The Cleveland Buckeyes 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 from 1942 to 1950 in the

Negro American League The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and disbanded after its 1962 season. Negro American League franchises :''An ...

. The Buckeyes played in two

Negro 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 ...

, defeating the Washington Homestead Grays in 1945, and losing to the

New York Cubans The New York Cubans were a Negro league baseball team that played during the 1930s and from 1939 to 1950. Despite playing in the Negro leagues, the team occasionally employed white-skinned Hispanic baseball players as well, because Hispanics in ...

in 1947. They were based in Cincinnati for their first season and Louisville for their second-to-last season.

Founding

The Buckeyes were established in 1942 as the Buckeyes Baseball Club, established initially in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

(Ohio being the Buckeye State), scheduling seven league games in Cincinnati and nine in Cleveland, plus another five in Meadville, Pennsylvania. The following season, owner Ernest White of

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

made

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

the team's home city, where they played their games at

League Park League Park was a baseball park located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was situated at the northeast corner of Dunham Street (now known as East 66th Street) and Lexington Avenue in the Hough, Cleveland, Hough neighborhood. It was built ...

Glory years

While in Cleveland, the team achieved great success, including winning a pair of

championships (1945, 1947) and a

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 ...

title in 1945.

Decline and demise

In 1949 the team moved again, to

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, but it was to no avail and the Louisville Buckeyes returned to Cleveland for the first two months of the 1950 season before disbanding.

Home fields

The Buckeyes played their inaugural season's home games at

Crosley Field Crosley Field was a Major League Baseball park in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals football team, members of the second (1937) an ...

in Cincinnati. After one season, they moved upstate to Cleveland and played at

until their demise, except for 1949 when they played at

Parkway Field Parkway Field is the name of a baseball park that stood in Louisville, Kentucky. It was home to college, minor league, and negro league teams throughout its life, with the longest stints by the Louisville Colonels of the American Association from ...

in Louisville, Kentucky.

MLB throwback jerseys

On May 20, 2006, in Cleveland, the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

honored the Negro league teams by wearing the uniforms of the

Homestead Grays The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 in sports, 1912 by Cumb ...

and the Cleveland Buckeyes, respectively, during an inter-league game, as well as displaying the names on the scoreboard. The Pirates won the game 9–6. On April 25, 2015, in Detroit, the Cleveland Indians and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

wore the uniforms of the Cleveland Buckeyes and

Detroit Stars The Detroit Stars were an American baseball team in the Negro leagues and played at historic Mack Park. The Stars had winning seasons every year but two, but were never able to secure any championships. Among their best players was Baseball Hall of ...

, respectively. Players' names were not displayed on the jerseys. Detroit won the game 4–1. On May 7, 2017, in Kansas City, the Cleveland Indians and

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

wore the uniforms of the Cleveland Buckeyes and

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...

, respectively. Players' names were not displayed on the jerseys. Cleveland won the game 1–0.

References

{{Authority control African-American history in Cleveland Negro league baseball teams Defunct baseball teams in Ohio Baseball teams disestablished in 1950 Baseball teams established in 1942 Baseball teams in Cleveland