The first Negro National League (NNL) was one of the several

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 ...

that were established during the period in the United States when organized baseball was segregated. The league was formed in 1920 with former player

Rube Foster Andrew "Rube" Foster (September 17, 1879 – December 9, 1930) was an American baseball player, manager, and executive in the Negro leagues. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. Foster, considered by historians to have been per ...

as its president.

League history

Founding

Led by

, owner and manager of the

Chicago American Giants The Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" ...

, the NNL was established on February 13, 1920, by a coalition of team owners at a meeting in a

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

. The new league was the first African-American baseball circuit to achieve stability and last more than one season. At first the league operated mainly in

midwestern The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. ...

cities, ranging from Kansas City in the west to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

in the east; in 1924 it expanded into the

south South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

, adding franchises in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% f ...

, and

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...

Competition

The two most important east coast clubs, the

Hilldale Club The Hilldale Athletic Club (informally known as Darby Daisies) were an American professional Negro league baseball team based in Darby, Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia. Established as a boys team in 1910, the Hilldales were developed by their ...

Darby, Pennsylvania Darby is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough is located along Darby Creek southwest of Center City Philadelphia. The borough of Darby is distinct from the nearby municipality of Darby Township. History Darby ...

, and the

Bacharach Giants The Bacharach Giants were a Negro league baseball team that played in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Founding The club was founded when two African-American politicians moved the Duval Giants of Jacksonville, Florida, to Atlantic City in 1916 an ...

of Atlantic City, were affiliated with the NNL as associate clubs from 1920 to 1922, but did not compete for the championship. In 1923 they and four other eastern teams formed the

Eastern Colored League The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs, more commonly known as the Eastern Colored League (ECL), was one of the several Negro leagues, which operated during the time organized baseball was segregated. League history Founding The ECL ...

(ECL) and raided the NNL for many of its top players, including

John Henry Lloyd John Henry Lloyd (April 25, 1884 – March 19, 1964), nicknamed "Pop" and "El Cuchara", was an American baseball shortstop and manager in the Negro leagues. During his 27-year career, he played for many teams and had a .343 batting average. Lloy ...

, Biz Mackey,

George Scales George Louis Scales (August 16, 1900 - April 15, 1976), nicknamed "Tubby", was an American second baseman and manager in Negro league baseball, most notably with the New York Lincoln Giants and Baltimore Elite Giants. Born in Talladega, Alabama, ...

, George Carr, and

Clint Thomas Clinton Cyrus Thomas (November 25, 1896 – December 2, 1990), nicknamed "Hawk", was a professional baseball player born in Greenup, Kentucky. He was an outfielder and second baseman in the Negro leagues from 1920 to 1938, where he earned the nic ...

, and signing

Oscar Charleston Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 – October 5, 1954) was an American center fielder and manager in Negro league baseball. Over his 43-year baseball career, Charleston played or managed with more than a dozen teams, including the Home ...

, and

Rube Curry George Reuben "Rube" Curry (October 10, 1898 – June 11, 1966) was an American pitcher and manager in Negro league baseball. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Curry made his debut for the Chicago Union Giants in 1919 before coming back to his hom ...

in 1924. The war between the two leagues came to an end in 1924, when they agreed to respect each other's contracts and arranged for the

Colored World Series The Negro World Series was a post-season baseball tournament that was held from 1924 to 1927 and from 1942 to 1948 between the champions of the Negro leagues, matching the mid-western winners against their east-coast counterparts. The series was a ...

between their champions.

Difficulties and demise

The NNL survived controversies over umpiring, scheduling, and what some perceived as league president Rube Foster's disproportionate influence and favoritism toward his own team. It also outlasted Foster's decline into mental illness in 1926, and its eastern rival, the ECL, which folded in early 1928. The NNL finally fell apart in 1931 under the economic stress of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

Legacy

The

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

, founded in 1937 and including several of the same teams that played in the original Negro National League, would eventually carry on as the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

circuit of black baseball. A second Negro National League was organized in 1933, but eventually became concentrated on the east coast. To distinguish between the two unrelated leagues, they are usually referred to as the first Negro National League (NNL I) and the second Negro National League (NNL II).

Negro National League franchises

:''Annual final standings:

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in Brazil. ** The Spanish liner ''Santa Isabel'' breaks ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hold ...

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Itali ...

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of Viet ...

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhano ...

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will b ...

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

(1920–1931) – Known as the Chicago Columbia Giants in 1931; Associate team 1931. *

Chicago Giants The Chicago Giants were a professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois which played in the Negro leagues from 1910 to 1921. History The team was founded by Frank Leland after he and his partner, Rube Foster, split up the Leland Gian ...

(1920–1921) * Cuban Stars (1920–1930) – Known as the Cincinnati Cubans in 1921. *

Dayton Marcos The Dayton Marcos were a Negro league baseball team based from Dayton, Ohio that played during the early twentieth century. Founding and early years The Dayton Marcos history predates the formal organized leagues of Negro league baseball. As an ...

(1920,

) *

Detroit Stars The Detroit Stars were an American baseball team in the Negro leagues and played at historic Mack Park. The Stars had winning seasons every year but two, but were never able to secure any championships. Among their best players was Baseball Hall of ...

(1920–1931) *

Indianapolis ABCs The Indianapolis ABCs were a Negro league baseball team that played both as an independent club and as a charter member of the first Negro National League (NNL). They claimed the western championship of black baseball in 1915 and 1916, and fini ...

(1920–1924, 1925–1926) – Dropped from league mid-season 1924 but returned the following season. *

Kansas City Monarchs 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 ...

(1920–1931) – Associate team 1931. *

St. Louis Giants The St. Louis Stars, originally the St. Louis Giants, were a Negro league baseball team that competed independently from as early as 1906 to 1919, and then joined the Negro National League (NNL) for the duration of their existence. After the 192 ...

(1920–1921) – Replaced by St. Louis Stars in 1922, which was virtually the same team with new owners. ** St. Louis Stars (1922–1931) – Replaced the St. Louis Giants. * Columbus Buckeyes (1921) * Cleveland Tate Stars (1922–1923) – Dropped out mid-season 1923. **

Toledo Tigers The Toledo Tigers were a Negro National League team that operated during the season, its only season in the league, representing Toledo, Ohio. It played its home games at Toledo's Swayne Field, home of the minor league Mud Hens. The team was ...

(1923) – Mid-season replacement for Cleveland Tate Stars. * Pittsburgh Keystones (1922) * Milwaukee Bears (1923) *

Birmingham Black Barons The Birmingham Black Barons were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1920 until 1960. They shared their home field of Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, with the white Birmingham Barons, usually drawing larger crowds and equal pre ...

(1924–1925, 1927–1930) – Associate team 1931. *

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...

(1924) *

Memphis Red Sox 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 la ...

(1924–1925, 1927–1930) – Mid-season replacement in 1924 for Indianapolis ABCs. * Cleveland Elites (1926) – Closely related to both Cleveland Hornets and Cleveland Tigers. *

Cleveland Hornets The Cleveland Hornets were a baseball team in the Negro National League, based in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1927. The Hornets played their home games at Hooper Field. Frank Duncan served as player-manager. Roster References African-American ...

(1927) – Closely related to both Cleveland Elites and Cleveland Tigers. * Cleveland Tigers (1928) – Closely related to both Cleveland Hornets and Cleveland Elites. * Nashville Elite Giants (1930) – Became Cleveland Cubs for 1931 season. ** Cleveland Cubs (1931) – Returned to Nashville in 1932 after NNL folded. * Indianapolis ABCs (2nd team) (1931) * Louisville White Sox (1931) *

Columbus Blue Birds The Columbus Blue Birds were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Columbus, Ohio in 1931 and 1933. Founding Their name appears to have been derived from that of the Columbus Red Birds, the top-level minor league baseball team that ...

– Associate team 1931. * Cuban House of David – Associate team 1931.

Member timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:800 height:500 PlotArea = left:20 right:50 bottom:20 top:20 Colors = id:majorGridColor value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9) id:lineColor value:gray(0.6) id:nl1 value:gray(0.9) id:inactive value:gray(0.5) id:gold value:rgb(0.99,0.72,0.15) id:brown value:rgb(0.36,0.20,0.10) id:vegasgold value:rgb(0.80,0.72,0.49) id:green value:rgb(0, 0.51,0.28) id:darkgreen value:rgb(0, 0.20,0 ) id:orange value:rgb(1 ,0.39,0 ) id:redorange value:rgb(1 ,0.20,0 ) id:red value:rgb(0.80,0.01,0.07) id:red2 value:rgb(0.90,0.01,0.07) id:darkred value:rgb(0.50,0 ,0 ) id:iceblue value:rgb(0.20,0.60,0.80) id:lgray value:gray(0.1) id:gray value:gray(0.3) id:gray2 value:gray(0.5) id:sand value:rgb(0.94,0.89,0.77) id:navy value:rgb(0 ,0 ,0.30) id:teal value:rgb(0 ,0.65,0.65) id:teal2 value:rgb(0 ,0.45,0.45) Period = from:1920 till:1932 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy ScaleMajor = start:1920 increment:1 gridcolor:majorGridColor BarData = bar:CAG # Chicago American Giants bar:CHG # Chicago Giants bar:CSW # Cuban Stars (West) bar:DAY # Dayton Marcos bar:DET # Detroit Stars bar:IND # Indianapolis ABCs bar:KCM # Kansas City Monarchs bar:STL # St. Louis Stars bar:COL # Columbus Buckeyes bar:CTS # Cleveland Tate Stars bar:TOL # Toledo Tigers bar:PIT # Pittsburgh Keystones bar:MIL # Milwaukee Bears bar:BIR # Birmingham Black Barons bar:CLB # Cleveland Browns bar:MEM # Memphis Red Sox bar:CLE # Cleveland Elites bar:CLH # Cleveland Hornets bar:CLT # Cleveland Tigers bar:NAS # Nashville Elite Giants / Cleveland Cubs bar:IN2 # Indianapolis ABCs (II) bar:LOU # Louisville White Sox Define $Up = shift:(,1) Define $Left = anchor:from align:right shift:(-1,) Define $Right = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,) Define $Right2 = anchor:till align:right shift:(-25,) Define $Down = shift:(,-10) Define $UpLeft = anchor:from align:right shift:(-1,1) Define $UpLeft2 = anchor:from align:left shift:(-1,1) Define $UpRight2 = anchor:till align:right shift:(-1,1) Define $UpRight = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,1) Define $DownRight = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,-10) Define $DownLeft = anchor:from align:left shift:(2,-10) Define $UpUpRight = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,10) PlotData = color:inactive textcolor:black width:20 fontsize:S mark:(line,black) anchor:middle # other options are anchor:from anchor:till align:center # other options are align:left align:right shift:(0,-5) # 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:CAG from:1920 till:1932 color:orange text:"Chicago American Giants" $Right2 bar:CHG from:1920 till:1922 color:oceanblue text:"Chicago Giants" $Right bar:CSW from:1920 till:1921 color:sand text:"Cuban Stars~(West)" $UpRight2 bar:CSW from:1921 till:1922 color:sand text:"Cincinnati~Cubans" $UpRight2 bar:CSW from:1922 till:1931 color:sand text:"Cuban Stars (West)" $Right2 bar:DAY from:1920 till:1921 color:purple text:" " $Right bar:DAY from:1926 till:1927 color:purple text:"Dayton Marcos" $Right bar:DET from:1920 till:1932 color:iceblue text:"Detroit Stars" $Right2 bar:IND from:1920 till:1927 color:green text:"Indianapolis ABCs" $Right bar:KCM from:1920 till:1932 color:yellow text:"Kansas City Monarchs" $Right2 bar:STL from:1920 till:1922 color:redorange text:"St. Louis Giants" $Right2 bar:STL from:1922 till:1932 color:redorange text:"St. Louis Stars" $Right2 bar:COL from:1921 till:1922 color:brown text:"Columbus Buckeyes" $Right bar:CTS from:1922 till:1924 color:red text:"Cleveland Tate Stars" $Right bar:TOL from:1923 till:1924 color:navy text:"Toledo Tigers" $Right bar:PIT from:1922 till:1923 color:teal2 text:"Pittsburgh Keystones" $Right bar:MIL from:1923 till:1924 color:gray text:"Milwaukee Bears" $Right bar:BIR from:1924 till:1926 color:gold text:" " $Right bar:BIR from:1927 till:1931 color:gold text:"Birmingham Black Barons" $Right2 bar:CLB from:1924 till:1925 color:blue text:"Cleveland Browns" $Right bar:MEM from:1924 till:1926 color:red2 text:" " $Right bar:MEM from:1927 till:1931 color:red2 text:"Memphis Red Sox" $Right2 bar:CLE from:1926 till:1927 color:kelleygreen text:"Cleveland Elites" $Right bar:CLH from:1927 till:1928 color:yelloworange text:"Cleveland Hornets" $Right bar:CLT from:1928 till:1929 color:gray2 text:"Cleveland Tigers" $Right bar:NAS from:1930 till:1931 color:skyblue text:"Nashville Elite Giants" $Right2 bar:NAS from:1931 till:1932 color:skyblue text:"Cleveland~Cubs" $UpRight2 bar:IN2 from:1931 till:1932 color:teal text:"Indianapolis ABCs (II)" $Right2 bar:LOU from:1931 till:1932 color:vegasgold text:"Louisville White Sox" $Right2 *1920: Formation of NNL consisting of 8 teams – Chicago American Giants, Detroit Stars, Kansas City Monarchs, Indianapolis ABCs, St. Louis Giants, Cuban Stars, Dayton Marcos and Chicago Giants. *1921: Dropped Dayton Marcos; Added Columbus Buckeyes. *1922: Dropped Columbus Buckeyes, Chicago Giants; Added Cleveland Tate Stars, Pittsburgh Keystones. *1923: Dropped Cleveland Tate Stars (mid-season), Pittsburgh Keystones; Added Toledo Tigers (mid-season), Milwaukee Bears. *1924: Dropped Toledo Tigers, Milwaukee Bears, Indianapolis ABCs (mid-season); Added Cleveland Browns, Birmingham Black Barons, Memphis Red Sox (mid-season). *1925: Dropped Cleveland Browns; Re-added Indianapolis ABCs. *1926: Dropped Memphis Red Sox, Birmingham Black Barons; Added Cleveland Elites, re-added Dayton Marcos. *1927: Dropped Dayton Marcos, Indianapolis ABCs; Re-added Birmingham Black Barons, Memphis Red Sox. *1929: Dropped Cleveland Tigers. *1930: Added Nashville Elite Giants. *1931: Dropped Memphis Red Sox, Birmingham Black Barons, Cuban Stars; Added Louisville White Sox, (new) Indianapolis ABCs. League fell apart before season end.

League champions

Pennant winners

From 1920 through 1924, the team in first place at the end of the season was declared the Pennant winner. Due to the unorthodox nature of the schedule (and little incentive to enforce it), some teams frequently played many more games than others did in any given season. This led to some disputed championships and two teams claiming the title. The 1931 season did not finish all games, which meant that while St. Louis was awarded the title, non-member

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 recr ...

disputed their status as champion. From 1924 to 1927, the pennant champion went to play in the

Negro World Series The Negro World Series was a post-season baseball tournament that was held from 1924 to 1927 and from 1942 to 1948 between the champions of the Negro leagues, matching the mid-western winners against their east-coast counterparts. The series was ...

. Generally, the team with the best

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

(with some minimum number of games played) was awarded the Pennant, but other times it was the team with the most victories. The "

games behind In most North American sports, the phrase games behind or games back (often abbreviated GB) is a common way to reflect the gap between a leading team and another team in a sports league, conference, or division. Example In the below standings fr ...

" method of recording standings was uncommon in most black leagues. † – Pennant was decided via a split-season schedule with the winner of the first half of the season playing the winner of the second half of the season, unless one team won both halves.

League play-offs

From 1925 through 1931, the NNL split the season into two halves. The winner of the first half played the winner of the second half for the league Pennant. As mentioned above, disputes also occurred in the split season finishes. 1929 and 1931 saw Kansas City win both halves.

Colored World Series

For the duration of the league, a Colored World Series took place four times, from 1924 through 1927. The NNL Pennant winner met the champion of the rival

. Three out of the four years, the Negro National League team (below in bold) won. ;Legend * Denotes a tied game.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Negro National League (1920-1931) Negro baseball leagues Defunct baseball leagues in the United States African-American sports history Sports leagues established in 1920 Sports leagues disestablished in 1931 1920 establishments in the United States 1931 disestablishments in the United States