After the conclusion of the American Civil War, African-Americans found much more time for leisure with their newly acquired freedom. At this time in America, baseball was the only major sport in which citizens engaged. Football, basketball, soccer, and hockey all had their advent at a later date. During the Civil War as well, troops relaxed in their spare time by digging out a diamond and throwing together a ball game. This experience is probably when Negroes first became acquainted with the game of baseball.

In post Civil War America, organized baseball was just coming into its own. During this disorganized period up until about 1880, there were about twenty Negro baseball players, many on International League Clubs but some in the professional arena. However, Negro baseball had been played before the 1880s. In 1867, the Uniques of Brooklyn played the Excelsiors of Philadelphia for the first officially recorded black teams. The Excelsiors defeated the Uniques 37-24. Soon following, the more prestigious Philadelphia Pythians arrived on the scene. The Pythians were, however, denied membership to the National Association of Base Ball Players (America's first organized league). The denial was based on the premise, "If colored clubs were admitted there would be in all probability some division of feeling, whereas, by excluding them no injury could result to anyone." This premise is the predecessor of the "gentleman's agreement" arriving later involving the major leagues and colored players.

By the late 1880s, baseball became mostly segregated by color, with a few exceptions such as Moses "Fleet" Walker who in 1884 became the first Negro to play in the major leagues for the Toledo Blue Stockings. The first professional Negro player was actually John "Bud" Fowler in 1878 for the Lynn Live Oaks of the International League. There was no organized Negro baseball league, but many all-black professional teams appeared once this "gentleman's agreement" became prevalent in organized baseball. The first all-black professional team came from Babylon, New York in 1885. These Argyle Athletics played many exhibition games with both black and white teams. The team soon became renamed to the Cuban Giants in an effort to make the Negro squad more acceptable. The team was named "Cuban" although the team was really not because in the "gentleman's agreement" those who passed as white or were of Latin or Native American descent sometimes could play. The owner made an attempt to make his squad seem less "black." Many other black teams appeared shortly thereafter with the Philadelphia Orions, the Boston Resolutes, and the Page Fence Giants of Adrian, Michigan, just to name a few.

After the advent of the independent Negro baseball team, more and more extremely talented ball players played on the all-black teams. Manager John J. McGraw of the Baltimore Orioles attempted to sign one of these Negro stars by passing Charlie Grant, who had high cheekbones and straight hair, as Charlie Tokohama, a Native American. McGraw's ploy was, however, foiled by White Sox President Charlie Comisky. Soon thereafter, McGraw was banned from white leagues; this act sent a message that black players would not be accepted in the white leagues. This message influenced a second eruption of more independent Negro teams with notables such as the American Giants of Chicago, ABC's of Indianapolis, and the Philadelphia Giants.

In 1920, owner of the Chicago American Giants, Rube Foster, collaborated with the owners of many other independent teams and finally achieved a major milestone in Negro baseball history, the formation of the Negro National League. This was a western-based league consisting of eight teams: the Giants and American Giants of Chicago, the Dayton Marcos, the Detroit Stars, the ABC's, the Kansas City Monarchs, the St. Louis Giants and a traveling Cuban Squad called the Stars. In 1923, a second league formed, the Eastern Colored League which was eastern based. This league fielded teams such as the Hilldale Giants, the Brooklyn Royal Giants and the Baltimore Black Sox. 1924, the East met West in the first colored World Series with the Monarchs emerging as the victor over Hilldale. With the loss of the Negro National Leagues leadership of Rube Foster, the league soon collapsed in 1931. The onset of the depression began to collapse teams and caused owners to proceed cautiously in forming new teams.

The reappearance of leagues in 1932 came with the formation of the Negro Southern League and the East-West League. Both of these leagues folded after one season but soon reorganized and amalgamated into the Negro National League which lasted until 1936. The highlight of this era in Negro league history was the East-West all-star classic featuring many talented Negro stars. After the demise of the second Negro National League, a third but eastern-based Negro National League emerged along with the American League of the West in 1937. It was in this era when such greats as Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and Buck Leonard appeared.

In 1947, the single most significant event in Negro baseball occurred, John Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Soon thereafter, the best talent migrated to the white majors taking the fans as well. The impact on the Negro leagues could not be reversed and by 1960 the Negro American League officially ceased operations.

The Negro baseball leagues provided for African-Americans an opportunity to show the skill they possessed but were not allowed to take to the white major leagues. Without any other popular sport in contest, the Negro leagues provided and outlet for Negro players to develop for eventual assimilation into the major leagues of baseball. Many greats of Major League Baseball first came through as Negro league stars.

"The History of Negro Leagues Baseball." http://users.aol.com/skshivers/negrohistory.html. 5/10/98.

Lester, Larry. "Negro Baseball Leagues History." 5/10/98.

Riley, James A. "History of Black Baseball and the Negro Baseball Leagues." http://www.blackbaseball.com/introd.htm. 5/10/98.

Rogosin, Donn. Invisible Men. New York: Atheneum, 1985.

"Shadowball: The Gentleman's Agreement." 5/10/98.

"Shadowball: Historical Overview." http://www.negro- league.columbus.oh.us/agreemnt.htm. 5/10/98.

"We Were There From The Beginning." http://www.nc5.infi.net/~moxie/nlb/history/beginning/beginning.html. 5/10/98.

Links

Blackbaseball.com, a great site for Negro League information.

Other Ancillary Topics