The Negro's Baseball Teams
By: Hannah Alexander
Basic information:
The first negro baseball was found only a couple years ago, by none other than Andrew or also known as Rube Foster. He was also the owner and manager of the Chicago American Giants. On February 13, 1920, the NNL was established by a coalition of team owners at a meeting in a Kansas City YMCA. This new recently founded league was the first African-American baseball circuit to achieve stability, and last more than one season! Rube was also known as " The father of black baseball."
Competition:
The two most important east coast clubs are, Hill Dale Club of Darby Pennsylvania, and Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City. They were affiliated with the NNL as associate clubs from 1920-1922. But, they did not compete at the championship. In 1923, they and four other teams formed the Eastern Colored League and raided the NNL for their top players including the following: John Henry Lloyd, Biz Mackey, George Scales, George Carr, Clint Thomas, and signing Oscar Charleston, and Reuben Currie in 1924. The war between the two leagues came to an end shortly after in 1924, when the two teams agreed to respect each other's contracts and arranged for what we new currently as the Colored World Series, between their champion teams.
Difficulties:
The NNL survived controversies over umpiring, scheduling, and what some perceived as league president Rube Foster's disproportionate and favoritism towards his own team. It has also outlasted Foster's decline into a mental illness in 1926, and its eastern rival, the ECL, which folded in 1928. The NNL fell apart in early last year due to the stress of the Great Depression.