Yes, there was more than one Negro National Baseball League. The original Negro National League, founded by Andrew “Rube” Foster in 1920 succumbed to the financial pressures of the Great Depression and folded after the 1931 season. In 1932, the Negro Southern League was black baseball’s only operating major league. […]

The first Negro World Series was played in 1924 between the Kansas City Monarchs (Negro National League champions) and the Hilldale Club (champions of the Eastern Colored League). The Kansas City Monarchs won the championship series 5 games to 4. In order to maximize attendance, the 9-game series was played […]

The Negro National League disbanded after the 1949 season. Although the Negro American League continued to operate throughout the 1950s, the quality of play in that league diminished steadily as black baseball’s best talent was siphoned off by the major and minor leagues. While it is true that the Negro […]

After the integration of professional baseball, two factors combined to bring about the collapse of the Negro Leagues: 1. the best players from the top Negro League teams were signed by Major League organizations, thus weakening the top Negro League teams, and 2. the interest of black fans was quickly […]

From the 1920s through the 1940s exhibition games between Negro League stars and major league stars were both common and very popular with fans. Typically, such games were played between squads of “all-stars” from both leagues. The most famous series of exhibition games were played in 1946 between a Negro […]

Most people believe that Jackie Robinson was the first player to appear on the roster of a major league team. While Robinson was the player who broke the baseball major league’s color barrier in 1947, a few African-American players had played on major league teams during the late 1800s before […]

The first effort to form a professional Negro League was made in 1887. The result was the very short-lived League of Colored Base Ball Clubs. The league lasted only a week. The first successful Negro League was formed in 1920 by Andrew “Rube” Foster, owner of the powerful Chicago American […]

Actually, dozens of all-black professional and semi-professional baseball teams played throughout the United States in the first half of the 20th century. At the top level, the best Negro League teams competed in leagues that were regarded as the black “majors.” The Negro National League was founded in 1920 by […]

The New York Yankees first added pinstripes to their uniforms for the 1912 season. At the time, they were still known as the New York Highlanders, though the name “Yankees” was becoming more and more popular, and became the official name the next year. For the next two years, the […]

Here are the 1981 Baltimore Orioles starters: 1B Eddie Murray2B Rich Dauer3B Doug DeCincesSS Mark Belanger and Lenn SakataOF Ken Singleton, Al Bumbry, and Gary RoenickeC Rick DempseyDH Terry CrowleyStarters: Dennis Martinez, Scott McGregor, Mike Flanagan, Jim Palmer, and Steve Stone