The Brooklyn Brown Dodgers were a Negro league baseball team from 1945 to 1946.
Calling
Ebbets Field home, they played primarily in the
United States League
The United States League (USL), alternately called the United States Baseball League, was one of the several Negro baseball leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The USL was organized as a minor league in 1945 by Bra ...
and folded with the rest of the league in 1946.
History
Founding and first season
The resurrected
Philadelphia Hilldale Daisies were initially slated to join the USL in 1945, but were moved to Brooklyn and renamed the Brown Dodgers. The Brooklyn Dodgers provided uniforms identical to their own and leased Ebbets Field to the club.
In a May 7 press conference with
Branch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an American baseball player and sports executive. Rickey was instrumental in breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing black player Jackie Robinson. He also creat ...
,
Oscar Charleston was named as the club's first manager. Charleston also served as a de facto scout for Rickey, who was hunting for Black players to sign to his major league Dodgers. After Rickey signed
Roy Campanella and
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...
in midsummer of 1945, the lukewarm interest already shown by Rickey
reportedly waned even further. In addition, team owner Joe Hall defaulted on financial obligations to the USL and the franchise was reorganized under new owner George Armstrong. Charleston was dismissed and replaced as manager by
Webster McDonald. According to the Center for Negro League Baseball Research, complete won-lost records have not yet been found, but the Brown Dodgers were reported in the media to have finished the season in 3rd place out of seven teams.
Final season and demise
The United States League returned in 1946 with 4 teams including the Brown Dodgers. Experienced pitcher Felix Mellix was named manager. In June, the Brown Dodgers strengthened their roster by purchasing the entire independent St. Louis Giants franchise and 13 players in order to sign pitcher Herb Bracken.
The Brown Dodgers then absorbed the entire
Cleveland Clippers
The Cleveland Clippers were a Negro league baseball team in the minor United States League, based in Cleveland, Ohio in 1946. Composed mostly of former players on from the Great Lakes Naval Varsity team and local sandlot stars, the Clippers are ...
franchise about a month later, with management taking their pick of the roster and releasing the rest. When the league folded, the Brown Dodgers were in third place with a 8-19 record.
Further reading
United States League standingsUnited States League rosters
See also
*
United States League
The United States League (USL), alternately called the United States Baseball League, was one of the several Negro baseball leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The USL was organized as a minor league in 1945 by Bra ...
*
Cleveland Clippers
The Cleveland Clippers were a Negro league baseball team in the minor United States League, based in Cleveland, Ohio in 1946. Composed mostly of former players on from the Great Lakes Naval Varsity team and local sandlot stars, the Clippers are ...
*
Branch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an American baseball player and sports executive. Rickey was instrumental in breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing black player Jackie Robinson. He also creat ...
References
Sports in Brooklyn
Defunct baseball teams in New York (state)
Baseball teams in New York City
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