The Negro American League was one of the several

Negro leagues 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 ...

created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Febr ...

, and disbanded after its

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...

season.

Negro American League franchises

:''Annual final standings:

, 1938,

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidde ...

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January– August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar E ...

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in No ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

, 1946,

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January– February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the count ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

Birmingham Black Barons The Birmingham Black Barons were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1920 until 1960. They shared their home field of Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, with the white Birmingham Barons, usually drawing larger crowds and equal pres ...

(1937–1938; 1940–1962) *

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 ...

(1937–1952) *

Cincinnati Tigers The Cincinnati Tigers were a professional Negro league baseball team that was based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founding The club was founded in 1934 by DeHart Hubbard, who was the first African American to win an individual Olympic gold medal when he ...

(

) * Detroit Stars (III) (1937) *

Indianapolis Athletics The Indianapolis Athletics were a Negro league baseball team in the Negro American League, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1937. Ted Strong Theodore Reginald Strong, Jr. (January 2, 1914 – March 1, 1978), was an American Negro league baseb ...

(1937) *

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 1 ...

(1937–1962) *

Memphis Red Sox The Memphis Red Sox were an American Negro league baseball team that was active from 1920 to 1959. Originally named the Barber College Baseball Club, the team was initially owned and operated by Arthur P. Martin, a local Memphis barber. In the la ...

(1937–1959) * St. Louis Stars (II) (1937) * Atlanta Black Crackers (1938) / Indianapolis ABCs (IV) (1939) *

Jacksonville Red Caps The Jacksonville Red Caps were a Negro league baseball team based primarily in Jacksonville, Florida. They played the Negro American League from 1938 until 1942. History The team was based in Jacksonville, Florida playing at Durkee Field in 1 ...

(1938; 1941–1942) / Cleveland Bears (1939–1940) * Indianapolis ABCs (III) (1938) / St. Louis Stars (III) (1939) /

New Orleans–St. Louis Stars New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

(1940–1941) * Toledo Crawfords (1939) / Indianapolis Crawfords (1940) * Cincinnati-Cleveland Buckeyes (1942) / Cleveland Buckeyes (1943–1948; 1950) / Louisville Buckeyes (1949) * Cincinnati Clowns (1943) / Cincinnati–Indianapolis Clowns (1944–1945) /

Indianapolis Clowns The Indianapolis Clowns were a professional baseball team in the Negro American League. Tracing their origins back to the 1930s, the Clowns were the last of the Negro league teams to disband, continuing to play exhibition games into the 1980s. Th ...

(1946–1954) * Baltimore Elite Giants (1949–1951) from the Negro National League * Houston Eagles (formerly Newark Eagles) (1949–1950) / New Orleans Eagles (1951) from the Negro National League * New York Cubans (1949–1950) from the Negro National League * Philadelphia Stars (1949–1952) from the Negro National League * Detroit Stars (1954–1957; 1959) / Detroit Clowns (1958) /

Detroit–New Orleans Stars The Detroit–New Orleans Stars, originally the Detroit Stars and briefly the Detroit Clowns, were a minor Negro league baseball team that played in the Negro American League from 1954 until 1961 after the integration of white baseball. After the ...

(1960) *

Louisville Clippers 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 ...

(1954) *

Raleigh Tigers Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Sout ...

(1959–1962) *

New Orleans Crescent Stars The New Orleans Crescent Stars were an independent Negro league baseball club that existed from 1933 to 1934. The New Orleans team helped produce several players as Pepper Bassett, Gene Bremer, Lloyd Davenport, Harry Else, Barney Morris, Tom P ...

(1957) * Mobile Havana Cuban Giants (1957) * Newark Indians (1959)

Member timeline

Major league prior to 1950; minor league after 1950. DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:600 PlotArea = left:20 right:50 bottom:20 top:20 Colors = id:majorGridColor value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9) id:lineColor value:gray(0.6) id:nl1 value:gray(0.9) id:inactive value:gray(0.5) id:gold value:rgb(0.99,0.72,0.15) id:brown value:rgb(0.36,0.20,0.10) id:vegasgold value:rgb(0.80,0.72,0.49) id:green value:rgb(0, 0.51,0.28) id:darkgreen value:rgb(0, 0.20,0 ) id:orange value:rgb(1 ,0.39,0 ) id:redorange value:rgb(1 ,0.20,0 ) id:red value:rgb(0.80,0.01,0.07) id:red2 value:rgb(0.90,0.01,0.07) id:darkred value:rgb(0.50,0 ,0 ) id:iceblue value:rgb(0.20,0.60,0.80) id:lgray value:gray(0.1) id:gray value:gray(0.3) id:gray2 value:gray(0.5) id:sand value:rgb(0.94,0.89,0.77) id:navy value:rgb(0 ,0 ,0.30) id:teal value:rgb(0 ,0.65,0.65) id:teal2 value:rgb(0 ,0.45,0.45) Period = from:1937 till:1963 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy ScaleMajor = start:1937 increment:1 gridcolor:majorGridColor BarData = bar:CHI # Chicago American Giants bar:KCM # Kansas City Monarchs bar:MEM # Memphis Red Sox bar:BIR # Birmingham Black Barons bar:CIN # Cincinnati Tigers bar:DET # Detroit Stars (III) bar:INA # Indianapolis Athletics bar:STL # St. Louis Stars (II) bar:ATL # Atlanta Black Crackers / Indianapolis ABCs (IV) bar:NOS # Indianapolis ABCs (III) / St. Louis Stars (III) / New Orleans–St. Louis Stars bar:JAC # Jacksonville Red Caps / Cleveland Bears bar:CRA # Toledo Crawfords / Indianapolis Crawfords bar:BUC # Cincinnati-Cleveland Buckeyes / Cleveland Buckeyes bar:CLO # Cincinnati Clowns / Cincinnati–Indianapolis Clowns / Indianapolis Clowns bar:BAL # Baltimore Elite Giants bar:NYC # New York Cubans bar:PHI # Philadelphia Stars bar:HNO # Houston Eagles / New Orleans Eagles bar:DNO # Detroit Stars (IV) / Detroit Clowns / Detroit Stars (IV) / Detroit-New Orleans Stars bar:LOU # Louisville Clippers bar:NOC # New Orleans Crescent Stars bar:MOB # Mobile Havana Cuban Giants bar:NEW # Newark Indians bar:RAL # Raleigh Tigers Define $Up = shift:(,1) Define $Down = shift:(,-10) Define $Left = anchor:from align:right shift:(-1,) Define $UpLeft = anchor:from align:right shift:(-1,1) Define $DownLeft = anchor:from align:right shift:(-2,-10) Define $LeftIn = anchor:from align:left shift:(25,) Define $LeftMargin = anchor:from align:left shift:(2,) Define $UpLeftIn = anchor:from align:left shift:(25,1) Define $DownLeftIn = anchor:from align:left shift:(25,-10) Define $UpLeftMargin = anchor:from align:left shift:(2,1) Define $DownLeftMargin = anchor:from align:left shift:(2,-10) Define $Right = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,) Define $UpRight = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,1) Define $UpUpRight = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,10) Define $DownRight = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,-10) Define $RightMargin = anchor:till align:right shift:(-2,) Define $RightIn = anchor:till align:right shift:(-25,) Define $UpRightMargin = anchor:till align:right shift:(-2,1) Define $DownRightMargin = anchor:till align:right shift:(-2,-10) Define $UpRightIn = anchor:till align:right shift:(-25,1) PlotData = color:inactive textcolor:black width:20 fontsize:S mark:(line,black) anchor:middle # other options are anchor:from anchor:till align:center # other options are align:left align:right shift:(0,-5) # Note on dates: A team's bar begins with the season that team played its first game, and ends with the season after that team played its last game. For example, the Indianapolis ABCs played their first game in 1938 and played their last game in 1939. Therefore, their bar goes from 1938 to 1940. bar:CHI from:1937 till:1953 color:sand text:"Chicago American Giants" $RightIn bar:KCM from:1937 till:1963 color:orange text:"Kansas City Monarchs" $RightIn bar:MEM from:1937 till:1960 color:iceblue text:"Memphis Red Sox" $RightIn bar:BIR from:1937 till:1939 color:yellow text:" " $Right bar:BIR from:1940 till:1963 color:yellow text:"Birmingham Black Barons" $RightIn bar:CIN from:1937 till:1938 color:brown text:"Cincinnati Tigers" $Right bar:DET from:1937 till:1938 color:teal2 text:"Detroit Stars (III)" $Right bar:INA from:1937 till:1938 color:darkred text:"Indianapolis Athletics" $Right bar:STL from:1937 till:1938 color:navy text:"St. Louis Stars (II)" $Right bar:ATL from:1938 till:1939 color:red text:"Atlanta~Black Crackers" $UpRightMargin bar:ATL from:1939 till:1940 color:red text:"Indianapolis ABCs (IV)" $LeftMargin bar:NOS from:1938 till:1939 color:kelleygreen text:"Indianapolis~ABCs (III)" $UpRightMargin bar:NOS from:1939 till:1940 color:kelleygreen text:"St. Louis~Stars (III)" $UpLeftMargin bar:NOS from:1940 till:1942 color:kelleygreen text:"New Orleans–St. Louis Stars" $LeftIn bar:JAC from:1938 till:1939 color:gold text:"Jacksonville~Red Caps" $UpRightMargin bar:JAC from:1939 till:1941 color:gold text:"Cleveland~Bears" $Up bar:JAC from:1941 till:1943 color:gold text:"Jacksonville Red Caps" $LeftMargin bar:CRA from:1939 till:1940 color:vegasgold text:"Toledo Crawfords" $RightMargin bar:CRA from:1940 till:1941 color:vegasgold text:"Indianapolis Crawfords" $LeftMargin bar:BUC from:1942 till:1943 color:red2 text:"Cincinnati Buckeyes" $RightMargin bar:BUC from:1943 till:1949 color:red2 text:"Cleveland Buckeyes" $RightIn bar:CLO from:1943 till:1944 color:brightgreen text:"Cincinnati Clowns" $DownRightMargin bar:CLO from:1944 till:1946 color:brightgreen text:"Cincinnati–Indianapolis~Clowns" $Up bar:CLO from:1946 till:1955 color:brightgreen text:"Indianapolis Clowns" $RightIn bar:BAL from:1949 till:1952 color:yellow2 text:"Baltimore Elite Giants" bar:NYC from:1949 till:1951 color:purple text:"New York Cubans" bar:PHI from:1949 till:1953 color:redorange text:"Philadelphia Stars" bar:HNO from:1949 till:1951 color:lightorange text:"Houston Eagles" $RightMargin bar:HNO from:1951 till:1952 color:lightorange text:"New Orleans Eagles" $LeftMargin bar:DNO from:1954 till:1958 color:powderblue text:"Detroit Stars (IV)" $DownLeftIn bar:DNO from:1958 till:1959 color:powderblue text:"Detroit Clowns" $UpRightMargin bar:DNO from:1959 till:1960 color:powderblue text:"Detroit Star (IV)" $DownRightMargin bar:DNO from:1960 till:1961 color:powderblue text:"Detroit-New Orleans~Stars" $UpLeftMargin bar:LOU from:1954 till:1955 color:claret text:"Louisville Clippers" bar:NOC from:1957 till:1958 color:lightpurple text:"New Orleans Crescent Stars" bar:MOB from:1957 till:1958 color:limegreen text:"Mobile Havana Cuban Giants" bar:NEW from:1959 till:1960 color:brown text:"Newark Indians" bar:RAL from:1959 till:1963 color:skyblue text:"Raleigh Tigers" LineData = layer:back at:1950 color:black *1937: Formation of NAL consisting of 8 teams — Birmingham Black Barons, Chicago American Giants, Cincinnati Tigers, Detroit Stars (III), Indianapolis Athletics, Kansas City Monarchs, Memphis Red Sox and St. Louis Stars (II). *1938: Dropped Cincinnati Tigers, Detroit Stars (III), Indianapolis Athletics and St. Louis Stars (II); Added Atlanta Black Crackers, Indianapolis ABCs (II) and Jacksonville Red Caps. *1939: Dropped Birmingham Black Barons; Added Toledo Crawfords. *1940: Dropped Indianapolis ABCs (IV); Re-added Birmingham Black Barons. *1941: Dropped Indianapolis Crawfords. *1942: Dropped St. Louis–New Orleans Stars (merged with New York Black Yankees); Added Cincinnati-Cleveland Buckeyes. *1943: Dropped Jacksonville Red Caps; Added Cincinnati Clowns. *1948: Standings and statistics were lightly reported in print starting around 1948. *1951: Indianapolis Clowns relocate to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

but retain the Indianapolis Clowns name.

League champions

Pennant winners

From 1939 through 1942 and 1944 through 1947, the team in first place at the end of the season was declared the Pennant winner. Due to the unorthodox nature of the schedule (and little incentive to enforce it), some teams frequently played many more games than others did in any given season. For example, the 1937 season featured Kansas City being first place with a 52–19–1 record (.732). However, they still competed in a Championship Series, albeit against the third place team in the Chicago American Giants (36–24–1), who played less games than the 2nd place

(35–18–1) but had one more win. This led to some disputed championships and two teams claiming the title. Generally, the team with the best

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

(with some minimum number of games played) was awarded the Pennant, but other times it was the team with the most victories. The "

games behind In most North American sports, the phrase games behind or games back (often abbreviated GB) is a common way to reflect the gap between a leading team and another team in a sports league, conference, or division. Example In the below standings fr ...

" method of recording standings was uncommon in most black leagues. From 1942 until 1948, the pennant winner (as determined by record or by postseason series victory) went on to the

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 ...

Post-integration champions

*1949 Baltimore Elite Giants *1950

*1951

*1952

*1953

*1954

*1955

(first half);

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 o ...

(second half)† *1956

*1957

† – Pennant was decided via a split-season schedule with the winner of the first half of the season playing the winner of the second half of the season.

League play-offs

On numerous occasions, the NAL split the season into two halves. The winner of the first half played the winner of the second half for the league Pennant. As mentioned above, disputes also occurred in the split season finishes. Five times a League Championship Series was played, with varying games needed to win the Series; the 1938 series ended prematurely because of problems with finding a suitable venue for the rest of the series. ;Legend * One game finished in a tied game.

Negro World Series

For the duration of the league, a Negro World Series took place seven times, from 1942 through 1948. The NAL Pennant winner met the champion of the rival Negro National League. Five out of the seven years, the Negro American League team (below in bold) succumbed. *

– Kansas City Monarchs beat

Washington Homestead Grays The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and remained in continuou ...

, 4 games to 0 games *

– Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 3 games *

– Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 1 game *

– Cleveland Buckeyes beat Washington Homestead Grays, 4 games to 0 games * 1946 – Newark Eagles beat Kansas City Monarchs, 4 games to 3 games *

– New York Cubans beat Cleveland Buckeyes, 4 games to 1 game *

– Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 1 game

References

Sources

* {{authority control Negro baseball leagues Defunct baseball leagues in the United States African-American sports history Sports leagues established in 1937 1937 establishments in the United States Defunct professional sports leagues in the United States