Yesterday’s post about the birth of the Negro National League in 1920 got me thinking about how the organization was originally conceived. Here’s an article from the Chicago Defender that discusses the league’s plans in detail, along with a list of players for the six teams that were at that point confirmed as members (Mark Aubrey posted an article from the Baltimore Afro-American that contains the same list):
A few notes about the NNL’s origins:
What we now know as the Negro National League, based in the Midwest, was originally the “Western Circuit” of the Negro National Baseball League. The idea, as explained here, was that the organization would eventually expand to take in the eastern clubs, presumably to be called the “Eastern Circuit.” When the Negro Southern League was organized the following month, it was commonly thought that it would eventually become part of Foster’s overarching structure, too. The term “Western Circuit” was used through much of the 1920 season, but by 1921 it was gradually fading out as a proper name, to be replaced by “National League.”
While the Bacharach Giants and Hilldale Club were associated with the NNL from 1920 through 1922, Rube Foster could not reach a deal with Nat Strong, who controlled the other big eastern clubs, and so the projected “Eastern Circuit” never materialized. In the end Ed Bolden and the Bacharachs’ ownership, stranded by themselves hundreds of miles from the rest of the league, made a separate peace with Strong, and the Eastern Colored League was born, completely independent of Foster.
As I mentioned yesterday, the NNL’s original plan was to begin operation in 1921, not 1920. This was supposed to be so that all clubs, including the traveling Cuban Stars and Chicago Giants, could find a home park. “The circuit will not officially operate until each city has a park, either leased or owned,” the Defender says. The status of the traveling clubs—the Chicago Giants, Cuban Stars, and (according to the Sun) Dayton Marcos—is a little unclear, but they were apparently considered not full league members at first.
The Kansas City Sun explains that in 1920 Rube Foster’s booking agency would assign dates between the clubs “instead of a regular league schedule being played”—I’m not sure I understand the distinction they’re drawing, unless they just mean that league clubs would play each other without the pennant being contested. By May 2, when the Chicago Giants met the A.B.C.’s at Washington Park in Indianapolis, all this had been forgotten or revised, and the NNL’s first season was officially on.
Lastly: although the building at 18th Vine that hosted the meeting is commonly called the Paseo YMCA, at the time it was known as the Community Center or the Community Club Rooms (with the YMCA housed within).
(Chicago Defender, February 21, 1920, p. 9)
And here’s an article from the Kansas City Sun that covers some of the same territory:
(Kansas City Sun, February 28, 1920, p. 9)
A few notes about the NNL’s origins:
What we now know as the Negro National League, based in the Midwest, was originally the “Western Circuit” of the Negro National Baseball League. The idea, as explained here, was that the organization would eventually expand to take in the eastern clubs, presumably to be called the “Eastern Circuit.” When the Negro Southern League was organized the following month, it was commonly thought that it would eventually become part of Foster’s overarching structure, too. The term “Western Circuit” was used through much of the 1920 season, but by 1921 it was gradually fading out as a proper name, to be replaced by “National League.”
While the Bacharach Giants and Hilldale Club were associated with the NNL from 1920 through 1922, Rube Foster could not reach a deal with Nat Strong, who controlled the other big eastern clubs, and so the projected “Eastern Circuit” never materialized. In the end Ed Bolden and the Bacharachs’ ownership, stranded by themselves hundreds of miles from the rest of the league, made a separate peace with Strong, and the Eastern Colored League was born, completely independent of Foster.
(Chicago Defender, April 24, 1920, p. 9)
As I mentioned yesterday, the NNL’s original plan was to begin operation in 1921, not 1920. This was supposed to be so that all clubs, including the traveling Cuban Stars and Chicago Giants, could find a home park. “The circuit will not officially operate until each city has a park, either leased or owned,” the Defender says. The status of the traveling clubs—the Chicago Giants, Cuban Stars, and (according to the Sun) Dayton Marcos—is a little unclear, but they were apparently considered not full league members at first.
The Kansas City Sun explains that in 1920 Rube Foster’s booking agency would assign dates between the clubs “instead of a regular league schedule being played”—I’m not sure I understand the distinction they’re drawing, unless they just mean that league clubs would play each other without the pennant being contested. By May 2, when the Chicago Giants met the A.B.C.’s at Washington Park in Indianapolis, all this had been forgotten or revised, and the NNL’s first season was officially on.
Lastly: although the building at 18th Vine that hosted the meeting is commonly called the Paseo YMCA, at the time it was known as the Community Center or the Community Club Rooms (with the YMCA housed within).
(Kansas City Sun, February 14, 1920, p. 8)
I don’t have space in this post, but next I want to discuss the roster list above, and how the teams of the NNL’s first season were put together.
Posted by Gary Ashwill
Have you found any more insight into the formation of the league? From Rube Foster's biography, I found this very interesting talking about a Wyatt article discussing the origins of the "scheme" of the NNL (But way biased I'm also from Dayton) https://i.imgur.com/97sqbht.png
Posted by: Alex Smith | March 18, 2019 at 09:45 AM