The Bacharach Giants were a

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

team that played in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

Founding

The club was founded when two African-American politicians moved the Duval Giants of

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, to Atlantic City in 1916 and renamed them after Harry Bacharach, the city's mayor. The Bacharachs became a top independent team within a few years, featuring shortstop Dick Lundy, third baseman Oliver Marcell, and the great pitchers Dick Redding and Jesse "Nip" Winters.

League play

In 1920 the club joined the Midwest-based Negro National League (NNL) as an associate member. Though the Bacharachs played NNL teams extensively, touring the Midwest each year from 1920 to 1922, they did not compete for the league championship. In the winter of 1920-1921, the club competed in the

Cuban League The Cuban League ( Spanish: ''Liga cubana'') was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the ...

, and were managed by

Tinti Molina José Agustín "Tinti" Molina Becerra (August 28, 1873 - January 10, 1961) was an American baseball catcher, first baseman and manager (baseball), manager in the Cuban League and Negro league baseball, Negro leagues. He played and managed from 1 ...

. In 1922, the club splintered into two factions; one took most of the roster and moved to New York City under the management of John Henry Lloyd, while the other remained in Atlantic City. In 1923, the two clubs were reunited in Atlantic City, and the Bacharach Giants became a founding member of the Eastern Colored League (ECL). The team hovered around .500 until 1926, when the shortstop Dick Lundy took over as playing manager, and brought home two consecutive pennants, helped by Marcelle, the center fielder Chaney White, and pitchers Rats Henderson, Claude Grier, and Luther Farrell. The Bacharachs lost the Negro League World Series to 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" F ...

both years, though Grier and Farrell both tossed no-hitters for the Atlantic City team, the only no-hitters in Negro League World Series history. When the ECL failed early in 1928, the Bacharachs continued to play as an independent team.

Decline and demise

Despite the Bacharachs' success, attendance was not high enough to sustain their high-priced roster. In one of the most famous trades in Negro league history, they sent Lundy and Marcelle to the Baltimore Black Sox in return for veteran first baseman and manager Ben Taylor, catcher Mack Eggleston, and cash. Lundy and Marcelle sparked the Black Sox to the 1929

American Negro League The American Negro League (ANL) was one of several Negro league baseball, Negro leagues established during the period in the United States in which organized baseball was segregated. The ANL operated on the East Coast of the United States in 1929. ...

pennant, while the Bacharachs languished in fifth place (out of six teams), with a 19–45 record. The team disbanded after the 1929 season and its connection to Atlantic City ended.

Later reincarnation and demise

In 1931, white promoter Harry Passon organized a new Bacharach team based in Philadelphia. The club eventually joined Gus Greenlee's new Negro National League in 1934 but returned to independent baseball in 1935. The Bacharachs then operated independently until Passon's death in 1942 and then disbanded for good.

References

*''The Negro Leagues Book'' edited by Dick Clark & Larry Lester Publisher: The Society for American Baseball Research (Cleveland OH) *''The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues'' by James A. Riley Publisher: Carroll & Graf (New York NY) *''Negro League Baseball - The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution'' by Neil Lanctot Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (Philadelphia, PA)

External links

1920 Bacharach Giants Calendar
{{Authority control Baseball in Atlantic City, New Jersey Negro league baseball teams in New Jersey Baseball teams disestablished in 1929 Baseball teams established in 1916 Professional baseball teams in New Jersey 1929 disestablishments in New Jersey 1916 establishments in New Jersey