The second Negro National League (NNL II) was one of the several
Negro leagues that were established during the period in the United States when
organized baseball was segregated. The league was founded in 1933 by businessman
Gus Greenlee of
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
.
League history
The second Negro National League was established in 1933 by
Gus Greenlee, an African-American businessman of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, two years after the
first Negro National League had disbanded, after the start of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
. The second Negro National League lasted until 1948, the year after
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
integrated. After that, its surviving teams merged into the
Negro American League.
To distinguish between the two Negro National Leagues, they are usually referred to as the first Negro National League (NNL I) and the second Negro National League (NNL II).
Negro National League franchises
:''Annual final standings:
1933
Events
January
* January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand.
* January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...
,
1934,
1935
Events
January
* January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims.
* January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...
,
1936
Events January–February
* January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House.
* January 28 – Death and state funer ...
,
1937,
1938
Events
January
* January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS).
* January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...
,
1939,
1940,
1941,
1942
The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...
,
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 France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...
,
1945,
1946
1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...
,
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 country i ...
,
1948
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
''
*
Baltimore Black Sox (I) (1933)
*
Brooklyn Royal Giants (1933)
*
Cole's American Giants (1933–1935)
*
Columbus Blue Birds /
Akron Black Tyrites /
Cleveland Giants (1933) – moved during season
*
Indianapolis ABC's (II) / Detroit Stars (II) (1933) – moved to Detroit in April
* Nashville Elite Giants (1933–1934) / Columbus Elite Giants (1935) / Washington Elite Giants (1936–1937) /
Baltimore Elite Giants (1938–1948)
*
Pittsburgh Crawfords (1933–1938)
*
Philadelphia Bacharach Giants (1934)
*
Cleveland Red Sox (1934)
*
Baltimore Black Sox (II) (1934)
*
(Washington) Homestead Grays (1934–1948)
* †Newark Dodgers (1934–1935) /
Newark Eagles (1936–1948)
*
Philadelphia Stars (1934–1948)
* †Brooklyn Eagles (1935)
*
New York Cubans (1935–1936; 1939–1948)
*
New York Black Yankees (1936–1948)
*
Washington Black Senators (1938)
†The Brooklyn Eagles and Newark Dodgers merged to form the Newark Eagles in 1936.
Member timeline
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bar:PHI # Philadelphia Stars
bar:NWD # Newark Dodgers
bar:ATC # Philadelphia Bacharach Giants
bar:CLE # Cleveland Red Sox
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bar:WAS # Washington Black Senators
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# 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 Baltimore Black Sox played their first game in 1933 and played their last game in 1934. Therefore, their bar goes from 1933 to 1935.
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*1933: Formation of the second Negro National League, consisting of 7 teams — Baltimore Black Sox, Cole's American Giants, Columbus Blue Birds, Indianapolis ABCs (II) (moved to Detroit in April), Homestead Grays, Nashville Elite Giants and Pittsburgh Crawfords; Homestead was expelled early in the season for raiding Detroit's roster, Columbus was replaced mid-season by the Akron Black Tyrites who were then replaced by the Cleveland Giants.
*1934: Dropped Cleveland Giants, Detroit Stars, Baltimore Black Sox (I); Added Philadelphia Bacharach Giants, Cleveland Red Sox, Philadelphia Stars and Baltimore Black Sox (II); Retained Homestead Grays as an associate team.
*1935: Dropped Philadelphia Bacharach Giants, Baltimore Black Sox (II) and Cleveland Red Sox; Added Brooklyn Eagles, Homestead Grays, New York Cubans and Newark Dodgers.
*1936: Dropped Cole's American Giants; Brooklyn and Newark merged.
*1937: Dropped New York Cubans; Added New York Black Yankees.
*1938: Added Washington Black Senators.
*1939: Dropped Pittsburgh Crawfords and Washington Black Senators; Re-added New York Cubans.
*1948: League disbanded after completion of season; All teams continued on with Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark and New York Cubans joining the
Negro American League for the 1949 season, while the Grays and Black Yankees playing independent of a league.
League champions
Pennant winners
From 1937 and 1938, 1940, and 1942 through 1946, the team in first place at the end of the season was declared the
pennant winner (league champion). 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. In 1933, Cole's Chicago American Giants claimed the first half title, but the Pittsburgh Crawfords won the second half and had an overall better record. The following year saw the Stars have a better winning percentage that saw them compete against the third place Chicago team despite the fact Pittsburgh played (and won) more games. This led to some disputed championships and two teams claiming the title. Generally, the team with the best
winning percentage (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" method of recording standings was uncommon in most black leagues.
† – 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.
* – Pennant was decided via a 2-round play-off between the top four teams.
‡ – Pennant winner went on to play in the Negro World Series.
League play-offs
On five occasions, the League held a postseason series to determine the pennant champion.
1933 would have been the first to match the first and second half champions, but the Pittsburgh Crawfords were instead awarded the pennant over the first half champion
Chicago American Giants. 1936 had an array of games that may or may not have been formal postseason games. For example, the
Washington Elite Giants won the first half after beating the Philadelphia Stars 7–5 in a one-game match on September 17. Pittsburgh (who had a better record overall) faced the Newark Eagles from September 12–15 and won 3–1–1 in either a second-half playoff or a regular series-turned-playoff. Washington and Pittsburgh played three games from September 21–27, but no box scores exist for the games (which Pittsburgh won two of three) in a series that was evidently abandoned.
In one year (1939), the top four teams (
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 Cum ...
,
Newark Eagles,
Baltimore Elite Giants,
Philadelphia Stars) were matched together in a best-of-five tournament. The Grays beat the Stars in five games while the Elite Giants beat the Eagles in four games to set up the Championship Series. The
New York Cubans won the second half of the 1947 season but advanced to the
Negro World Series over the Newark Eagles (first half champions). 1948 ended prematurely after a controversial finish to a disputed tie game in the third game.
Negro World Series
For the duration of the league, a Negro World Series took place seven times, from 1942 through 1948. The Negro National League's pennant winner met the champion of the rival
Negro American League. Five out of the seven years, the Negro National League team (below in bold) prevailed.
*
1942
The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...
–
Kansas City Monarchs beat Washington Homestead Grays, 4 games to 0 games
*
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 � ...
– Washington Homestead Grays beat
Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 3 games
*
1944
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 2 – WWII:
** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...
– Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 1 game
*
1945 –
Cleveland Buckeyes beat Washington Homestead Grays, 4 games to 0 games
*
1946
1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...
– Newark Eagles beat Kansas City Monarchs, 4 games to 3 games
*
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 country i ...
– New York Cubans beat Cleveland Buckeyes, 4 games to 1 game
*
1948
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
– Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 1 game
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Negro National League (1933-1948)
Negro baseball leagues
Defunct baseball leagues in the United States
African-American sports history
Defunct professional sports leagues in the United States
Sports leagues established in 1933
Sports leagues disestablished in 1948
1933 establishments in the United States
1948 disestablishments in the United States