Atlanta Black Crackers

Last updated
Atlanta Black Crackers
AtlantaBlackCrackers1932.png
Information
League
Location Atlanta, Georgia
Ballpark
Established 1919
Disbanded 1939
Nickname(s)
  • Atlanta Cubs (1919, 1926)
  • Atlanta Grey Sox (1929)
  • Indianapolis ABCs (1939)

The Atlanta Black Crackers (originally known as the Atlanta Cubs and later briefly the Indianapolis ABCs) were a professional Negro league baseball team which played during the early to mid-20th century. They were primarily a minor Negro league team; however in the brief period they played as a major Negro league team, they won the second half pennant of the Negro American League in 1938 but lost the play-off for the overall season title.

Contents

Beginnings

The Atlanta Black Crackers were founded as the Atlanta Cubs as a semiprofessional team of black college students. They began to play independently in 1919 and changed their name to the Black Crackers because fans had already begun to call them by that name. [1] [2] They were named after the local white league team, the Atlanta Crackers, of the Class A Southern Association. It was not unusual for white and Negro league teams to have similar names, but in this case "Cracker" was a term with a complicated history, used sometimes as a colloquial and pejorative nickname for rural southern Whites, but also used affectionately by residents of Florida and Georgia who had long and deep ties to that region. [3]

League play

Negro Southern League

The Black Crackers joined the minor league Negro Southern League (NSL) in March 1920. Their uniforms, bats, baseballs, and other supplies were donated by their white Southern Association counterpart, the Atlanta Crackers. [2] They were slated to play the 1921 season in the newly formed Negro Southeastern League under the Cubs moniker, however no records have been found of the league playing a season; [4] they instead continued competing as the Black Sox in the NSL.

From 1922 through 1925, the Black Crackers played an independent barnstorming schedule and did not participate in any league play. After taking a two-year hiatus, the NSL re-grouped for the 1926 season and Atlanta was included in the league schedule for 1926 and 1927. When the NSL again went on hiatus in 1928, the Black Crackers returned to barnstorming. In 1929, Atlanta returned to the NSL, this time known as the Grey Sox, however after the season they returned to barnstorming.

By 1932, the Great Depression had decimated the profits of most Negro league teams and only a few organized Negro leagues survived. Atlanta had trouble profiting on their own causing them to go back to playing a league schedule. The NSL was considered the highest quality surviving league and it therefore became the de facto major league for the 1932 season and was the only organized league to complete their full schedule. After the season, the Black Crackers once again played on their own for another two seasons.

W. B. Baker brought Atlanta back to the NSL in 1935 and 1936, but the NSL collapsed for the last time after the 1936 season. Some of its member teams folded as well, but the Black Crackers were invited into the newly organized Negro American League.

The Atlanta Black Crackers left the NSL having a few solid years, but never finishing above the middle of the pack and finishing last in 1926 and 1927.

Negro American League

After W. B. Baker died suddenly, new owner John H. Harden took over in 1937 barnstorming in the north. Harden put together a talented roster and the team started winning quickly.

In 1938 the Black Crackers were invited to play in a year-old major league, the Negro American League. They went on to have a very strong year, finishing in first place for the second half of the season, but scheduling problems and umpire controversies caused their Pennant series with the first-half champion Memphis Red Sox to be canceled. [2]

Unable to draw sufficient crowds in Atlanta, Harden took the team to Indianapolis following the 1938 season, and played as the fourth team to use the name "Indianapolis ABCs". At the conclusion of the 1939 season, the team disbanded due to low attendance.

Players

Hall of Famers

Home fields

The team played their home games at Ponce de Leon Park, along with the white Atlanta Crackers. However, the Black Crackers were not allowed to play at Ponce de Leon Park when the Crackers had a home game. The Black Crackers were then forced to play at either Morehouse College or Morris Brown College. [5]

MLB throwback jerseys

On June 28, 1997, the Atlanta Braves wore 1938 Black Crackers home uniforms and the visiting Philadelphia Phillies wore 1938 Philadelphia Stars road uniforms. [6] The teams wore these same uniforms again for their matchup on May 14, 2011. [7] On April 27, 2013, the Braves sported Black Crackers throwbacks in a game against the Detroit Tigers. On May 3, 2014, the Braves wore the Black Crackers jerseys in a game against the San Francisco Giants. On June 20, 2015, the Braves again wore the Black Crackers uniform in a game against the New York Mets, who wore the uniform of the Brooklyn Royal Giants to honor the Negro League. On May 15, 2016, the Braves wore Black Crackers away jerseys while playing against the Kansas City Royals, who wore Kansas City Monarchs jerseys. All game-worn gear from this game was auctioned off as a fundraiser for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. [8]

Related Research Articles

The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and disbanded after its 1962 season.

The Homestead Grays were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kansas City Monarchs</span> Negro League baseball team in Kansas City, Missouri

The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1930. Wilkinson was the first white owner at the time of the establishment of the team. In 1930, the Monarchs became the first professional baseball team to use a portable lighting system which was transported from game to game in trucks to play games at night, five years before any Major League Baseball team did. The Monarchs won ten league championships before integration, and triumphed in the first Negro World Series in 1924. The Monarchs had only one season in which they did not have a winning record and produced more major league players than any other Negro league franchise. It was disbanded in 1965.

The Atlanta Crackers were Minor League Baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philadelphia Stars (baseball)</span> Negro league baseball team from Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Stars were a Negro league baseball team from Philadelphia. The Stars were founded in 1933 when Ed Bolden returned to professional black baseball after being idle since early 1930. The Stars were an independent ball club in 1933, a member of the Negro National League from 1934 until the League's collapse following the 1948 season, and affiliated with the Negro American League from 1949 to 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Major League Baseball season</span> Sports season

The 2007 Major League Baseball season began on April 1 with a rematch of the 2006 National League Championship Series; the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets played the first game of the season at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, which was won by the Mets, 6–1. The regular season concluded with seven teams entering the postseason who had failed to reach the 2006 playoffs including all National League teams, with only the New York Yankees returning; a dramatic one-game playoff between the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres; and the largest September collapse for a leading team in baseball history, with the Mets squandering a 7-game lead with 17 to play, losing on the final day of the regular season, and the Philadelphia Phillies capturing the National League East for the first time since 1993. The season ended on October 28, with the Boston Red Sox sweeping the World Series over the Rockies, four games to zero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civil Rights Game</span> Series of Major League Baseball games

The Civil Rights Game was an annual game in Major League Baseball (MLB) that honored the history of civil rights in the United States. Its first two playings also marked an unofficial end to the league's spring training. The game was played annually from 2007 through 2015. In conjunction with the Civil Rights Game, MLB annually honored pioneers of civil rights with Beacon Awards.

The 2008 Major League Baseball season began on March 25, 2008, in Tokyo, Japan with the 2007 World Series champion Boston Red Sox defeating the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome 6–5 in the first game of a two-game series, and ended on September 30 with the host Chicago White Sox defeating the Minnesota Twins in a one-game playoff to win the AL Central. The Civil Rights Game, an exhibition, in Memphis, Tennessee, took place March 29 when the New York Mets beat the Chicago White Sox, 3–2.

The 1997 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 115th season in the history of the franchise.

The following is a timeline of franchise evolution in Major League Baseball. The histories of franchises in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP), National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NA), Union Association (UA), and American Association (AA) before they joined the National League (NL) are also included. In 1900 the minor league Western League renamed itself the American League (AL). All of the 1899 Western League teams were a part of the transformation with the Saint Paul Apostles moving to Chicago and to play as the White Stockings. In 1901 the AL declared itself a Major League. For its inaugural major league season the AL dropped its teams in Indianapolis, Buffalo and Minneapolis and replaced them with franchises in Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore and the Kansas City Blues moved to Washington to play as the Senators.

The Negro Southern League (NSL) was one of the several Negro baseball leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The NSL was organized as a minor league in 1920 and lasted until 1936. It was considered a major league for the 1932 season and it was also the only organized league to finish its full schedule that season. Prior to the season, several established teams joined the NSL, mainly from the collapsed Negro National League.

The 2012 Major League Baseball season began on April 5 because during the MLB Spring Training it was the first of a two-game series between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. On November 22, 2011, a new contract between Major League Baseball and its players union was ratified, and as a result, an expanded playoff format adding two clubs would be adopted no later than 2013 according to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The new format of the 2012 postseason to used the 1 game series of the Wild Card round of the format for the 2012 postseason only. The restriction against divisional rivals playing against each other in the Division Series round that had existed in previous years was eliminated, as the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees squared off in one of the best-of-five LDS in the American League. On April 4, 2012, it was the last day of the MLB Spring Training and ended with the new Marlins Park, as the newly renamed Miami Marlins hosted the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. The regular season ended on Wednesday, October 3. The entire master schedule was released on September 14, 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felix Evans</span> American baseball player

Felix Evans Jr. , nicknamed "Chin", was an American baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues. Known for his curveball, Evans played from 1934 to 1949 with several teams, most prominently for the Memphis Red Sox.

The San Francisco Sea Lions were a Negro league baseball team in the West Coast Negro Baseball League, based in San Francisco, California, in 1946. Following the collapse of the league, the Sea Lions played as an independent barnstorming team.

The 2013 Major League Baseball season started on March 31 with a Sunday night game between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros. Opening Day for most clubs was a day later on April 1. The regular season ended on September 30, extended one day for a one-game playoff between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers to decide the second American League Wild Card winner.

The 2014 Major League Baseball season began on March 22 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Australia, between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The North American part of the season started on March 30 and ended on September 28.

The 2016 Major League Baseball season began on April 3, 2016, with a Sunday afternoon matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates, the two teams with the best regular-season records in 2015, at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The regular season ended on Sunday, October 2, 2016, and the postseason on Wednesday, November 2, 2016, with the Chicago Cubs coming back from a three games to one deficit to defeat the Cleveland Indians in the World Series and win their first championship since 1908.

The 2017 Major League Baseball season began on April 2 with three games, including the 2016 World Series champions Chicago Cubs facing off against the St. Louis Cardinals, the regular season ended in late September. The postseason began on October 3. The World Series began October 24 and Game 7 was played on November 1, in which the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games, to capture their first World Series championship in franchise history.

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 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 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.

The Atlanta Black Crackers were a professional Negro league baseball team which played during the mid-20th century. They were a minor Negro league team and were named after the original Atlanta Black Crackers.

References

  1. Darnell, Tim (2003). The Crackers: Early Days of Atlanta Baseball. Hill Street Press. ISBN   978-1-58-818077-3. Archived from the original on 2008-05-17.
  2. 1 2 3 Heaphy, Leslie. "The Atlanta Black Crackers". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  3. Demby, Gene (July 1, 2013). "The Secret History Of The Word 'Cracker'". NPR . Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  4. "Negro Southeastern League (1921)" (PDF). Center for Negro League Baseball Research. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  5. "Atlanta Black Crackers". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  6. Zack, Bill (1997-06-29). "Braves pound Phillies 9-1". Augusta Chronicle. Archived from the original on September 4, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  7. "Braves beat Phillies 5-3". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 14 May 2011. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  8. "Celebrate with the Kansas City Royals as we pay tribute to the Negro Leagues". MLB.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-04.