The Bacharach Giants were a

Negro league baseball 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 ...

team that played in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

Founding

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

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, to Atlantic City in 1916 and renamed them after

Harry Bacharach Harry Bacharach (October 24, 1873 – May 13, 1947) was the Mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1912 for 6 months, and from 1916 to 1920, and again from 1930 to 1935. A Republican, he also served as a city commissioner. Biography Bacharach was b ...

, the city's mayor. The Bacharachs became a top independent team within a few years, featuring shortstop Dick Lundy, third baseman

Oliver Marcell Oliver Marcell (June 21, 1895 – June 12, 1949), nicknamed "Ghost", was an American third baseman in the Negro leagues for a number of teams around the league from 1918-1931. He also played shortstop. A Creole born in Thibodaux, Louisiana, h ...

, and the great pitchers

Dick Redding Richard Redding (April 15, 1890 – October 31, 1948), nicknamed "Cannonball", was an American pitcher, outfielder, and manager in baseball's Negro leagues, regarded as perhaps the fastest pitcher in the history of black baseball (which makes ...

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, and were managed by Tinti Molina. 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, center fielder

Chaney White Chaney Leonard White (April 15, 1894 – February 23, 1967), nicknamed "Reindeer", was an outfielder in Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a ...

, and pitchers Arthur "Rats" Henderson,

Claude Grier Claude Bonds Grier (March 24, 1904 – March 1, 1967), nicknamed "Red", was an American Negro league pitcher in the 1920s. A native of Catawba County, North Carolina, Grier attended North Carolina A&T State University. He made his Negro leag ...

, and

Luther Farrell Luther Alaner Farrell (July 13, 1893 – December, 1956), nicknamed "Red", was an American baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues. He played from 1919 to 1934 with several teams, playing mostly for the Bacharach Giants. Farrell played for the 1926 ...

. The Bacharachs lost the

Negro League 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 ...

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" Fo ...

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 Macajah Marchand "Mack" Eggleston Jr. (September 16, 1896 – September, 1980) was an American baseball catcher and outfielder in the Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Am ...

, 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 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. History The Easter ...

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 Sports in Atlantic City, New Jersey Negro league baseball teams African-American history of New Jersey Defunct baseball teams in New Jersey Baseball teams disestablished in 1929 Baseball teams established in 1916