Negro National League (1933–48)

Negro National League
Sport	Baseball
Founded	1933
No. of teams	18
Country	United States
Ceased	1948
Last champion(s)	(Washington) Homestead Grays (10) Pittsburgh Crawfords (2) Cole's American Giants (1) Philadelphia Stars (1) Newark Eagles (1) New York Cubans (1)

The second Negro National League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated.

League history

The second Negro National League was established in 1933, two years after the first Negro National League (NNL) had disbanded.^[1] The second NNL lasted until 1948, the year after Major League Baseball integrated, after which its surviving teams merged into the Negro American League.^[2]

Negro National League franchises

Annual final standings: 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948

Baltimore Black Sox (I) (1933)
Brooklyn Royal Giants (1933)
Cole's American Giants (1933-1935)
Columbus Blue Birds / Akron Black Tyrites / Cleveland Giants (1933) – moved during season
Detroit Stars (1933)
Indianapolis ABC's (1933)
Nashville Elite Giants (1933-1934) / Columbus Elite Giants (1935) / Washington Elite Giants (1936-1937) / Baltimore Elite Giants (1938-1948)
Pittsburgh Crawfords (1933-1938)
Philadelphia Bacharach Giants (1934)
Cleveland Red Sox (1934)
Baltimore Black Sox (II) (1934)
(Washington) Homestead Grays (1934-1948)
†Newark Dodgers (1934-1935) / Newark Eagles (1936-1948)
Philadelphia Stars (1934-1948)
†Brooklyn Eagles (1935)
New York Cubans (1935-1936; 1939-1948)
New York Black Yankees (1936-1948)
Washington Black Senators (1938)

†The Brooklyn Eagles and Newark Dodgers merged to form the Newark Eagles in 1936.

Member timeline

1933: Formation of NNL2 consisting of 7 teams — Baltimore Black Sox, Cole's American Giants, Columbus Blue Birds, Detroit Stars, Homestead Grays, Nashville Elite Giants and Pittsburgh Crawfords; Homestead was expelled early in the season for raiding Detroit's roster, Columbus was replaced mid-season by the Akron Black Tyrites who were then replaced by the Cleveland Giants.
1934: Dropped Cleveland Giants, Detroit Stars, Baltimore Black Sox (I); Added Philadelphia Bacharach Giants, Cleveland Red Sox, Philadelphia Stars and Baltimore Black Sox (II); Retained Homestead Grays as an associate team.
1935: Dropped Philadelphia Bacharach Giants, Baltimore Black Sox (II) and Cleveland Red Sox; Added Brooklyn Eagles, Homestead Grays, New York Cubans and Newark Dodgers.
1936: Dropped Cole's American Giants; Brooklyn and Newark merged.
1937: Dropped New York Cubans; Added New York Black Yankees.
1938: Added Washington Black Senators.
1939: Dropped Pittsburgh Crawfords and Washington Black Senators; Re-added New York Cubans.
1948: League disbanded after completion of season; All teams continued on with Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark and New York Cubans joining the Negro American League for the 1949 season, while the Grays and Black Yankees playing independent of a league.

League champions

Pennant winners

From 1937 and 1938, 1940, and 1942 through 1946, the team in first place at the end of the season was declared the Pennant winner. Due to the unorthodox nature of the schedule (and little incentive to enforce it), some teams frequently played many more games than others did in any given season. This led to some disputed championships and two teams claiming the title. Generally, the team with the best winning percentage (with some minimum number of games played) was awarded the Pennant, but other times it was the team with the most victories. The "games behind" method of recording standings was uncommon in most black leagues.

1933 – Cole's Chicago American Giants (first half), Pittsburgh Crawfords (second half with better overall)†
1934 – Philadelphia Stars† won best half of season however Crawfords with better whole season record disputed title.
1935 – Pittsburgh Crawfords†
1936 – Pittsburgh Crawfords†
1937 – Homestead Grays
1938 – Homestead Grays
1939 – Baltimore Elite Giants*
1940 – Washington Homestead Grays
1941 – Washington Homestead Grays†
1942 – Washington Homestead Grays‡
1943 – Washington Homestead Grays‡
1944 – Washington Homestead Grays‡
1945 – Washington Homestead Grays‡
1946 – Newark Eagles‡
1947 – New York Cubans†‡
1948 – Washington Homestead Grays†‡

† – Pennant was decided via a split-season schedule with the winner of the first half of the season playing the winner of the second half of the season.
* – Pennant was decided via a 2-round play-off between the top four teams.
‡ – Pennant winner went on to play in the Negro World Series.

League play-offs

From 1925 through 1928, and again in 1930, the NNL split the season into two halves. The winner of the first half played the winner of the second half for the league Pennant. As mentioned above, disputes also occurred in the split season finishes.

1933 – Cole's American Giants (first half champions) tied Pittsburgh Crawfords (second half champions), 1 tie game
1934 – Philadelphia Stars (2nd half) beat Chicago American Giants (1st half), 4 games to 3 games, 1 tie
1935 – Pittsburgh Crawfords (1st half) beat New York Cubans (2nd half), 5 games to 2 games
1936 – Pittsburgh Crawfords (2nd half) over Washington Elite Giants (1st half), declared - no games played
1939 – 1st round: Washington Homestead Grays (1st place) beat Philadelphia Stars (4th place), 3 games to 2 games

1st round: Baltimore Elite Giants (3rd place) beat Newark Eagles (2nd place), 3 games to 1 game

2nd round: Baltimore Elite Giants (3rd place) beat Washington Homestead Grays, 3 games to 1 game, 1 tie

1941 – Washington Homestead Grays (1st half) beat New York Cubans (2nd half), 2 games to 0 games
1947 – New York Cubans (2nd half) over Newark Eagles (1st half)
1948 – Washington Homestead Grays (2nd half) over Baltimore Elite Giants (1st half)

Negro World Series

Main article: Negro World Series

For the duration of the league, a Negro World Series took place seven times, from 1942 through 1948. The NNL Pennant winner met the champion of the rival Negro American League. Five out of the seven years, the Negro National League team (below in bold) prevailed.

1942 – Kansas City Monarchs beat Washington Homestead Grays, 4 games to 0 games
1943 – Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 3 games
1944 – Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 1 game
1945 – Cleveland Buckeyes beat Washington Homestead Grays, 4 games to 0 games
1946 – Newark Eagles beat Kansas City Monarchs, 4 games to 3 games
1947 – New York Cubans beat Cleveland Buckeyes, 4 games to 1 game
1948 – Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 1 game

References

↑ "Negro League Baseball Players Association: History" http://www.nlbpa.com/history.html. Accessed 9 February 2012.
↑ "Negro League History 101" http://www.negroleaguebaseball.com/history101.html. Accessed 9 February 2012.

Sources

Holway, John B. (2001), The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues: The Other Half of Baseball History, Fern Park, FL: Hastings House, ISBN 0-8038-2007-0

Negro league baseball

Major independent teams

Pre-1920 teams	Algona Brownies All Cubans All Nations Austin Black Senators Birmingham Giants Chicago Columbia Giants Chicago Unions Chicago Union Giants-Leland Giants Cuban Giants Cuban X-Giants Lincoln Stars Minneapolis Keystones New York Gorhams Page Fence Giants Philadelphia Giants Philadelphia Pythians San Antonio Black Bronchos St. Paul Colored Gophers West Baden Sprudels

Post-1920 teams	Bismarck Churchills Boston Royal Giants Brooklyn Bushwicks Ethiopian Clowns Gilkerson's Union Giants Globe Trotters Illinois Giants Jamestown Red Sox Mineola Black Spiders Mobile Black Bears Philadelphia Tigers Seattle Steelheads Zulu Cannibal Giants

Major leagues and teams

Negro National League (1920–31)	Birmingham Black Barons⁷ Chicago American Giants⁵⁶⁷ Chicago Giants Cleveland Browns Cleveland Elites Cleveland Hornets Cleveland Tate Stars Cleveland Tigers Columbus Buckeyes Cuban Stars (West)⁴ Dayton Marcos Detroit Stars⁶⁷ Indianapolis ABCs⁵⁷ Kansas City Monarchs⁷ Louisville White Sox Memphis Red Sox⁵⁷ Milwaukee Bears Cleveland Cubs-Nashville Elite Giants⁵ Pittsburgh Keystones St. Louis Giants-St. Louis Stars⁷ Toledo Tigers

Eastern Colored League (1923–28)	Bacharach Giants³⁶ Baltimore Black Sox³⁴⁶ Brooklyn Royal Giants Cuban Stars (East)³ Harrisburg Giants Hilldale Club³⁴ Homestead Grays³⁴⁶ Lincoln Giants³ Newark Stars Washington Potomacs

American Negro League (1929)	Bacharach Giants²⁶ Baltimore Black Sox²⁴⁶ Cuban Stars (East)² Hilldale Club²⁴ Homestead Grays²⁴⁶ Lincoln Giants²

East-West League (1932)	Baltimore Black Sox²³⁶ Cleveland Stars Cuban Stars (West)¹ Detroit Wolves Hilldale Club²³ Homestead Grays²³⁶ Newark Browns Washington Pilots

Negro Southern League (1932)	Cole's American Giants¹⁶⁷ Indianapolis ABCs¹⁷ Louisville Black Caps-Columbus Turfs Memphis Red Sox¹⁷ Monroe Monarchs Montgomery Grey Sox Nashville Elite Giants¹

2nd Negro National League (1933–48)	Bacharach Giants²³ Baltimore Black Sox²³⁴ Baltimore Elite Giants⁷ Cole's American Giants¹⁵⁷ Cleveland Red Sox Columbus Blue Birds-Akron Black Tyrites-Cleveland Giants Detroit Stars¹⁷ (Washington) Homestead Grays²³⁴ New York Black Yankees New York Cubans⁷ Newark Eagles⁷ Philadelphia Stars⁷ Pittsburgh Crawfords Washington Black Senators

Negro American League (1937–60s)	Atlanta Black Crackers Baltimore Elite Giants⁶ Birmingham Black Barons¹ Chicago American Giants¹⁵⁶ Cincinnati Tigers Cleveland Buckeyes-Louisville Buckeyes Detroit Stars¹⁶ Houston Eagles⁶ Indianapolis ABCs¹⁵ Indianapolis Athletics Indianapolis Clowns Indianapolis Crawfords Jacksonville Red Caps-Cleveland Bears Kansas City Monarchs¹ Memphis Red Sox¹⁵ New Orleans Crescent Stars New York Cubans⁶ Philadelphia Stars⁶ St. Louis Stars¹

Note: All teams that played in an organized league listed above also played as an independent or barnstorming team before, during, and/or after joining a league. ¹-also played in NNL ²-also played in ECL ³-also played in ANL ⁴-also played in EWL ⁵-also played in NSL ⁶-also played in NNL2 ⁷-also played in NAL

Other leagues

Proto-leagues	Southern League of Colored Base Ballists (1886) National Colored Base Ball League (1887) International League of Independent Professional Base Ball Clubs (1906) National Association of Colored Baseball Clubs of the United States and Cuba (1907-09)

Minor leagues	Negro Southern League (1920-45)¹ Southern Negro League (1921) Denver City League (1930) Texas-Louisiana League (1931) Texas Negro League (1924-31) Texas-Oklahoma Negro League (1933-35) Negro Major Baseball League of America (1942)

Post-integration	United States Baseball League (1945-46) West Coast Negro Baseball League (1946) Baseball Association of America (1949) Negro American League (1951-60)²

¹-Does not include the 1932 season for the Negro Southern League as it was considered a de facto major league that season. ²-The Negro American League was a major league from 1937 until 1950.