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135-610: The Memphis Red Sox were an American Negro league baseball team that was active from 1920 to 1959. Originally named the Barber College Baseball Club, the team was initially owned and operated by Arthur P. Martin, a local Memphis barber. In the late 1920s the Martin brothers, all three Memphis doctors and businessmen, purchased the Red Sox. J. B. Martin , W. S. Martin, and B. B. Martin, would retain control of

270-523: A no-win situation : They could not protect their own interests without seeming to interfere with the advancement of players to the majors. By 1948, the Dodgers, along with Veeck's Cleveland Indians , had integrated. The Negro leagues also "integrated" around the same time, as Eddie Klep pitched for the Cleveland Buckeyes during the 1946 season, becoming the first white American to play in

405-420: A black player." In some ways Blackball thrived under segregation , with the few black teams of the day playing not only each other but white teams as well. "Black teams earned the bulk of their income playing white independent 'semipro' clubs." Baseball featuring African American players became professionalized by the 1870s. The first known professional black baseball player was Bud Fowler , who appeared in

540-887: A charter member of the Negro American League . The following year they were first half champions with a 21–4 record. As was the case in a handful of Negro league baseball seasons, the first and second half winners would be matched up in a postseason series. Memphis played the second half champion Atlanta Black Crackers for the Negro American League pennant. In that series, the first two games were to be in Memphis, followed by one game in Birmingham, and then to finish with three games in Atlanta. The Red Sox won both games played in Memphis, but those would be

675-464: A first baseman named West. West left the Black Barons, whose team collapsed halfway through the season and was placed on the Memphis roster. West, though, was never properly released from Birmingham, but by mid season the matter had been settled. Memphis added several new players throughout the summer, but finished in third place, behind Nashville and Chicago. The Red Sox were once again member of

810-654: A handful of games with a Chelsea, Massachusetts club in April 1878 and then pitched for the Lynn, Massachusetts team in the International Association . Moses Fleetwood Walker and his brother, Welday Wilberforce Walker , were the first two recognizably black players in the major leagues. They both played for the 1884 Toledo Blue Stockings in the American Association , which was considered

945-579: A lack of a place to play. Leland bought the Giants in 1905 and merged it with his Unions (despite the fact that not a single Giant player ended up on the roster), and named them the Leland Giants . The Philadelphia Giants , owned by Walter Schlichter , a white businessman, rose to prominence in 1903 when they lost to the Cuban X-Giants in their version of the "Colored Championship". Leading

1080-814: A large part of the year barnstorming. The team competed in the National Baseball Congress's First Annual Semi-Pro Tournament in Wichita, Kansas , placing seventh and in September they played the Claybrook Tigers for the Negro Southern League Championship. Claybrook won the series four games to three games. Game seven was played at Martin Stadium where the Red Sox lost 5–2. In 1937, the Red Sox became

1215-705: A major league at the time. Then in 1886 second baseman Frank Grant joined the Buffalo Bisons of the International League , the strongest minor league, and hit .340, third highest in the league. Several other black American players joined the International League the following season, including pitchers George Stovey and Robert Higgins, but 1888 was the last season blacks were permitted in that or any other high minor league. The first nationally known black professional baseball team

1350-585: A member. The Associated Negro Press also reported that the Red Sox and the Birmingham Black Barons had withdrawn from the league. In April, the owners of eight southern clubs, including the Red Sox and the Black Barons, met in Memphis and created a new Negro Southern League with the first game featuring the Red Sox versus the New Orleans Ads to be played May 1 in Memphis. Birmingham won the 1st half championship and by early September

1485-707: A year later. While Foster was out of the picture, the owners of the National League elected William C. Hueston as new league president. In 1927, Ed Bolden suffered a similar fate as Foster, by committing himself to a hospital because the pressure was too great. The Eastern League folded shortly after that, marking the end of the World Series between the NNL and the ECL. After the Eastern League folded following

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1620-545: Is listed in The Dallas Express as the team's president. On May 15, the Memphis Red Sox dedicated their new stadium at Lewis Park . Built by the team's new owner, the stadium held approximately 3,000 people. It consisted of a grandstand behind home plate, a set of bleachers that ran down the third base line, and a fence that enclosed the remainder of the field. The Red Sox are one of only a few teams in

1755-490: Is the only way to characterize the strength and playing ability of the formidable baseball combination the Memphis Red Sox.” Richard Stevenson Lewis was the owner of the Red Sox at the start of the 1923 season. Lewis was the owner and operation of R. S. Lewis Funeral Home on Vance Avenue in Memphis. It is not clear when Lewis bought the team from Miller and Dandridge. During the Dixie Colored Series of 1922 he

1890-770: The All Cubans , the Cuban Stars (West) , the Cuban Stars (East) , and the New York Cubans . Some of them included white Cuban players, and some were Negro league players. The few players on the white minor league teams were constantly dodging verbal and physical abuse from both competitors and fans. The Compromise of 1877 removed the few remaining obstacles from the South enacting Jim Crow laws , allowing legal discrimination against blacks. On July 14, 1887, Cap Anson 's Chicago White Stockings were scheduled to play

2025-721: The Chicago American Giants to appeal to a larger fan base. During the same year, J. L. Wilkinson started the All Nations traveling team. The All Nations team would eventually become one of the best-known and popular teams of the Negro leagues, the Kansas City Monarchs . On April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I. Manpower needed by the defense plants and industry accelerated

2160-686: The Chicago American Giants , the NNL was established on February 13, 1920, by a coalition of team owners at a meeting in a Kansas City YMCA . The formation included the creation of the NLL constitution, written by journalist Cary B. Lewis , David Wyatt from the Indianapolis Ledger , Elwood C. Knox from the Indianapolis Freeman , and attorney Elisha Scott. The new league was the first African-American baseball circuit to achieve stability and last more than one season. At first

2295-470: The Colored World Series between their champions. The NNL survived controversies over umpiring, scheduling, and what some perceived as league president Rube Foster's disproportionate influence and favoritism toward his own team. It also outlasted Foster's decline into mental illness in 1926, and its eastern rival, the ECL, which folded in early 1928. The NNL finally fell apart in 1931 under

2430-699: The Cuban All-Stars . The Cuban All-Stars were the only team in the Negro National League that did not have a home ballpark and were a road team for the entire season. Memphis and the Cuban Stars split the two-game series. Memphis's schedule though May and into June included St. Louis, Indianapolis , and Birmingham. On June 26 the Indianapolis A.B.C's were dropped from the Negro National League. Indianapolis had lost ten players over

2565-741: The Middle States League was formed and it admitted two all-black teams to its otherwise all-white league, the Cuban Giants and their arch-rivals, the New York Gorhams . Despite the animosity between the two clubs, they managed to form a traveling team, the Colored All Americans. This enabled them to make money barnstorming while fulfilling their league obligations. In 1890, the Giants returned to their independent, barnstorming identity, and by 1892, they were

2700-523: The National Colored Base Ball League , was organized strictly as a minor league but failed in 1887 after only two weeks owing to low attendance. After several decades of mostly independent play by a variety of teams, the first Negro National League was formed in 1920 by Rube Foster . Ultimately, seven Negro major leagues existed at various times over the next thirty years. After integration of organized baseball began in

2835-655: The Quinn-Ives Act banning discrimination in hiring. At the same time, NYC Mayor La Guardia formed the Mayor's Commission on Baseball to study integration of the major leagues. All this led to Rickey announcing the signing of Robinson much earlier than he would have liked. On October 23, 1945, Montreal Royals president Hector Racine announced that, "We are signing this boy." Early in 1946, Rickey signed four more black players, Campanella, Newcombe, John Wright and Roy Partlow , this time with much less fanfare. After

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2970-601: The 1920s or 1930s, the term " Negro " came into use which led to references to "Negro" leagues or teams. The black World Series was referred to as the Colored World Series from 1924 to 1927, and the Negro World Series from 1942 to 1948. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People petitioned the public to recognize a capital "N" in negro as a matter of respect for black people. By 1930, essentially every major US outlet had adopted "Negro" as

3105-642: The 1922 season, and two more after the 1923 season. Foster replaced the defunct teams, sometimes promoting whole teams from the Negro Southern League into the NNL. Finally Foster and Bolden met and agreed to an annual World Series beginning in 1924 . Although this was a strong beginning to the Negro Leagues , throughout the 1920's the leagues were very unorganized, having teams play uneven numbers of games. Teams would skip official games for non-league matchups which would be more lucrative for

3240-554: The 1927 season, a new eastern league, the American Negro League , was formed to replace it. The makeup of the new ANL was nearly the same as the Eastern League, the exception being that the Homestead Grays joined in place of the now-defunct Brooklyn Royal Giants. The ANL lasted just one season. In the face of harder economic times, the Negro National League folded after the 1931 season. Some of its teams joined

3375-494: The 1932 season: the Negro Southern League, of which Memphis was a member, and the East-West League. Only the Negro Southern League would finish out the year. Memphis started the 1932 season in last place and by mid-June was accused of fielding players who were owned by other teams. League President Jackson threatened to throw Memphis out of the league. The dispute appeared to have been between Memphis and Birmingham over

3510-469: The Birmingham Black Barons. Memphis won the game 2–0. Memphis pitcher Carl Glass held the Black Barons to only one hit. Despite the season opener, Memphis would finish the first half of the season near the bottom of the league with the lowest batting average and most errors of any team. The club's dysfunction was so bad that at one point, a fight between the pitcher, Robert Poindexter , and first baseman, J.C. McHaskell , lead to Poindexter shooting McHaskell in

3645-408: The Black Barons 2–0 and 1–0. Finally on September 29 at Lewis Park, Birmingham closed the series out by winning its fifth game 9–3. The Birmingham Black Barons were declared the champions of the Negro Southern League. The failure of the largest African American owned bank in Memphis over the winter of 1927 and the drop in attendance over the preceding years lead Red Sox owner R. S. Lewis to incorporate

3780-635: The Black Barons. Bankhead struck out eleven batters and the Red Sox won the game 7 to 2. In 1947, Bankhead struck out a total of 113 batters in 109 innings and had an ERA of 2.16 in Negro league games. After watching Bankhead, Rickey purchased his contract from B. B. Martin for a reported $ 15,000. Bankhead made his major league debut on August 26, 1947. Later in year after both the Major League and American Negro League seasons had concluded, Bankhead returned to Memphis and played in several exhibition games. In Memphis, 6000 fans turned out to see Bankhead pitch as

3915-490: The Chicago American Giants and president of the Negro American League. The brothers had lent money to R. S. Lewis and he used the Red Sox and Lewis Stadium as collateral for the loan. In the spring of 1929 when Lewis could not repay the brothers they took possession of the ball club. News reports from the year also list Dr. E. E. Nesbitt as president of the Red Sox. The Red Sox opened the 1929 season against

4050-564: The Chicago American Giants as the northerns toured the south in early April 1921. The Barber Boys lost 2–1 in eleven innings. The Chicago Tribune's short write-up of the game lists Martin's team by name. Southern newspapers, though, often referred to the team as simple “Memphis” or one of several other names. The Montgomery Advertiser referred to the team as the Memphis Stars and the New Orleans Times-Picayune listed

4185-655: The Chicago East-West Games in 1946 and 1947 was a right handed Memphis starter, Dan Bankhead . Bankhead's pitching in 1947 attracted the attention of the Brooklyn Dodgers . Branch Rickey , the Dodgers’ General Manager, and George Sisler , a Dodgers’ scout and former player, flew to Memphis in late August to look at the Red Sox pitcher. Bankhead threw for the Memphis Red Sox at Martin Stadium with Ricky and Sisler watching. Memphis played

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4320-665: The Detroit Wolves were about to collapse, and instead of letting the team go, Posey kept pumping money into it. By June the Wolves had disintegrated and all the rest of the teams, except for the Grays, were beyond help, so Posey had to terminate the league. Across town from Posey, Gus Greenlee , a reputed gangster and numbers runner , had just purchased the Pittsburgh Crawfords . Greenlee's main interest in baseball

4455-492: The Eastern Colored League as an alternative to Foster's Negro National League, which started with six teams: Atlantic City Bacharach Giants, Baltimore Black Sox , Brooklyn Royal Giants, New York Cuban Stars, Hilldale, and New York Lincoln Giants . The National League was having trouble maintaining continuity among its franchises: three teams folded and had to be replaced after the 1921 season, two others after

4590-697: The Genuine Cuban Giants, the renamed Cuban Giants, the Columbia Giants , the Brooklyn Royal Giants , and so on. The early "Cuban" teams were all composed of African Americans rather than Cubans; the purpose was to increase their acceptance with white patrons, as Cuba was on very friendly terms with the United States during those years. Beginning in 1899 several Cuban baseball teams played in North America, including

4725-482: The Giants' home games for almost a month and threatened to become a huge embarrassment for the league. On March 2, 1920, the Negro Southern League was founded in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1921, the Negro Southern League joined Foster's National Association of Colored Professional Base Ball Clubs . As a dues-paying member of the association, it received the same protection from raiding parties as any team in

4860-663: The Gorhams, Bud Fowler caught on with a team out of Findlay, Ohio . While his team was playing in Adrian, Michigan , Fowler was persuaded by two white local businessmen, L. W. Hoch and Rolla Taylor to help them start a team financed by the Page Woven Wire Fence Company, the Page Fence Giants . The Page Fence Giants went on to become a powerhouse team that had no home field. Barnstorming through

4995-631: The Jamaica Monitor Club, Albany Bachelors , Philadelphia Excelsiors and Chicago Uniques started playing each other and any other team that would play against them. By the end of the 1860s, the black baseball mecca was Philadelphia , which had an African-American population of 22,000. Two former cricket players, James H. Francis and Francis Wood, formed the Pythian Base Ball Club . They played in Camden, New Jersey , at

5130-616: The Kansas City Monarchs won first place in both the first and second half of the season and claimed the Negro American League Championship. Memphis also finished in second place in the league standings in 1943, but was not in first place in either the first or second half of the season. The Kansas City Monarchs and Chicago American Giants played against each other for the championship. By 1949 the team would only finish in ninth place ahead of only

5265-577: The Leland Giants' name. Leland took the players and started a new team named the Chicago Giants, while Foster took the Leland Giants and started to encroach on Nat Strong's territory. As early as 1910, Foster started talking about reviving the concept of an all-black league. The one thing he was insistent upon was that black teams should be owned by black men. This put him in direct competition with Strong. After 1910, Foster renamed his team

5400-479: The Leland Giants, he demanded that he be put in charge of not only the on-field activities but the bookings as well. Foster immediately turned the Giants into the team to beat. He indoctrinated them to take the extra base, to play hit and run on nearly every pitch, and to rattle the opposing pitcher by taking them deep into the count. He studied the mechanics of his pitchers and could spot the smallest flaw, turning his average pitchers into learned craftsmen. Foster also

5535-782: The Louisville Buckeyes. On August 4, 1950, the Chicago White Sox bought the contract of Bob Boyd from the Red Sox for $ 12,000. Boyd was a walk on for Memphis in 1947 and played first base for the team. He appeared in two East–West Games and never had a batting average below .350 during his time with the team. The transaction was brokered between the White Sox General Manager, Frank Lane, and the Red Sox General Manager and part owner, B. B. Martin. The sale though occurred without

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5670-659: The Martin Stadium mortgage. At the end of 1958 the new team owners entertained offers on the stadium, but could not reach a deal with any interested buyer. On May 28, 1960, Dr. B.B. Martin announced he was dissolving the Red Sox for financial reason. “It has been a losing proposition for the past four or five years...,” Dr. Martin said. The Negro American League would continue on for just a couple more years before it dissolved completely. Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans . The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside

5805-457: The Memphis Red Sox were a combination of players from the Barber Boys and the Union Giants. John W. Miller was the team president and Chick Cummings, the former manager of the Union Giants, was manager of the new club. The team played their first game at Russwood Park on May 3 against Birmingham Black Barons . Memphis won the game against the Barons 4–0. The Red Sox played the rest of their 1922 season home games at Russwood and Field's Park. With

5940-418: The Midwest, they would play all comers. Their success became the prototype for black baseball for years to come. After the 1898 season, the Page Fence Giants were forced to fold because of finances. Alvin H. Garrett , a black businessman in Chicago, and John W. Patterson , the left fielder for the Page Fence Giants, reformed the team under the name the Columbia Giants . In 1901, the Giants folded because of

6075-412: The Negro National League pennant for the third straight year. Both the Commercial Appeal and the Dallas Express newspaper refer to Memphis as the winners of the Southern Negro League pennant, but the Nashville Elite Giants appeared to have had the best record. Despite the discrepancy in September, Memphis played in the first annual Colored Dixie Classic . The series was a playoff between the winner of

6210-578: The Negro National League. Foster then admitted John Connors' Atlantic City Bacharach Giants as an associate member to move further into Nat Strong 's territory. Connors, wanting to return the favor of helping him against Strong, raided Ed Bolden 's Hilldale Daisies team. Bolden saw little choice but to team up with Foster's nemesis, Nat Strong. Within days of calling a truce with Strong, Bolden made an about-face and signed up as an associate member of Foster's Negro National League. On December 16, 1922, Bolden once again shifted sides and, with Strong, formed

6345-451: The Negro Southern League in 1933. The team finished in first place for the first half of the season, with a record of 32 wins and 10 losses. However, after the first half of the season there is no clear record of the rest of the season. Memphis spent most of August barnstorming though Iowa and Nebraska. In the towns they played, the local newspapers claimed that they were the southern league champions. The New Orleans Crescent Stars also claimed

6480-405: The Negro Southern League were left to play independently. The first preseason game of 1924 at Lewis Stadium was not played due to weather. The game was scheduled for March 30 was cancelled after a storm hit the city. The same storm impacted almost half the country. Severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, hail, gales force wind, flooding and blizzard conditions lead to the death of at least 23 people across

6615-422: The Negro Southern League wrapped up. They were second to Birmingham, the dominant club in the league, who had 24 wins and 8 losses. Memphis played 19 games as an associate member of the Negro National League against such teams as the Milwaukee Bears , Toledo Tigers , and St. Louis Stars . The team won 13 of those games and lost 6. Memphis finished the season as they had in 1922 by playing the Dallas Black Giants of

6750-401: The Negro Texas League. The Black Giants swept Memphis in three games at Dallas. The Memphis Red Sox remained an associate member of the Negro National League in 1924. During the league's winter meetings in December 1923 Birmingham, though, had been made a full member. The Negro Southern League, which disbanded in 1923 with the loss of its two best teams, did not reform in 1924. Former teams in

6885-413: The Negro leagues that owned their stadium. Among them, the St. Louis Stars owned Star Park, the Pittsburgh Crawford's owned Greenlee Field in Pittsburgh, the Nashville Giants owned Tom Wilson Park in Nashville, and the Claybrook Tigers owned Tiger Stadium in Claybrook, Arkansas. Since the Red Sox now owned their stadium the expense of leasing a ballpark, which could sometime cost up to 20 percent of

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7020-418: The Negro leagues. These moves came despite strong opposition from the owners; Rickey was the only one of the 16 owners to support integrating the sport in January 1947. Chandler's decision to overrule them may have been a factor in his ouster in 1951 in favor of Ford C. Frick . Some proposals were floated to bring the Negro leagues into "organized baseball" as developmental leagues for black players, but that

7155-441: The Newark Giants of the International League, which had Fleet Walker and George Stovey on its roster. After Anson marched his team onto the field in military style as was his custom, he declared that his team would not play unless Walker and Stovey were barred from the field. Newark capitulated, and later that same day, league owners voted to refuse future contracts to blacks, citing the "hazards" imposed by such athletes. In 1888,

7290-401: The Red Sox and would have no more involvement with the team. In February 1951 J. B. Martin announced that he had spoken to both his brothers and that they had reached a settlement in the Boyd dispute. W. S. Martin dropped his lawsuit against the Chicago White Sox. Details of the settlement were not disclosed. Boyd was promoted from the White Sox minor league Colorado club to the Chicago White Sox

7425-415: The Red Sox celebrated Dan Bankhead Day. Bankhead talked to reporters about his time with Memphis, “Sometimes they'd play three (games) in one day, and I'd be in all of them.” He also told reporters that even if his career in Major League Baseball did not work out that he did not intend to return to Memphis. “Once last year they pitched me six straight days. I either started or relieved. I was so tired my tongue

7560-415: The Red Sox co-owners and the President of the Negro American League, J. B. Martin. The police commissioner claimed that Martin was selling narcotics in his Memphis drug stores and placed police outside the stores to search all people entering. This was in retaliation for Martin's support of Republican politicians, a stance that was in opposition of the powerful former mayor of Memphis, Edward H. Crump . Due to

7695-416: The Red Sox lost all-star pitcher Porter Moss when he was shot and killed as the team travelled back to Memphis by train following a game at Nashville. As the World War II ended in 1945 the team saw one of its worst regular season records ever. The Red Sox managed only 17 wins in 78 games. Surprisingly though, the early 1940s would be the most profitable period the team would ever see. The winning pitcher for

7830-417: The Red Sox with 20 wins and 7 losses were declared the second half champs. The two teams met for the first game of a best of nine Negro Southern League Championship playoff series on September 11 at Lewis Park. The first game was called due to darkness after 12 innings ending in a 2–2 tie. In game two Birmingham batters bunched hits in the fourth and sixth innings scoring four runs in each inning . The Barons won

7965-508: The Southern Negro League and the winner of the Texas Negro League . In newspaper ads it was promoted as the “Championship of the South” and “A Little World Series.” Memphis won the series against the Dallas Black Giants . The Giants took only three games of the nine-game series. The Dallas Express newspaper, at the conclusion of the Dixie Series, said the following about the victorious Red Sox. “A well balanced base ball machine made up of experience, brain, team work, team play, and inside base ball

8100-415: The Tiger's spot, could not raise the money for the deposit that the league required. This created an opening for a team in the Negro National League. The two top teams in the Negro Southern League, the Memphis Red Sox and the Birmingham Black Barons, were considered the top contenders to fill the spot. Joe Rush owner of the Black Barons and R. S. Lewis owner of the Red Sox both travelled to Chicago to meet with

8235-424: The accepted term for black people. By about 1970, the term "Negro" had fallen into disfavor, but by then the Negro leagues were mere historic artifacts. Because black people were not being accepted into the major and minor baseball leagues due to racism which established the color line , they formed their own teams and had made professional teams by the 1880s. The first known baseball game between two black teams

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8370-403: The announcement for the 1921 team said the city was "... reorganizing the famous Memphis Union Giants known in times gone by as one of the fastest Colored team in the country." Of these two teams the Union Giants were billed as "the toughest team in the south", but the Barber Boys Ball Club was the preeminent team due to their membership in the Negro Southern League. The Barber College Team played

8505-440: The armed forces. Robert Sharpe, Olan Taylor, Leonard Randolph, Joe Scott, Bob Boyd, Riley Stewart were all Memphis players that served in the Army. Marlin Carter served in the Coast Guard. Walter Johnson served in the Navy. Neal Robinson, outfielder for the Red Sox, and players from several other teams was stuck for a short time in Puerto Rico as they finished playing winter baseball in early 1942. The players, who used ships to get to

8640-405: The authorization of W. S. Martin, the controlling owner and president of the club. W. S. Martin immediately sued the White Sox who he claimed had enticed Boyd to leave the Red Sox. W.S. Martin also claimed that he received no money from the transaction. Memphis filed for $ 35,000 in damages in U.S. District Court. In late December it was reported that B. B. Martin had stepped down as General Manager of

8775-407: The ball club prior to the 1928 season. The partnership included A. M. McCullough, M. B. Burnett, C. B. King, W. H. Cole and Dr. E. E. Nesbitt. The background of the men varied greatly. McCullough owned a variety of Memphis business. Burnett worked in insurance, banking, and investment. King was the director at a life insurance company. Cole was a timber contractor. Nesbitt was a physician working out of

8910-444: The championship. The next year Memphis once again started in the Negro Southern League, but by July the team was barnstorming in cities throughout the Midwest. The team participated and won the Class A Council Bluffs, Iowa , semi-pro tournament. In early October five Red Sox players were chosen to represent the South in the North–South All-Star game between the Negro National League and the Negro Southern League. In 1935 Memphis spent

9045-429: The championship. In 1923 they and four other eastern teams formed the Eastern Colored League (ECL) and raided the NNL for many of its top players, including John Henry Lloyd , Biz Mackey , George Scales , George Carr , and Clint Thomas , and signing Oscar Charleston , and Rube Curry in 1924. The war between the two leagues came to an end in 1924, when they agreed to respect each other's contracts and arranged for

9180-428: The club till its dissolution in 1959. The Red Sox played as members, at various times, of the Negro Southern League , Negro National League , and Negro American League . The team was never a titan of the Negro leagues like wealthier teams in northern cities of the United States, but sound management led to a continuous thirty-nine years of operation, a span that was exceeded by very few other teams. Following integration

9315-484: The color line. His list was eventually narrowed down to three: Roy Campanella , Don Newcombe and Jackie Robinson . On August 28, 1945, Jackie Robinson met with Rickey in Brooklyn, where Rickey gave Robinson a "test" by berating him and shouting racial epithets that Robinson would hear from day one in the white game. Having passed the test, Robinson signed the contract which stipulated that from then on, Robinson had no "written or moral obligations" to any other club. By

9450-434: The continuing police presence at his stores and threats of prosecutions J. B. Martin left Memphis in early December. He settled in Chicago leaving control of the Red Sox to his brothers and co-owners B. B. Martin and W. S. Martin. In the first half of the 1940s World War II , and the United States entry into the conflict, impacted the team in many different ways. The Red Sox had several players that joined or were drafted into

9585-418: The country. After the cancellation of their first home game The Red Sox faced the Chicago American Giants in three exhibition games in mid April. The Red Sox lost the first two games of the series, but won the third game with a 6–4 score. The win was significant since it broke the Chicago American Giants 19 game win streak. Memphis first game of the regular Negro National League season was May 3. The team played

9720-516: The economic stress of the Great Depression . The Negro American League , founded in 1937 and including several of the same teams that played in the original Negro National League, would eventually carry on as the western circuit of black baseball. A second Negro National League was organized in 1933, but eventually became concentrated on the east coast . To distinguish between the two unrelated leagues, they are usually referred to as

9855-626: The end of Negro National League. Just as Negro league baseball seemed to be at its lowest point and was about to fade into history, along came Cumberland Posey and his Homestead Grays. Posey, Charlie Walker, John Roesnik, George Rossiter, John Drew, Lloyd Thompson, and L.R. Williams got together in January 1932 and founded the East–West League . Eight cities were included in the new league: "Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland, Newark, New York, and Washington, D.C.". By May 1932,

9990-478: The first Negro National League (NNL I) and the second Negro National League (NNL II). From 1920 through 1924, 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

10125-475: The first time. On May 12 approximately 4,000 people packed Lewis Park to see the Memphis Red Sox play their first night game. They lost the game 8–4. Memphis, the Nashville Elite Giants and the Birmingham Black Barons withdrew from the Negro National League in 1931. The teams, along with Chattanooga, Montgomery and New Orleans, formed a new Negro Southern League. The league was based solely in

10260-479: The following week. On May 17, 1958, the Red Sox president and primary owner, William S. Martin, passed away following a yearlong illness. Martin was 77 years old. At the time of his death he was vice-president of the Negro American League. He also was president and superintendent of the Collins Chapel Hospital where he had been a physician since 1920. While superintendent of the hospital he funded

10395-413: The foot. The Red Sox would finish the season in last place. On April 25, 1930, Memphis opened the season with a four-game series against the Cuban Stars . The Star and the Red Sox split the series kicking-off a losing year for Memphis. By September, the team had won just 29 games while losing 45. They finished fifth in the league. The Great Depression brought two changes to the game in 1930. On June 20

10530-404: The game 9–4. Game three ended 1–0 in a Birmingham victory after catcher William Poindexter scored the winning run in the 7th inning. With Black Barons leading with two wins, the series moved to Rickwood Field in Birmingham. Game four was another 1–0 win for the Black Barons. The game was scoreless till the bottom of the 9th inning.  Game five was called in the 9th inning due to darkness with

10665-530: The games were not published. The Memphis Union Giants or Memphis Giants had existed in some form since at least 1907. They played throughout the region. The Giants played members of the National Association of Colored Baseball Clubs in 1908 and 1909. They are mentioned in local newspapers until 1915. From 1915 till 1920 there is very little mention of them or any other black teams from Memphis. The team appears to have disbanded during these years as

10800-527: The gate receipts, was eliminated. Teams that leased stadiums also had to arrange their schedules around the owning team's schedule, which lead to difficulties scheduling league games and coordinating road games. Memphis would retain its Negro league stadium till the team played its last game in 1959. In 1923 the Toledo Tigers ball club, a member of the Negro National League, was dissolved in mid season. The Cleveland Tate Stars , who were expected to fill

10935-559: The high cost that would be incurred if the team's stay were extended in Atlanta. At the league's winter meetings it was decided that the Red Sox had won the Negro American League pennant due to Memphis's two wins and the forfeiture of the Black Crackers in game three of the series. In 1940 the team finished second in the Negro American League, but events that occurred after the season lead to a change in teams front office. Memphis police, starting in late October, began to harass one of

11070-574: The highest career batting average at .372. During the formative years of black baseball, the term " colored " was the established usage when referring to African-Americans. References to black baseball prior to the 1930s are usually to "colored" leagues or teams, such as the Southern League of Colored Base Ballists (1886), the National Colored Base Ball League (1887) and the Eastern Colored League (1923), among others. By

11205-686: The idea to duplicate the Major League Baseball All-Star Game , except, unlike the big league method in which the sportswriters chose the players, the fans voted for the participants. The first game, known as the East–West All-Star Game , was held September 10, 1933, at Comiskey Park in Chicago before a crowd of 20,000. With the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States

11340-557: The inclusion of this clause, precedent was set that would raze the Negro leagues as a functional commercial enterprise. To throw off the press and keep his intentions hidden, Rickey got heavily involved in Gus Greenlee 's newest foray into black baseball, the United States League . Greenlee started the league in 1945 as a way to get back at the owners of the Negro National League teams for throwing him out. Rickey saw

11475-526: The institution personally during financially difficult periods and even supplied the hospital with food from his farm during the Depression. He obituary stated that, “his only recreation was attending Red Sox games.” After W. S. Martins death his widow, Eva Cartman Martin, and his brother, B. B. Martin took over operation of the Red Sox. The team completed the 1958 season, but the Martins still owed money on

11610-407: The integration of the major leagues in 1947, marked by the appearance of Jackie Robinson with the Brooklyn Dodgers that April, interest in Negro league baseball waned. Black players who were regarded as prospects were signed by major league teams, often without regard for any contracts that might have been signed with Negro league clubs. Negro league owners who complained about this practice were in

11745-649: The landing of the Federal Street Ferry, because it was difficult to get permits for black baseball games in the city. Octavius Catto , the promoter of the Pythians, decided to apply for membership in the National Association of Base Ball Players , normally a matter of sending delegates to the annual convention; beyond that, a formality. At the end of the 1867 season, "the National Association of Baseball Players voted to exclude any club with

11880-513: The late 1940s, the quality of the Negro leagues slowly deteriorated; the Negro American League 's 1951 season is generally considered the last Negro league season, although the last professional club, the Indianapolis Clowns , operated as a humorous sideshow rather than competitively from the mid-1960s to the 1980s. In December 2020, Major League Baseball announced that based on recent decades of historical research, it classified

12015-635: The league operated mainly in midwestern cities, ranging from Kansas City in the west to Pittsburgh in the east; in 1924 it expanded into the south , adding franchises in Birmingham, Alabama , and Memphis, Tennessee . The two most important east coast clubs, the Hilldale Club of Darby, Pennsylvania , and the Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City, were affiliated with the NNL as associate clubs from 1920 to 1922, but did not compete for

12150-660: The league, took a five percent cut of all gate receipts. On May 2, 1920, the Indianapolis ABCs beat Charles "Joe" Green's Chicago Giants (4–2) in the first game played in the inaugural season of the Negro National League, played at Washington Park in Indianapolis. However, because of the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 , the National Guard still occupied the Giants' home field, Schorling's Park (formerly South Side Park). This forced Foster to cancel all

12285-574: The league. The reserve clause would have tied the players to their clubs from season to season but the NCBBL failed. One month into the season, the Resolutes folded. A week later, only three teams were left. Because the original Cuban Giants were a popular and business success, many similarly named teams came into existence—including the Cuban X-Giants , a splinter and a powerhouse around 1900;

12420-510: The leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in 1920 that are sometimes termed "Negro Major Leagues". In the late 19th century, the baseball color line developed, excluding African Americans from play in Major League Baseball and its affiliated minor leagues (collectively known as organized baseball ). The first professional baseball league consisting of all-black teams,

12555-452: The main land from the island, were stopped due to fears of German U-boats attacking their transports. Tires and gas were rationed which lead several clubs to play closer to home and in the first half of 1943 the Office of Defense Transportation ruled that in order to save fuel league teams could not use their buses. The government agreed to let the teams travel by bus during the second half of

12690-620: The migration of blacks from the South to the North. This meant a larger and more affluent fan base with more money to spend. By the end of the war in 1919, Foster was again ready to start a Negro baseball league. On February 13 and 14, 1920, talks were held in Kansas City, Missouri , that established the Negro National League and its governing body the National Association of Colored Professional Base Ball Clubs . The league

12825-627: The moribund Philadelphia Phillies and stock them with Negro league stars. However, when Landis got wind of his plans, he and National League president Ford Frick scuttled it in favor of another bid by William D. Cox . After Landis's death in 1944, Happy Chandler was named his successor. Chandler was open to integrating the game, even at the risk of losing his job as Commissioner. He later said in his biography that he could not, in good conscience, tell black players they could not play baseball with whites when they had fought for their country [although they had fought in segregated units]. In March 1945,

12960-687: The new league was the same as the old league Negro National League which had disbanded a year earlier in 1932. The members of the new league were the Pittsburgh Crawfords, the Columbus Blue Birds , the Indianapolis ABCs, the Baltimore Black Sox, the Brooklyn Royal Giants, Cole's American Giants (formerly the Chicago American Giants ), and the Nashville Elite Giants. Greenlee also came up with

13095-563: The new team name came new owners, John Miller (also the team president) and Moses Dandridge. Miller and Dandridge were co-owners of the Liberty Auto Repair of Memphis. They purchased the Barber College Team from A. P. Martin in 1921. The two would own the team for less than two seasons. By 1923 they had sold the team and Dandridge was no longer listed as a co-owner of the auto repair shop. The Negro Southern League

13230-402: The northern teams. It also allowed both southern teams to play the Negro National League teams at a regular interval, which translated to more profit due to higher attendance. The Negro Southern League with the loss Memphis and Birmingham did not post second half season standings. The league appears to have folded after the first half of 1923. Memphis had 15 wins to 16 losses as the first half of

13365-490: The only Negro league then left, the Negro Southern League. Only strong independent clubs were able to survive the hard economic turn that affected the country, such as the Kansas City Monarchs . During this time, strong clubs would build teams that had potential to beat the teams in the major leagues with new players and tactics that many have never seen before. On March 26, 1932, the Chicago Defender announced

13500-588: The only black team in the East still in operation on a full-time basis. Also in 1888, Frank Leland got some of Chicago's black businessmen to sponsor the black amateur Union Base Ball Club . Through Chicago's city government, Leland obtained a permit and lease to play at the South Side Park , a 5,000-seat facility. Eventually, his team went pro and became the Chicago Unions . After his stint with

13635-422: The only games played. The Black Crackers did not arrive at the Birmingham ballpark until 8:30 that night, which was deemed too late to start by the league president. The series then moved to Atlanta, but the minor league Atlanta Crackers had home games scheduled for the same days as the series games. The Black Crackers attempted to reschedule the games, but Memphis owner Dr. B. B. Martin refused to reschedule citing

13770-573: The opportunity as a way to convince people that he was interested in cleaning up blackball, not integrating it. In midsummer 1945, Rickey, almost ready with his Robinson plan, pulled out of the league. The league folded after the end of the 1946 season. Pressured by civil rights groups, the Fair Employment Practices Act was passed by the New York State Legislature in 1945. This followed the passing of

13905-401: The owner of the league's Portland (Oregon) Rosebuds franchise. The WCBA disbanded after only two months. Judge Kenesaw M. Landis , the first Commissioner of Major League Baseball , was an intractable opponent of integrating the white majors. During his quarter-century tenure, he blocked all attempts at integrating the game. A popular story has it that in 1943 , Bill Veeck planned to buy

14040-506: The pitcher-catcher battery was made up of the two most marketable icons in all of black baseball: Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson . In 1933, Greenlee, riding the popularity of his Crawfords, became the next man to start a Negro league. In February 1933, Greenlee and delegates from six other teams met at Greenlee's Crawford Grill to ratify the constitution of the National Organization of Professional Baseball Clubs . The name of

14175-460: The president of the Negro National League, Andrew "Rube" Foster , in late July. Neither team was selected to fill the vacancy created by the departure of the Toledo club, but both were granted associate membership to the league. This benefitted both Birmingham and Memphis by preventing National Negro League clubs from enticing players on the Red Sox or Barons roosters to abandon their team and play for

14310-415: The same building from which Lewis ran his funeral home.  Incorporating the team raised fifty thousand dollars for Red Sox operation and stadium maintenance while protect it against the financial woos of one single investor. Dr. J.B. Martin and Dr. W. S. Martin purchased the Red Sox in 1929. They were two of four college-educated brother that lived in Memphis. Dr. J. B. Martin would go on to be owner of

14445-553: The same time, Nat Strong , a white businessman, started using his ownership of baseball fields in the New York City area to become the leading promoter of blackball on the East coast. Just about any game played in New York, Strong would get a cut. Strong eventually used his leverage to almost put the Brooklyn Royal Giants out of business, and then he bought the club and turned it into a barnstorming team. When Foster joined

14580-417: The score tied. Birmingham won game six 2–0. It was also Birmingham pitcher Jim Jefferies second shutout of the series. The series returned to Memphis on September 25. Game seven was the third tie of the series. Called due to darkness in the 11th inning, the game was a shutout for both Drake throwing for Memphis and Birdine who pitched for Birmingham. Memphis was able to take the next two games by shutting out

14715-518: The season after fans and owners appealed to have the ban lifted. The early 1940s saw several other challenges for Memphis. At the start of the 1943 season several players under contract by the Red Sox were enticed to join the Negro National League's Philadelphia Stars . The player dispute between the leagues was not resolved until the beginning of July when the Stars released pitcher Verdell Mathis and four other Red Sox players back to Memphis. A year later

14850-491: The season but never played a game, the Cincinnati Browns and Washington Capital Citys . The league, led by Walter S. Brown of Pittsburgh , applied for and was granted official minor league status and thus "protection" under the major league-led National Agreement . This move prevented any team in organized baseball from signing any of the NCBBL players, which also locked the players to their particular teams within

14985-466: The seven "major Negro leagues" as additional major leagues, adding them to the six historical "major league" designations it made in 1969, thus recognizing statistics and approximately 3,400 players who played from 1920 to 1948. On May 28, 2024, Major League Baseball announced that it had integrated Negro league statistics into its records, which among other changes gives Josh Gibson the highest single-season major league batting average at .466 (1943) and

15120-588: The southeast which limited the high cost of transportation. The first half championship was claimed by both the Elite Giants and the Red Sox. Memphis though would play the Grey Sox, the second half champions, in the league championship series. With the series tied three games each, game seven scheduled for September 21 was canceled. No reason was given for the cancellation and the 1931 season ended with no clear Southern League Champion. Two Negro leagues started

15255-444: The start time for the first game against the Birmingham Black Barons was pushed back from the normal 3:00 to 3:30 time to 5:00. The later start time for these “twilight games” meant more people would be off work and able to come. The other change was the product of J. L. Wilkinson , owner of the Kansas City Monarchs . The Monarchs were touring the country with a portable lighting system. The lights allowed games to be played at night for

15390-538: The team as the Memphis Black Chicks. It wasn't till late July that the newspaper, the Tennessean, published an article about Elite Giants who were to play a four-game series against the Memphis Red Sox. At the start of the 1922 baseball season the team representing Memphis in the Negro Southern League was no longer the A. P. Martin's Barber Boys Baseball Club but rather the Memphis Red Sox. Players on

15525-561: The team had five players that would eventually make the rosters of Major League Baseball teams and two players that were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1921 Memphis had two main Negro baseball clubs, the Memphis Union Giants and the A. P. Martin's Barber Boys Baseball Club. The Union Giants were owned by real estate salesman and bookkeeper Sherman G. King. The Union Giants were managed by Chick Cummings who

15660-485: The team's initial record to 12–12. The Red Sox were ranked fourth in the league with the adjustment. From August 2 to the end of the season Memphis would win only 5 games while losing 14. Memphis finished the season with an average of .439 in 5th place in the league. In early January 1926 Negro National League Winter meeting was held in Philadelphia. At the meeting the league announced that Memphis would be dropped as

15795-569: The team. Players would jump from franchise to franchise, looking for the highest pay, causing imbalance within the leagues. 1925 saw the St. Louis Stars come of age in the Negro National League. They finished in second place during the second half of the year due in large part to their pitcher turned center fielder, Cool Papa Bell , and their shortstop, Willie Wells . A gas leak in his home nearly asphyxiated Rube Foster in 1926, and his increasingly erratic behavior led to him being committed to an asylum

15930-402: The title. The 1931 season did not finish all games, which meant that while St. Louis was awarded the title, non-member Pittsburgh Crawfords disputed their status as champion. From 1924 to 1927, the pennant champion went to play in the Negro World Series . Generally, the team with the best winning percentage (with some minimum number of games played) was awarded the Pennant, but other times it

16065-485: The way for the Cubans was a young pitcher by the name of Andrew "Rube" Foster . The following season, Schlichter, in the finest blackball tradition, hired Foster away from the Cubans and beat them in their 1904 rematch. Philadelphia remained on top of the blackball world until Foster left the team in 1907 to play and manage the Leland Giants (Frank Leland renamed his Chicago Union Giants the Leland Giants in 1905). Around

16200-500: The white majors created the Major League Committee on Baseball Integration . Its members included Joseph P. Rainey , Larry MacPhail and Branch Rickey . Because MacPhail, who was an outspoken critic of integration, kept stalling, the committee never met. Under the guise of starting an all-black league, Rickey sent scouts all around the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico , looking for the perfect candidate to break

16335-582: The white majors were barely recognizable, while the Negro leagues reached their highest plateau. Millions of black Americans were working in war industries and, making good money, they packed league games in every city. Business was so good that promoter Abe Saperstein (famous for the Harlem Globetrotters ) started a new circuit, the Negro Midwest League , a minor league similar to the Negro Southern League. The Negro World Series

16470-400: The winter to the Eastern Colored League . The loss of veteran players devastated the team. In their first seven home games the A.B.C's won only one game. Due to the team's poor performance it was designated as an associate team and Memphis took Indianapolis's place in the league. The Red Sox also assumed Indianapolis A.B.C.'s dismal record of 3–19, but by July the league had decided to changes

16605-405: Was able to turn around the business end of the team as well, by demanding and getting 40 percent of the gate instead of the 10 percent that Frank Leland was getting. By the end of the 1909, Foster demanded that Leland step back from all baseball operations or he (Foster) would leave. When Leland would not give up complete control, Foster quit, and in a heated court battle, got to keep the rights to

16740-462: Was also a player on the team. The A. P. Martin's Barber Boys, also known as the A. P. Martin's Barber College Team, was the creation of a Memphis barber named Arthur Peterson Martin. The team was a way for Martin to promote his two barber shops which were located in Memphis on Main and Beale Street and his barber college. The A. P. Martin's Barber College Team had been in existence since at least 1920. They played home games at Russwood Park . The park

16875-802: Was founded in 1885 when three clubs, the Keystone Athletics of Philadelphia, the Orions of Philadelphia, and the Manhattans of Washington, D.C., merged to form the Cuban Giants . The success of the Cubans led to the creation of the first recognized "Negro league" in 1887—the National Colored Base Ball League . It was organized strictly as a minor league and founded with six teams: Baltimore Lord Baltimores , Boston Resolutes , Louisville Fall City , New York Gorhams , Philadelphia Pythians , and Pittsburgh Keystones . Two more joined before

17010-429: Was hanging out. We rode all night in those dinky buses and then they made you pitch your head off in towns like Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Peoria, Illinois, and other places.” The Red Sox performance slowly declined throughout the decade. They only finished above 500 two times in the ten-year span. The first time was in 1940 when the team finished in second place. A playoff series was not required that year though because

17145-620: Was held on November 15, 1859, in New York City. The Henson Base Ball Club of Jamaica, Queens , defeated the Unknowns of Weeksville, Brooklyn , 54 to 43. Immediately after the end of the American Civil War in 1865 and during the Reconstruction period that followed, a black baseball scene formed in the East and Mid-Atlantic states. Comprising mainly ex-soldiers and promoted by some well-known black officers, teams such as

17280-764: Was home to the white minor league Memphis Chicks . Toward the end of the summer of 1920 a promotion in the Arkansas newspaper the Hot Spring New Era invited readers to come out and watch the “Championship of the South” as the champions of Tennessee, A.P. Martin's Barber College Team face the champions of Arkansas, the Vapor City Tigers. An article in the same paper states that, “the Memphis club has beat everything in Tennessee and Alabama.” The results of

17415-453: Was initially composed of eight teams: Chicago American Giants, Chicago Giants , Cuban Stars, Dayton Marcos , Detroit Stars , Indianapolis ABCs , Kansas City Monarchs, and St. Louis Giants . Foster was named league president and controlled every aspect of the league, including which players played on which teams, when and where teams played, and what equipment was used (all of which had to be purchased from Foster). Foster, as booking agent of

17550-518: Was recognized as contrary to the goal of full integration. And so, the Negro leagues, once among the largest and most prosperous black-owned business ventures, were allowed to fade into oblivion. First a trickle and then a flood of players signed with Major League Baseball teams. Most signed minor league contracts and many languished, shuttled from one bush league team to another despite their success at that level. Negro National League (1920%E2%80%931931) Led by Rube Foster , owner and manager of

17685-541: Was revived in 1942, this time pitting the winners of the eastern Negro National League and midwestern Negro American League . It continued through 1948 with the NNL winning four championships and the NAL three. In 1946, Saperstein partnered with Jesse Owens to form another Negro league, the West Coast Baseball Association (WCBA); Saperstein was league president and Owens was vice-president and

17820-418: Was the team with the most victories. The " games behind " method of recording standings was uncommon in most black leagues. † – 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, unless one team won both halves. From 1925 through 1931, the NNL split the season into two halves. The winner of the first half played

17955-633: Was thrust into World War II. Remembering World War I, black America vowed it would not be shut out of the beneficial effects of a major war effort: economic boom and social unification. Just like the major leagues, the Negro leagues saw many stars miss one or more seasons while fighting overseas. While many players were over 30 and considered "too old" for service, Monte Irvin , Larry Doby and Leon Day of Newark ; Ford Smith , Hank Thompson , Joe Greene , Willard Brown and Buck O'Neil of Kansas City ; Lyman Bostock of Birmingham ; and Lick Carlisle and Howard Easterling of Homestead all served. But

18090-474: Was to use it as a way to launder money from his numbers games. But, after learning about Posey's money-making machine in Homestead , he became obsessed with the sport and his Crawfords. On August 6, 1931, Satchel Paige made his first appearance as a Crawford. With Paige on his team, Greenlee took a huge risk by investing $ 100,000 in a new ballpark to be called Greenlee Field . On opening day, April 30, 1932,

18225-508: Was under severe strain during the 1922 season due to financial problems and bad management. The league was reorganized in 1923 to try to fix these issues. This led to the Red Sox not playing teams in the Negro Southern League after mid-July, and instead play teams from the Negro National League. The team played both the St. Louis Stars and the Chicago American Giants at home. They swept a five-game series with Chicago. Chicago would later go on to win

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