – Closely related to both Cleveland Hornets and Cleveland Tigers.
- 1926: Dropped Memphis Red Sox, Birmingham Black Barons; Added Cleveland Elites, re-added Dayton Marcos.
- Cleveland Hornets (1927) – Closely related to both Cleveland Elites and Cleveland Tigers.
- 1927: Dropped Dayton Marcos, Indianapolis ABCs; Re-added Birmingham Black Barons, Memphis Red Sox.
- Cleveland Tigers (1928) – Closely related to both Cleveland Hornets and Cleveland Elites.
- 1929: Dropped Cleveland Tigers.
- Nashville Elite Giants (1930) – Became Cleveland Cubs for 1931 season.
- 1930: Added Nashville Elite Giants.
- Cleveland Cubs (1931) – Returned to Nashville in 1932 after NNL folded.
- Indianapolis ABCs (2nd team) (1931)
- Louisville White Sox (1931)
- Columbus Blue Birds – Associate team 1931.
- Cuban House of David – Associate team 1931.
- 1931: Dropped Memphis Red Sox, Birmingham Black Barons, Cuban Stars; Added Louisville White Sox, (new) Indianapolis ABCs. League fell apart before season end.
Generally, for this league the team with the best winning percentage (with some minimum number of games played) was awarded the Pennant, but at other times it was decided by the team with the most wins.
The games behind method of recording team standings was uncommon in most black professional baseball leagues.
leagues
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the oldest major professional sports league in the world. Major League Baseball is composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League and the American League.
Negro National League
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
The Negro National League I was the first of two iterations of the NNL. The NNLI was founded by player/manager, Rube Foster, installing himself as League President and Commissioner.
Negro Southern League
Major League Baseball
Eastern Colored League
The Negro Southern League (NSL) was a professional baseball league organized as a minor league for player development in service to the Negro National League I in 1920 and lasted until 1936.
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
American Negro League
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.
East-West League
Eastern Colored League
American Negro League
The East–West League was a professional baseball league formed during the period when baseball in the U.S. was segregated. The league was conceived 0f by Cum Posey in 1932. However, it didn't last the full year and folded in June of that year.
Negro National League II
Liga Mexicana de Béisbol
Negro National League II
The second Negro National League II (NNLII) was founded in 1933 by Gus Greenlee as the second iteration to the former Negro National League I (NNLI), The Negro National League II (NNLII) enjoyed much broader success, lasting until integration.
Negro American League
Liga Mexicana de Béisbol
Negro National League II
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.
Liga Mexicana de Béisbol
Liga Mexicana de Béisbol
Federación Cubana de Béisbol
The Liga Mexicans de Beisbol is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country, with the league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South with member teams participating in 114 games each season.
Federación Cubana de Béisbol
Federación Cubana de Béisbol
Federación Cubana de Béisbol
The Federación Cubana de Béisbol is the governing body of the sport of baseball within Cuba. In 2018, a deal was struck between MLB and the Baseball Federation of Cuba, so that cuban baseball players no longer had to defect to play professionally in the United States.
United States League
Federación Cubana de Béisbol
Nippon Professional League
The United States Baseball League (USL), was one of the several leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The league was specifically organized as a minor league by Branch Rickey to serve as a platform for outstanding African American talent.
Nippon Professional League
Federación Cubana de Béisbol
Nippon Professional League
Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it's Puro Yakyū, (Professional Baseball). The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation of the "Greater Japan Tokyo Baseball Club" (大日本東京野球倶楽部) in Tokyo, founded in 1934.