- Was there more than one Negro League?
- Why did the Negro Leagues disappear?
- Did Josh Gibson really hit 84 home runs in a single season?
- Did Negro League teams ever play against major leaguers?
- How many Negro League players are in the Hall of Fame?
- Is there a separate Negro League Hall of Fame?
Was there more than one Negro League? [top]
Actually, dozens of "black only" professional and semi-professional baseball teams played throughout the United States in the first half of the 20th century. At the top level the best Negro League teams competed in leagues that were regarded as the "majors."
The Negro National League, founded in 1920 by Hall Of Famer Rube Foster, was the first financially successful all-black league. During the 1930s and 1940s a new Negro National League (formed by Gus Greenlee, owner of the Pittsburgh Crawfords) and the Negro American League represented black baseball’s premier leagues, although the Negro Southern League and the Texas Negro League fielded high caliber professional teams and were regarded, at least by their fans, as being of major league quality.
In 1946 the West Coast Professional Baseball League was formed in California, bringing organized Negro baseball to the west coast for the first time. The league was not well funded, and with the integration of professional baseball on the near horizon, the league folded after a single season.
Although barnstornming teams like the Ethiopian Clowns and Miami Giants were not affiliated with any organized league, they often played teams from the major black circuits and are regarded as "Negro League" teams. A very special case is that of the House of David, a white barnstorming team from Benton Harbor, Michigan. Although none of the team’s players were black, the team was a frequent opponent of the best Negro League teams in exhibition games throughout the U.S. and Canada. In fact, the team would often embark on extending barnstorming tours together with top black teams. For this reason, the history of the House of David is very closely linked with that of Negro League baseball.
Why did the Negro Leagues disappear? [top]
After the integration of professional baseball two factors combined to bring about the collapse of the Negro Leagues–(a) the best players from the top Negro League teams were signed by Major League organizations, thus weakening the top Negro League teams, and (b) the interest of black fans was quickly drawn away from the Negro Leagues as they focused their interest on the performance of Jackie Robinson and other black pioneers in the major leagues. As fan attendance dwindled at the close of the 1940s, most Negro League teams collapsed under financial pressure.
Did Josh Gibson really hit 84 homeruns in a single season? [top]
The best currently available compilation of statistics shows that Gibson did, in fact, hit 84 home runs during the 1936 season. However, it is important to realize that only a percentage of these homers came in games against top Negro League competition. The official league season for most Negro League teams was limited to 40 to 60 games during most seasons. The remainder of the games a Negro League team would play (up to an additional 150 games) were games against much weaker competition, including semiprofessional teams. There is no question that Josh Gibson was a prodigious hitter and one of baseball’s best all-time home run sluggers, but the nature of the Negro League season and quality of existing statistics do not allow for direct comparison to the established records of major league baseball.
Did Negro League teams ever play against major leaguers? [top]
From the 1920s through the 1940s exhibition games between Negro League stars and major league stars were very popular with fans. Commonly, such games were played between squads of "all-stars" from both leagues. The most famous series of exhibition games was played in 1946 between a Negro League all-star squad organized by Satchel Paige and a squad of major league all-stars assembled by famed Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller. Throughout the years, games between Negro League squads and major leaguers were fairly evenly split, demonstrating the relatively equal levels of competition that existed in the separate leagues.
How many Negro League players are in the Hall of Fame? [top]
Sixteen Negro League stars have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The most recent inductee was Smokey Joe Williams, inducted in 1999.
Is there a separate Negro League Baseball Hall of Fame? [top]
No. There is no separate Hall of Fame for Negro League players. |
