The Baltimore Elite Giants were a professional

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 t ...

team that played in 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 ...

from to . The team was established by Thomas T. Wilson, in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

as the semi-pro Nashville Standard Giants on March 26, 1920. The team was renamed the Elite Giants in , and moved to

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

in , where the team remained for the duration of their existence. The team and its fans pronounced the word "Elite" as "ee-light".

Barnstorming years

The Nashville Standard Giants were formed as a semi-professional all-Negro team in

, on March 26, 1920. The club was chartered by Thomas T. Wilson, T. Clay Moore, J. B. Boyd, Marshall Garrett, Walter Phillips, W. H. Pettis, J. L. Overton, and R. H. Tabor. The team's origins lie in that of two of Nashville's local negro amateur baseball teams: the Nashville Maroons (formed in 1909) and the Elites (formed in 1913). Their home games were played at Sulphur Dell and Greenwood Park, the African American community's local park. The Standard Giants welcomed any and all competition, including white-only teams, but played independently of any organized leagues until the mid-1920s. The team was renamed the Nashville Elite Giants (pronounced ''EE-light'') in 1921. That same year, they swept the Montgomery Grey Sox (of the minor league Negro Southern League) in a four-game championship series to win the right to declare themselves the Southern Colored Champions. They continued to play independently until joining the Negro Southern League in 1926. Nashville completed its first season in the league with a 15–15 (.500) record. In 1929, Nashville was granted an associate membership in the Negro National League. The team finished in eighth (last) place with a 10–20 (.333) record. That same year, Wilson built a new ballpark for his team, Tom Wilson Park, which also served as a spring training site for other Negro league teams, as well as white-only minor league teams, such as the

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cla ...

Nashville Vols The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1901 to 1963. Known only as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons, they were officially named the Nashville Volunteers (often sh ...

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

, and

Roy Campanella Roy Campanella (November 19, 1921 – June 26, 1993), nicknamed "Campy", was an American baseball player, primarily as a catcher. The Philadelphia native played in the Negro leagues and Mexican League for nine years before entering the minor lea ...

are known to have played at the park. The 8,000 (or 4,000) seat facility featured a single-decked, covered grandstand. The ballpark was centrally located in Nashville's largest black community, known as Trimble Bottom, near the convergence of Second and Forth Avenues, just north of the fairgrounds.

Negro league years

National League

In , the team gained admission into their first organized league, the Negro National League. The Elite Giants finished in seventh place with a 39–47 record. The following season, , Wilson moved the team to Cleveland, Ohio and renamed the team the Cleveland Cubs, remaining in the same league. The team finished in seventh place with a 25–28 record.

Southern League

The Negro National League collapsed after the 1931 season, and the team moved back to Nashville, reverted to being called the Elite Giants, and joined the Negro Southern League, where they played in .

Second National League

A second incarnation of the Negro National League was formed in , where the Elite Giants played for the following two seasons. Nashville finished the 1933 season in fifth place with a 29–22 record and tied as winners of the second half of the season with the

Pittsburgh Crawfords The Pittsburgh Crawfords, popularly known as the Craws, were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team, previously known as the Crawford Colored Giants, was named after the Crawford Bath House, a recre ...

. Nashville lost a three-game playoff with Pittsburgh for a spot in the league championship game. In , the Elite Giants finished in fourth place with a 20–28 record. In , the team moved to Columbus, Ohio and became the Columbus Elite Giants. They played only one season in Columbus, 1935, finishing in fourth place with a 16–17 record. In the team moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and became the Washington Elite Giants. In their first season, they finished in fifth place with a 21–24 record. In , the Elites finished in third place with a 27–17 record. The team moved again in to Baltimore, Maryland and became the Baltimore Elite Giants. In , the Elites won the Negro National Title, defeating the

Homestead Grays The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and remained in continuo ...

. In , they won the first half, but lost the championship to second half winners, the Homestead Grays.

American League

In , the Negro National League ceased operations, and the Elite Giants joined the

Negro American League 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. Negro American League franchises :''Ann ...

. In their first season with the new league, Baltimore captured the Eastern and Western Division titles, earning them a second Negro National Title. In thirteen seasons in Baltimore, of the eleven which have available standings, the Elite Giants finished in the top three during nine of those seasons. In dire financial straits, the club played one final season in before dissolving.

Baseball Hall of Fame inductees

These Baltimore Elite Giants alumni have been inducted to the

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays basebal ...

. A number of future major leaguers wore the uniform of the Elite Giants, including Hall of Famers

and

Leon Day Leon Day (October 30, 1916 – March 13, 1995) was an American professional baseball pitcher who spent the majority of his career in the Negro leagues. Recognized as one of the most versatile athletes in the league during his prime, Day could p ...

(who played in with the team in the non-major league years of 1949-50). Also a member of the Elite Giants were two future National League Rookie of the Years in Junior Gilliam (1953) and

Joe Black Joseph Black (February 8, 1924 – May 17, 2002) was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league and Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Redlegs, and Washington Senators who became the first black pitcher to win a Wor ...

(1952), each who played with Campanella for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Championships

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Felton Snow Felton "Skipper" Snow (October 23, 1905 – March 16, 1974) was a Negro leagues professional baseball player who played for the Nashville Elite Giants that later became the Columbus Elite Giants, the Washington Elite Giants, and the Baltimore El ...

, , 20–24 , , 3–1–1 over

, - style="text-align:center; ;" , colspan="3", Total Negro National League pennants , colspan="1", 1

References

*Nipper, Skip. ''Baseball in Nashville''. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2007.
"Baltimore Elite Giants."
''Negro League Baseball Players Association''. 2007. 28 December 2007.

External links

Franchise history at Seamheads.com
{{Authority control African-American history in Baltimore Negro league baseball teams Amateur baseball teams in Tennessee

Washington Elite Giants Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Professional baseball teams in Maryland Professional baseball teams in Ohio Professional baseball teams in Tennessee Sports in Nashville, Tennessee Sports teams in Columbus, Ohio

Sports teams in Baltimore Baseball teams established in 1920 Baseball teams disestablished in 1950 1920 establishments in Tennessee 1950 disestablishments in Maryland Defunct baseball teams in Maryland