The International League of Independent Professional Base Ball Clubs, also referred to as the International League, was a racially-integrated

independent baseball league An independent baseball league is a professional baseball league in the United States or Canada that is not overseen by Major League Baseball or its affiliated Minor League Baseball system (historically referred to as organized baseball). Inde ...

league that played a single season during the summer of

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

. It was composed of a mix of white,

Cuban Cuban or Cubans may refer to: Related to Cuba * of or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban Americ ...

and

Negro league 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 ...

baseball teams in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, as well as

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, . The league was planned to continue the following year, but never materialized for 1907. The league's integrated status was unique, given the

baseball color line The color line, also known as the color barrier, in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Major League Baseball and its affiliated Minor League Baseball, Minor Leagues until 1947 (with a few notable exceptions in the 1 ...

in effect in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

and its minor league affiliates. In that sense, it was also not a traditional "

," since fewer than half the teams had all-black rosters. The International League was initially composed of five teams (one white American, two Cuban, and two African American), with three later replacement teams.

Teams

The Havana Stars dissolved in June and were replaced by Riverton–Palmyra; the Cuban Stars and Quaker Giants stopped playing their league schedule in July and both were replaced. * Cuban Stars of Havana — primarily Cuban roster ** Wilmington Giants — replaced Cuban Stars in July *

Cuban X-Giants The Cuban X-Giants were a professional Negro league baseball, Negro league baseball team that played from 1896 to 1906. Originally most of the players were former Cuban Giants, or ex-Giants. Like the Cuban Giants, the original players were not Cu ...

— primarily negro/Cuban roster * Havana Stars — primarily Cuban roster ** Riverton–Palmyra Athletic Club — replaced Havana Stars in June; primarily white roster * Philadelphia Professionals — primarily white roster * Philadelphia Quaker Giants — based in New York; primarily negro roster **

Philadelphia Giants The Philadelphia Giants were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1902 to 1911. From 1904 to 1909 they were one of the strongest teams in black baseball, winning five eastern championships in six years. The team was organized by Sol Whi ...

— replaced Quaker Giants in July

Freihofer Cup Champion

Winners of the season were awarded the Freihofer Cup, named after league president William Freihofer. Only 40 games were scheduled; eight games per team with each team playing each other twice. The Philadelphia Giants were declared the champions even though they joined the league later as a replacement team. They inherited a 3-0 record from the Quaker Giants and finished their schedule going 4-1, for an official record of 7-1.

References

External links

Baseball-Reference (Minors)
{{Authority control Negro baseball leagues Defunct baseball leagues in the United States