The Columbus Buckeyes 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 for a single season, 1921, in the Negro National League.

Founding

Following the 1920 season, the Dayton Marcos' franchise slot was sold to two Columbus businessmen, Harry St. Clair and Dr. Howard Smith. They immediately moved the club to Columbus and renamed them the Buckeyes. Hall-of-Fame shortstop John Henry Lloyd was hired as playing manager of the Negro league team and

Sol White King Solomon White (June 12, 1868 – August 26, 1955) was an American professional baseball infielder, manager (baseball), manager and executive, and one of the pioneers of the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues. An active sportswriter for m ...

, a manager, player and journalist in African-American baseball history, served as coach and general adviser to the team. A young Clint Thomas, who later became a successful outfielder, was the team's second baseman; fastballer

Roy Roberts Roy Roberts (born Roy Barnes Jones; March 19, 1906 – May 28, 1975) was an American character actor. Over his more than 40-year career, he appeared in more than nine hundred productions on stage and screen. Life and career Born in Tamp ...

was the workhorse of the pitching staff.

Demise

The team was not very successful, either on the field or at the box office, causing Lloyd to constantly adjust the lineup and seek new players. Eventually the club finished seventh out of eight teams with a 25-38 record. At season's end the Columbus Buckeyes were dissolved, and Lloyd moved east to manage 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 and ...

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 teams Negro league baseball teams in Ohio Baseball teams in Columbus, Ohio Defunct baseball teams in Ohio Baseball teams disestablished in 1921 Baseball teams established in 1921 African-American history in Columbus, Ohio 1921 establishments in Ohio 1921 disestablishments in Ohio