The Hilldale Athletic Club (informally known as Darby Daisies) were an American professional

Negro league 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 ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

team based in Darby, Pennsylvania, west of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. Established as a boys team in 1910, the Hilldales were developed by their early manager, then owner

Ed Bolden Edward Bolden (January 17, 1881 in Concordville, Pennsylvania – September 27, 1950 in Darby, Pennsylvania) was an American baseball executive and owner in the Negro leagues. Early career Bolden's first occupation in baseball was as a voluntee ...

to be one of the powerhouse Negro league baseball teams. They won the first three Eastern Colored League pennants beginning in 1923 and in 1925 won the second Colored World Series.

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

player Judy Johnson was a Hilldale regular for most its professional era with 12 seasons in 15 years (1918–1932). Pitcher Phil Cockrell played for Hilldale throughout those years.

Oscar Charleston Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 – October 5, 1954) was an American center fielder and manager in Negro league baseball. Over his 43-year baseball career, Charleston played or managed with more than a dozen teams, including the Home ...

, Biz Mackey, Louis Santop, Chaney White, and Jesse "Nip" Winters were also important Hilldale players in the 1920s.

History

founded the team in 1910 as an amateur athletic club for local young men. Devere Thompson was the first manager but Bolden took over as manager himself before the end of the first season. The club incorporated November 1916, as Hilldale Baseball and Exhibition Company, and began to hire some established players.

Spot Poles Spottswood Poles (December 27, 1887 – September 12, 1962) was an American outfielder in baseball's Negro leagues. One of the fastest players of his era, Poles was sometimes referred to as "the black Ty Cobb." Career According to Negro leagues h ...

and

Bill Pettus William Thomas Pettus (August 13, 1884 – August 22, 1924) was an American baseball first baseman in the Cuban League and Negro leagues. He played from 1902 to 1921 with several teams. Career Pettus began playing baseball in 1902 for the Albuque ...

led the 1917 team to a 23-15-1 record. Hilldale and the

Atlantic City 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 ...

played as eastern "Associates" of the western Negro National League in 1920 and 1921. In the latter season they held a four game series in September with the winner to face the NNL champion

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" ...

. After both teams won two games, the American Giants traveled east to play one series each. Chicago defeated the Bacharach Giants 2-1-1 but Hilldale beat Chicago 3-2-1. Hilldale was a charter member of the Eastern Colored League in 1923 and won the first-place pennants in 1923, 1924, and 1925. 19241003 PHILA

They lost the inaugural, 1924 Colored World Series to the

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 1930 ...

five games to four (with one tie). Next season they won a rematch with the Monarchs five games to one. The 1925 club featured star catcher and cleanup hitter Biz Mackey, third baseman Judy Johnson, and outfielder

Clint Thomas Clinton Cyrus Thomas (November 25, 1896 – December 2, 1990), nicknamed "Hawk", was a professional baseball player born in Greenup, Kentucky. He was an outfielder and second baseman in the Negro leagues from 1920 to 1938, where he earned the nic ...

. Player-manager Frank Warfield's pitching staff was led by left-handed ace Nip Winters and spitballer Phil Cockrell. Hilldale dropped to third in 1926 and fifth in 1927. Frustrated by the league's lack of organization, Bolden withdrew his club from the ECL prior to the 1928 season. When the American Negro League was organized in 1929, Hilldale joined, but the league lasted only one season. Bolden was subsequently forced out of club management, and Hilldale corporation member Lloyd Thompson assumed control of the club in 1930. He had been the a 14-year-old infielder on the original boys team twenty years earlier, when his older brother had been the manager. After a single season, the team was purchased by John Drew, who ran the club until its final collapse in 1932. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

urban unemployment hit as high as 50%. This negatively impacted attendance in the Negro leagues in the 1930s. Drew disbanded the ballclub in July 1932 after the combined attendance of two subsequent Saturday afternoon games at

Hilldale Park Hilldale Park was a ballpark in Darby, Pennsylvania at the northeast corner of Chester and Cedar Avenues. It was the home field of the Hilldale Club professional baseball team which played in the Negro leagues between 1910 and 1932. The ballpark ...

totaled 295.

Names

The Negro National League was formed in 1920. An official League business-card from that year lists the club as one of two "Associated Members" and identifies the club as "Hilldale, Darby, Pa." Unlike other teams listed with both location and team-name, no nickname is identified with Hilldale. (Hilldale was the club name, Darby the locale.) While various nicknames were informally applied to the club including "Darby Daisies" and "Clan Darbie", the team was most commonly known simply as Hilldale or the Hilldales.

Logos and Uniforms

Hilldale did not have an official team logo as professional and collegiate teams have today. It was not common practice for teams to have such standardized team symbols in the 1910s and 1920s. They wore red and white. Their jerseys in the 1920s had "Hilldale" across the front in the style shown above as the "team logo". The club wore a red cap with a white plain-block capital H as seen above. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) created a series of team logos in the 1990s for the well-known Negro league teams so that the NLBM could license such logos and collect royalties for their use on merchandise. Such revenue helps sustain the museum. Hilldale was one such team for which a contemporary logo was created. It is seen on NLBM-licensed Hilldale Giants merchandise and while it supports the educational efforts of the Museum, it is not a historical logo.

Honors

Eastern Colored League Pennants *1923 *1924 *1925 Colored World Series Championships *1925 No-Hitters *Phil Cockrell, September 10, 1921, vs. Detroit Stars Hall of Famers These Hall of Fame players were Hilldale team members during the listed seasons. Santop also played post-season with the team in 1917 and 1919, as Charleston did in 1926.

Contemporary Honors and Celebrations

Historical Marker On October 14, 2006, over 500 individuals gathered for the dedication of a Pennsylvania Historical marker at the site of Hilldale's ballpark at McDade Boulevard and Cedar Streets in Yeadon (). The ceremony was attended by

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

hitting coach

Milt Thompson Milton Orville Thompson (May 4, 1926 – August 6, 1993), (Lieutenant Commander (United States), Lt Cmdr, United States Naval Reserve, USNR), better known as Milt Thompson, was an American United States Navy, naval officer, United States naval ...

, former Phillies player Garry Maddox, and Gene Dias, Phillies director of community relations,. Also attending were the four living members of the Negro league Philadelphia Stars, Bill Cash, Mahlon Duckett, Stanley Glenn, and Harold Gould, along with Ray Mackey, great grandnephew of former Hilldale and Stars player Biz Mackey. Area businessman John Bossong led the effort for the historical marker. The marker is titled, "The Hilldale Athletic Club (The Darby Daisies)" and the text reads,

This baseball team, whose home was here at Hilldale Park, won the Eastern Colored League championship three times and the 1925 Negro League World Series. Darby fielded Negro League teams from 1910 to 1932. Notable players included baseball hall of fame members Pop Lloyd, Judy Johnson, Martin Dihigo, Joe Williams, Oscar Charleston, Ben Taylor, Biz Mackey, and Louis Santop. Owner Ed Bolden helped form the Eastern Colored League.

Bossong originated the idea for the marker in the summer of 1999, after visiting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

. Centenary The year 2010 marked the centenary of the club's founding. Bossong worked with the Darby Historical Commission to construct a Walk of Fame alongside the site of the Historical Marker. The celebration was organized by the Hilldale 100 committee. The Walk of Fame honors former-Hilldale owners Bolden and Drew, as well as team batboy and contemporary area-resident Ed Bacon. Hilldale Kitchen Hilldale Kitchen is a themed restaurant based on the Giants created by community developers and Darby Mayor Helen Thomas. The restaurant's walls are filled with images and celebrations of the Giants. The Hilldale Kitchen opened on March 6, 2011.

References

External links

October 2005 Yeadon Library Display on Hilldale Giants History

{{Defunct Philadelphia sports teams Negro league baseball teams Defunct sports teams in Philadelphia Defunct sports teams in Pennsylvania Baseball teams established in 1910 Sports clubs disestablished in 1932 1910 establishments in Pennsylvania Darby, Pennsylvania 1932 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Baseball teams disestablished in 1932