The Columbia Giants were a professional, black
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
team based in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century, prior to the
Negro leagues
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...
.
Founding
In 1899, a group known as the Columbia Club, organized the Columbia Giants under the direction of
John W. Patterson. Many of the original players including Patterson came from the recently disbanded
Page Fence Giants
The Page Fence Giants were a professional Black-American baseball team based in Adrian, Michigan, from 1895 to 1898, performing as one of the nation's top teams in the Negro leagues. Named after the Page Woven Wire Fence Company in Adrian, they ...
. Patterson also signed
Chicago Unions
The Chicago Unions were a professional, black baseball team that played in the late 19th century, prior to the formation of the Negro leagues.
Founding
Organized as the Unions in 1887, the club was led by Abe Jones (1887–1889) and by W.S. ...
pitcher
Harry Buckner.
1899 season
In 1899, managed by Al Garrett, they beat the Chicago Unions for the western championship, winning game one 4–2 and game two 6–0. Stars included (Grant)
Home Run Johnson
Grant U. "Home Run" Johnson (September 23, 1872 – September 4, 1963) was an American shortstop and second baseman in baseball's Negro leagues. In a career that spanned over 30 years, he played for many of the greatest teams of the deadball era ...
at shortstop,
Charlie Grant at secondbase, and (George)
Chappie Johnson at firstbase and catcher. They lost a cross-country title match with the
Cuban X-Giants by a 7–4 score. Home Run Johnson homered in two of the three major matches.
1900 season
At the beginning of the season, in May, the team included
George Wilson,
Sol White
King Solomon "Sol" White (June 12, 1868 – August 26, 1955) was an American professional baseball infielder, manager and executive, and one of the pioneers of the Negro leagues. An active sportswriter for many years, he wrote the first definit ...
,
Charlie Grant,
Joseph "Cannon Ball" Miller,
William Binga,
Chappie Johnson,
Peter Burns,
Sherman Barton,
Harry Buckner, and
Billy Holland, with
John W. Patterson managing.
["Colored Champions" Muskegon Daily Chronicle, Muskegon, MI, Tuesday, May 15, 1900, Page 7, Columns 3 and 4](_blank)
/ref> Patterson's office that year is listed as 3030 State Street in Chicago, Illinois.["The Columbia Giants of Chicago" Indianapolis Freeman, Indianapolis, IN, Saturday, March 24, 1900, Page 7, Column 1](_blank)
/ref>
In 1900 no championship was played and the Unions and Columbia Giants both claimed to be number one. Home Run Johnson
Grant U. "Home Run" Johnson (September 23, 1872 – September 4, 1963) was an American shortstop and second baseman in baseball's Negro leagues. In a career that spanned over 30 years, he played for many of the greatest teams of the deadball era ...
went to the Union Giants but was replaced by future Hall-of-Famer Sol White
King Solomon "Sol" White (June 12, 1868 – August 26, 1955) was an American professional baseball infielder, manager and executive, and one of the pioneers of the Negro leagues. An active sportswriter for many years, he wrote the first definit ...
. Pitcher Billy Holland also joined the team that year.
Merge
In 1901, Frank Leland
Frank C. Leland (1869 – November 14, 1914) was an American baseball player, field manager and club owner in the Negro leagues.
Early life and career beginnings
Leland was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He attended Fisk University in Nashville, ...
combined his Chicago Unions
The Chicago Unions were a professional, black baseball team that played in the late 19th century, prior to the formation of the Negro leagues.
Founding
Organized as the Unions in 1887, the club was led by Abe Jones (1887–1889) and by W.S. ...
with the Giants and renamed the team the Chicago Union Giants
The Leland Giants, originally the Chicago Union Giants, were a Negro league baseball team that competed independently during the first decade of the 20th century. The team was formed via a merge of the Chicago Unions and the Chicago Columbia Gia ...
, which was renamed to the Leland Giants
The Leland Giants, originally the Chicago Union Giants, were a Negro league baseball team that competed independently during the first decade of the 20th century. The team was formed via a merge of the Chicago Unions and the Chicago Columbia Gia ...
in 1905.
Franchise continuum
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bar:UNI # Chicago Unions
bar:AMG # Chicago American Giants
bar:COL # Chicago Columbia Giants
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# Note on dates: A team's bar begins with the season that team played its first game, and ends with the season after that team played its last game. For example, the Cleveland Tate Stars played their first game in 1922 and played their last game in 1923. Therefore, their bar goes from 1922 to 1924.
bar:UNI from:1887 till:1901 color:skyblue text:"Chicago Unions" $Right2
bar:UNI from:1910 till:1921 color:gold text:"Chicago Giants" $Right2
bar:AMG from:1901 till:1910 color:yellow text:"Chicago Union Giants / Leland Giants (I)"
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References
*This article includes information from th
article of the same name
in the Baseball Reference Bullpen, accessed November 30, 2006. It is available under the GNU Free Documentation License
The GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL or simply GFDL) is a copyleft license for free documentation, designed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU Project. It is similar to the GNU General Public License, giving readers the r ...
.
*
*
{{Negro League teams, Independent
Negro league baseball teams
Columbia giants
Defunct baseball teams in Illinois
Baseball teams disestablished in 1900
Baseball teams established in 1899