The Philadelphia Tigers 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 briefly in the 1928

Eastern Colored League The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs, more commonly known as the Eastern Colored League (ECL), was one of the several Negro leagues, which operated during the time organized baseball was segregated. League history Founding The ECL ...

(ECL) before the circuit disbanded in early June. The Tigers, organized by Smittie Lucas, featured a few well-known east coast players, such as

Bill Yancey William James Yancey (April 2, 1902 – April 13, 1971) was an American baseball shortstop in the Negro leagues. He played from 1927 to 1936. He also played for the New York Renaissance, an all-black professional basketball team. Yancey also serve ...

, George Johnson, and McKinley Downs, but no real stars. They played at Pencoyd Field, which was near

Wissahickon station Wissahickon station is a passenger rail station on SEPTA's Manayunk/Norristown Line in Northwest Philadelphia. In FY 2013, Wissahickon station had a weekday average of 410 boardings and 452 alightings. The station was recently upgraded as part of ...

in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia. After the ECL fell apart, the Tigers struggled on as a marginal independent team into July before disbanding.

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 teams Defunct baseball teams in Pennsylvania Baseball teams disestablished in 1928 Baseball teams established in 1928 Sports teams in Philadelphia {{Negro-league-baseball-team-stub