Square Screen with Sock-net
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Thursday, February 28, 2013
Intergration the end of an era ( part 8)
Blacks in Baseball History
Judge Kenesaw M. Landis, the first Commissioner of Major League Baseball, was an intractable opponent of integrating the white majors. During his quarter-century tenure, he blocked all attempts at integrating the game. A popular story has it that in 1943, Bill Veeck planned to buy the moribund Philadelphia Phillies and stock them with Negro League stars. Supposedly, when Landis and National League president Ford Frick learned of Veeck's plan, they scuttled it by engineering the Phillies' sale to William B. Cox. However, this story is arguably false, based on press accounts of the time; notably, Philadelphia's black press mentioned nothing about any prospective Veeck purchase.[23]
After Landis' death in 1944, Happy Chandler was named his successor. Chandler was open to integrating the game, even at the risk of losing his job as Commissioner. He later said in his biography that he could not in good conscience tell black players they couldn't play baseball with whites when they'd fought for their country.In March 1945, the white majors created the Major League Committee on Baseball Integration. Its members included Joseph P. Rainey, Larry MacPhail and Branch Rickey. Because MacPhail, who was an outspoken critic of integration, kept stalling, the committee never met. Under the guise of starting an all-black league, Rickey sent scouts all around the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico, looking for the perfect candidate to break the color line. His list eventually was narrowed down to three, Roy Campanella, Don Newcombe and Jackie Robinson.
On August 28, 1945, Jackie Robinson met with Rickey in Brooklyn, where Rickey gave Robinson a "test" by berating him and shouting racial epithets that Robinson would hear from day one in the white game. Having passed the test, Robinson signed the contract which stipulated that from then on, Robinson had no "written or moral obligations"[24] to any other club. By the inclusion of this clause, precedent was set that would raze the Negro leagues as a functional commercial enterprise.
To throw off the press and keep his intentions hidden, Rickey got heavily involved in Gus Greenlee's newest foray into black baseball, the United States League. Greenlee started the league in 1945 as a way to get back at the owners of the Negro National League teams for throwing him out. Rickey saw the opportunity as a way to convince people that he was interested in cleaning up blackball, not integrating it. In midsummer 1945, Rickey, almost ready with his Robinson plan, pulled out of the league. The league folded after the end of the 1946 season.
Pressured by civil rights groups, the Fair Employment Practices Act was passed by the New York State Legislature in 1945. This followed the passing of the Quinn-Ives Act banning discrimination in hiring. At the same time, NYC Mayor La Guardia formed the Mayor's Commission on Baseball to study integration of the major leagues. All this led to Rickey announcing the signing of Robinson much earlier than he would have liked. On October 23, 1945, Montreal Royals president Hector Racine announced that, "We are signing this boy."[24]
Early in 1946, Rickey signed four more black players, Campanella, Newcombe, John Wright and Roy Partlow, this time with much less fanfare. After the integration of the major leagues in 1947, marked by the appearance of Jackie Robinson with the Brooklyn Dodgers that April, interest in Negro league baseball waned. Black players who were regarded as prospects were signed by major league teams, often without regard for any contracts that might have been signed with Negro league clubs. Negro league owners who complained about this practice were in a no-win situation: they could not protect their own interests without seeming to interfere with the advancement of players to the majors. By 1948, the Dodgers, along with Veeck's Cleveland Indians had integrated.
The Negro leagues also "integrated" around the same time, as Eddie Klep became the first white man to play for the Cleveland Buckeyes during the 1946 season.
These moves came despite strong opposition from the owners; Rickey was the only one of the 16 owners to support integrating the sport in January 1947. Chandler's decision to overrule them may have been a factor in his ouster in 1951 in favor of Ford Frick.
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Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Jugs Soft Toss Machine
JUGS Toss Machine
The
soft toss hitting drill allows a hitter to focus on their swing
mechanics and get a lot of repetitions in a short amount of time. The JUGS Toss Machine allows you to do this drill by yourself and get all
the repetitions in. The JUGS Toss Machine automatically tosses a ball
every 5 seconds allowing you to get hundreds of swings in less than 30
minutes. It holds 14 baseballs or 10 softballs and weighs just 13 lbs.
making it is very portable. No electricity is needed for this machine.
The JUGS Toss Machine runs for up to 8 hours of continuous use and
comes with an internal rechargeable battery (charger included).
Features:
Features:
- The JUGS Toss machine holds up to 14 baseballs or 10 softballs
- Weighs just 13 lbs.
- Great for both offensive and defensive drills
- Includes a FREE JUGS Toss Machine Drill Book and Throw-Down Home Plate
- Machine Remote Available
- Available at ProHittingCages.com Click here for price.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Easton Catcher's Set
EASTON BLACK MAGIC PROTECIVE SET
Staying ahead of the competition has made Easton the hottest line of catcher’s gear in the game. The Easton Black Magic Helmet is the perfect head protection for those younger stars-in-the-making. The lock-down closure attachment system makes for a great fit and is tops in ease-of- use. The Easton Black Magic Leg Guards come with a protective PE shin plate design. With superior product offerings for adult and youth players, Easton is the leader behind the plate.
- Junior Set fits ages 7-9
- Youth Set fits ages 9-12
- This set comes with the Black Magic helmet
- Chest Protector, Jr fits ages 7-9 and is 14". Youth fits ages 9-12 and is 15". Velcro closure for ease of use
- Double back adjustment mechanism
- Leg guards. Junior fits ages 7-9 and is 11 1/2". Youth fits ages 9-12 and is 12 3/4" . DOUBLE KNEE CAP
- Visit www.ProHittingCages.com for price. Improve Your Game!
Monday, February 25, 2013
13" Easton Natural Elite NEFP1300 Fastpitch
FEATURES:
Designed for the female player, features include a smaller hand opening and narrow finger stalls. Made with natural tumbled USA tanned Walnut steer hide for a game-ready feel. Wider webs to better fit 11" or 12" balls. Patent-pending Ideal Fit® System, contoured index finger channel and Lock Down® adjustable quick binding straps make these the perfect gloves for her.
- "Game-ready" soft tumbled oil-tanned US Steer Hide leather
- Fastpitch pattern developed specifically for the female player with smaller hand openings and narrow finger stalls
- VRS protective palm pad that disperses the impact of the ball
- Bio-Dri moisture management fabric used to line the fingerstalls, wicks moisture away, keeping your glove dry and light
- The palm leather pocket is enlarged with an additional segment between the index and middle finger creating a larger pocket for a softball
- 13" pattern
- Fastpitch woven web with Ideal Fit closed back
- Visit ProHittingCages.com for more of your Softball equipment needs. Let ProHittingCages help you Improve Your Game!
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Omaha Youth bat
The championship-proven Omaha® is back and better than ever. The Omaha® gets its strength from its ST+20 alloy, the strongest alloy available in a bat today.
Features a 20% longer sweet spot due to the new alloy barrel design. This Omaha is a very light weight drop design providing the player quicker bat speed and performance. The new all full wrap around graphic design features a two-tone grip, a new two-color endcap and knob for a sharp looking bat. Synthetic two color grip and a thin 7⁄8" handle provide better bat control.
- ST+20 alloy
- 2 1/4" barrel
- 2-color end cap
- Synthetic grip, 7/8" tapered handle
- -13 Length-to-Weight ratio
-13 Youth bat. 2 1⁄4" barrel.
Available Sizes: 27"/ 14 oz., 28"/ 15 oz., 29"/ 16 oz., 30"/ 17 oz., 31"/ 18 oz.
Visit http://www.prohittingcages.com/product/LS-YB136.html prohittingcages.com/2013.Louisville.Slugger.OMAHA.-13.Youth.html
Friday, February 22, 2013
Pitching Tips
| Baseball Pitching Tips: How to properly use your legs while pitching ... In this ProTips4U baseball instructional training video, Casey Crosby, pitcher for the Detroit ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DQx- |
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Youth 09" Glove
A favorite youth glove from Mizuno the 09" GPP901
Feather at prohittingcages.com/
| Click to enlarge image(s) |
Name: 09" GPP901 Mizuno Youth Ball Glove
Price: $24.99
GPP901 - Prospect - 9"
- Re-inforce Web
- Technology design to help youth players
- Designed to makes closing and catching the ball easier for younger players
- Facilitate youth players in learning to catch in the pocket
- To minimize "sting" The Parashock palm pad and Buttersoft lining reduce shock in select models
- Patented PowerClose MAKES CATCHING EASY!
facilitate
| SKU: | MI-311448 | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 0.5 lb | ||||||||||||||
|
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| Price: | $29.99 | ||||||||||||||
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Heater combo pitching & 24' batting cage
Improve Your Game, with a batting cage and pitching machine from .http://www.prohittingcages.com/Heater.Jr.&.Xtender.24.html today.
Negro League in Baseball History (part 7)
World War II
With the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States was thrust into World War II. Remembering World War I, black America vowed it would not be shut out of the beneficial effects of a major war effort: economic boom and social unification.Just like the major leagues, the Negro leagues saw many stars miss one or more seasons while fighting overseas. While many players were over 30 and considered "too old" for service, Monte Irvin, Larry Doby and Leon Day of Newark; Ford Smith, Hank Thompson, Joe Greene, Willard Brown and Buck O'Neil of Kansas City; Lyman Bostock of Birmingham; and Lick Carlisle and Howard Easterling of Homestead all served.[21] But the white majors were barely recognizable, while the Negro leagues reached their highest plateau. Millions of black Americans were working in war industries and, making good money, they packed league games in every city. Business was so good that promoter Abe Saperstein (famous for the Harlem Globetrotters) started a new circuit, the Negro Midwest League, a minor league similar to the Negro Southern League. The Negro League World Series was revived in 1942, this time pitting the winners of the eastern Negro National League and midwestern Negro American League. It continued through 1948 with the NNL winning four championships and the NAL three.
In 1946, Saperstein partnered with Jesse Owens to form another Negro League, the West Coast Baseball Association (WCBA); Saperstein was league president and Owens was vice-president and the owner of the league's Portland (Oregon) Rosebuds franchise.[22] The WCBA disbanded after only two months.[22]
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
www.prohittingcages.com
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
What fats are good for softball players
We all think fat is bad for us.
It's true for certain types of fat.
However, there are other types of fat (EFA's
or Essential Fatty Acids) that are good for you.
In fact, they are essential for good health
and peak performance.
Young female softball players need these good
types of fats.
Here's what the good fats (EFAs) will do for you
and your game:
- Increases brain function and decision-making
- Improves mood
- Speeds up recovery time
- Maintains joint and connective tissue
- Reduces PMS symptoms
- Helps maintain a good level of muscle-repair
- Etc.
So, were do you get these "performance-enhancing"
fats?
- Fish oil
- Nuts
- Avocados
- Vegetable oil
- Supplements
For more softball-specific nutrition secrets, check out:
=> http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/
www.prohittingcages.com
It's true for certain types of fat.
However, there are other types of fat (EFA's
or Essential Fatty Acids) that are good for you.
In fact, they are essential for good health
and peak performance.
Young female softball players need these good
types of fats.
Here's what the good fats (EFAs) will do for you
and your game:
- Increases brain function and decision-making
- Improves mood
- Speeds up recovery time
- Maintains joint and connective tissue
- Reduces PMS symptoms
- Helps maintain a good level of muscle-repair
- Etc.
So, were do you get these "performance-enhancing"
fats?
- Fish oil
- Nuts
- Avocados
- Vegetable oil
- Supplements
For more softball-specific nutrition secrets, check out:
=> http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/
www.prohittingcages.com
Saturday, February 9, 2013
ProHittingCages
Outdoor Batting Cages
ProHittingCages.com batting cages provide your future MLB stars with hours of practice to improve their baseball skills and Improve Their Game. Our batting cages can be set up right on your game court with netting custom-built to meet your dimensions and specifications. Contact us today.
Once our batting cages are installed, the on-going operation costs are relatively low. ProHittingCages.com also has batting cages for almost any location, recreation centers, and other large facilities in the contiguous United States (lower 48).
Local teams are growing rapidly, so give your team or your children's team a way to improve their batting averages. Let ProHittingCages.com help you Improve Your Game! Visit our website www.prohittingcages.com today
Friday, February 8, 2013
The Negro League and Baseball History (part 6)
Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Gus Greenlee
Just as Negro league baseball seemed to be at its lowest point and was about to fade into history, along came Cumberland Posey and his Homestead Grays. Posey, Charlie Walker, John Roesnik, George Rossiter, John Drew, Lloyd Thompson and L.R. Williams got together in January 1932 and founded the East-West League. Eight cities were included in the new league: "Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland, Newark, New York, and Washington D.C.".[18] By May 1932, the Detroit Wolves were about to collapse, and instead of letting the team go, Posey kept pumping money into it. By June the Wolves had disintegrated and all the rest of the teams, except for the Grays, were beyond help, so Posey had to terminate the league.Across town from Posey, Gus Greenlee, a reputed gangster and numbers runner, had just purchased the Pittsburgh Crawfords. Greenlee's main interest in baseball was to use it as a way to launder money from his numbers games. But, after learning about Posey's money-making machine in Homestead, he became obsessed with the sport and his Crawfords. On August 6, 1931, Satchel Paige made his first appearance as a Crawford. With Paige on his team, Greenlee took a huge risk by investing $100,000 in a new ballpark to be called Greenlee Field. On opening day, April 30, 1932, the pitcher-catcher battery was made up of the two most marketable icons in all of blackball: Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson.
In 1933, Greenlee, riding the popularity of his Crawfords, became the next man to start a Negro league. In February 1933, Greenlee and delegates from six other teams met at Greenlee's Crawford Grill to ratify the constitution of the National Organization of Professional Baseball Clubs. The name of the new league was the same as the old league Negro National League which had disbanded a year earlier in 1932.[19] The members of the new league were the Pittsburgh Crawfords, Columbus Blue Birds, Indianapolis ABCs, Baltimore Black Sox, Brooklyn Royal Giants, Cole's American Giants (formerly the Chicago American Giants) and Nashville Elite Giants. Greenlee also came up with the idea to duplicate the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, except, unlike the big league method in which the sportswriters chose the players, the fans voted for the participants. The first game, known as the East-West All-Star Game, was held September 10, 1933 at Comiskey Park in Chicago before a crowd of 20,000.[20]
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia www.ProHittingCages.com
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Prohittingcages has listed on ebay the 09" GPP901 Mizuno Youth Ball Glove left-hand throw. Place your bid on this great youth glove for children under ages 6. Visit ProHittingCages for more!
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
The Xtender 24' Batting Cage
Amazing All-In-One Package Makes Set-Up A Breeze!
The X-tender Hitting Cages is the most revolutionary hitting cage ever developed! Never before have you been able to purchase a complete hitting cages and have it shipped directly to your door via UPS.
The secret lies in the frame design and netting.
First, the frame’s side supports are made of steel tubing to give the frame durability and maximum swinging area for the batter.
Second, the middle arch of the frame is made of flexible fiberglass rod. This rod allows the cage to flex in the wind without bending or breaking.
Third, the six power stakes are staked into the ground to give maximum frame support.
Fourth, a rugged foam pad slides over each frame support to protect the frame from balls.
Fifth, the extra strength catch net is made of 1” netting compared to 2” netting used on other cages. This smaller netting provides twice as much strength in the same amount of space. In fact, this netting is so small it doubles as a golf cage. Imagine what a great golfer you’ll be when your hitting hundreds of golf balls into your cage on a daily basis.
And because you can connect X-tender cages together, you can increase the length of your cage just by ordering another X-tender Cage. Don’t let another day go by without owning your own batting cage. The X-tender comes with a 30 day money back guarantee and 1 year limited warranty. Stop getting humilated at the plate, Order yours today!
Features
• Solid Steel & Fiberglass Frame
• Foam Padding
• 1” Nylon Netting
• Steel Ground Stakes and Nylon Support Ropes
• Built-in Pitching Machine Harness
• Works Perfectly with Pro Hitting Cages Crusher Curve Pitching Machines
Benefits
• Fiberglass poles assemble quickly while adding strength and stability
• Foam Padding protects frame from damage
• 3/4” Polyethylene Netting is durable and strong
• Steel Ground Stakes provide rugged support
• Built-in Harness connects easily to pitching machine
•Improve you swing
.Convince
Key Specs:
• Model #: XT299
• 24 ft. Long, 12 ft. Wide, 12 ft. High
• Recommended Ages: 6 years to Adult
• 30-Day Money Back Guarantee - One Year Warranty
• Use for Baseball or Golf
ProHittingCages.com
The Negro League in Baseball's History (part 5)
The Golden age
On May 2, 1920, the Indianapolis ABCs beat the Chicago American Giants (4–2) in the first game played in the inaugural season of the Negro National League, played at Washington Park in Indianapolis.[14] But, because of the Chicago Race Riot of 1919, the National Guard still occupied the Giants' home field, Schorling's Park (formerly South Side Park). This forced Foster to cancel all the Giants' home games for almost a month and threatened to become a huge embarrassment for the league. On March 2, 1920 the Negro Southern League was founded in Atlanta, Georgia.[15] In 1921, the Negro Southern League joined Foster's National Association of Colored Professional Base Ball Clubs. As a dues-paying member of the association, it received the same protection from raiding parties as any team in the Negro National League.Foster then admitted John Connors' Atlantic City Bacharach Giants as an associate member to move further into Nat Strong's territory. Connors, wanting to return the favor of helping him against Strong, raided Ed Bolden's Hilldale Daisies team. Bolden saw little choice but to team up with Foster's nemesis, Nat Strong. Within days of calling a truce with Strong, Bolden made an about-face and signed up as an associate member of Foster's Negro National League.
On December 16, 1922, Bolden once again shifted sides and, with Strong, formed the Eastern Colored League as an alternative to Foster's Negro National League, which started with six teams: Atlantic City Bacharach Giants, Baltimore Black Sox, Brooklyn Royal Giants, New York Cuban Stars, Hilldale, and New York Lincoln Giants.[16] The National League was having trouble maintaining continuity among its franchises: three teams folded and had to be replaced after the 1921 season, two others after the 1922 season, and two more after the 1923 season. Foster replaced the defunct teams, sometimes promoting whole teams from the Negro Southern League into the NNL. Finally Foster and Bolden met and agreed to an annual Negro League World Series beginning in 1924.
After the Eastern League folded following the 1927 season, a new eastern league, the American Negro League, was formed to replace it. The makeup of the new ANL was nearly the same as the Eastern League, the exception being that the Homestead Grays joined in place of the now-defunct Brooklyn Royal Giants. The ANL lasted just one season. In the face of harder economic times, the Negro National League folded after the 1931 season. Some of its teams joined the only Negro league then left, the Negro Southern League.
On March 26, 1932 the Chicago Defender announced the end of Negro National League.[17]
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Tuesday, February 5, 2013
The Negro League in Baseball History (part 4)
Rube Foster
The Philadelphia Giants, owned by Walter Schlichter, a white businessman, rose to prominence in 1903 when they lost to the Cuban X-Giants in their version of the "Colored Championship". Leading the way for the Cubans was a young pitcher by the name of Andrew "Rube" Foster. The following season, Schlichter, in the finest blackball tradition, hired Foster away from the Cubans, and beat them in their 1904 rematch. Philadelphia remained on top of the blackball world until Foster left the team in 1907 to play and manage the Leland Giants (Frank Leland renamed his Chicago Union Giants the Leland Giants in 1905).Around the same time, Nat Strong, a white businessmen, started using his ownership of baseball fields in the New York City area to become the leading promoter of blackball on the East coast. Just about any game played in New York, Strong would get a cut. Strong eventually used his leverage to almost put the Brooklyn Royal Giants out of business, and then he bought the club and turned it into a barnstorming team.
When Foster joined the Leland Giants, he demanded that he be put in charge of not only the on-field activities, but the bookings as well. Foster immediately turned the Giants into the team to beat. He indoctrinated them to take the extra base, to play hit and run on nearly every pitch, and to rattle the opposing pitcher by taking them deep into the count. He studied the mechanics of his pitchers and could spot the smallest flaw, turning his average pitchers into learned craftsmen. Foster also was able to turn around the business end of the team as well, by demanding and getting 40 percent of the gate instead of the 10 percent that Frank Leland was getting.
By the end of the 1909, Foster demanded that Leland step back from all baseball operations or he (Foster) would leave. When Leland would not give up complete control, Foster quit, and in a heated court battle, got to keep the rights to the Leland Giants' name. Leland took the players and started a new team named the Chicago Giants, while Foster took the Leland Giants and started to encroach on Nat Strong's territory.
As early as 1910, Foster started talking about reviving the concept of an all-black league. The one thing he was insistent upon was that black teams should be owned by black men. This put him in direct competition with Strong. After 1912, Foster renamed his team the Chicago American Giants to appeal to a larger fan base. During the same year, J. L. Wilkinson started the All Nations traveling team. The All Nations team would eventually become one of the best-known and popular teams of the Negro leagues, the Kansas City Monarchs.
On April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I. Manpower needed by the defense plants and industry accelerated the migration of blacks from the South to the North. This meant a larger and more affluent fan base with more money to spend. By the end of the war in 1919, Foster was again ready to start a Negro baseball league.
On February 13 and 14, 1920, talks were held in Kansas City, Missouri that established the Negro National League and its governing body the National Association of Colored Professional Base Ball Clubs.[13] The league was initially composed of eight teams: Chicago American Giants, Chicago Giants, Cuban Stars, Dayton Marcos, Detroit Stars, Indianapolis ABC's, Kansas City Monarchs and St. Louis Giants. Foster was named league president and controlled every aspect of the league, including which players played on which teams, when and where teams played, and what equipment was used (all of which had to be purchased from Foster).[13] Foster, as booking agent of the league, took a five percent cut of all gate receipts.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monday, February 4, 2013
Negro League in Baseball's History (part 3)
Frank Leland
After his stint with the Gorhams, Bud Fowler caught on with a team out of Findlay, Ohio. While his team was playing in Adrian, Michigan, Fowler was persuaded by two white local businessmen, L. W. Hoch and Rolla Taylor to help them start a team financed by the Page Woven Wire Fence Company, the Page Fence Giants. The Page Fence Giants went on to become a powerhouse team that had no home field. Barnstorming through the Midwest, they would play all comers. Their success became the prototype for black baseball for years to come.
After the 1898 season, the Page Fence Giants were forced to fold because of finances. Alvin H. Garrett, a black businessman in Chicago, and John W. Patterson, the left fielder for the Page Fence Giants, reformed the team under the name of the Columbia Giants. In 1901 the Giants folded because of a lack of a place to play. Leland bought the Giants in 1905 and merged it with his Unions (despite the fact that not a single Giant player ended up on the roster), and named them the Leland Giants.[12]
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
www.ProHittingCages.com
Sunday, February 3, 2013
The 09" GGP901 Mizuno Youth Ball Glove
A favorite youth glove from Mizuno the 09" GPP901
Feather at prohittingcages.com/
| Click to enlarge image(s) |
Name: 09" GPP901 Mizuno Youth Ball Glove
Price: $24.99
GPP901 - Prospect - 9"
- Re-inforce Web
- Technology design to help youth players
- Designed to makes closing and catching the ball easier for younger players
- Facilitate youth players in learning to catch in the pocket
- To minimize "sting" The Parashock palm pad and Buttersoft lining reduce shock in select models
- Patented PowerClose MAKES CATCHING EASY!
facilitate
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Negro League Baseball History (Part 2)
Professional baseball
Baseball featuring African American players became professionalized by the 1870s.[7] The first known professional black baseball player was Bud Fowler, who appeared in a handful of games with a Chelsea, Massachusetts club in April 1878 and then pitched for the Lynn, Massachusetts team in the International Association.[8] Moses Fleetwood Walker and his brother, Welday Wilberforce Walker, were the first two black players in the major leagues. They both played for the 1884 Toledo Blue Stockings in the American Association.[9] Then in 1886 second baseman Frank Grant joined the Buffalo Bisons of the International League, the strongest minor league, and hit .340, third highest in the league. Several other black American players joined the International League the following season, including pitchers George Stovey and Robert Higgins, but 1888 was the last season blacks were permitted in that or any other high minor league.
Moses Fleetwood Walker, possibly the first African American major league baseball player
The first nationally-known black professional baseball team was founded in 1885 when three clubs, the Keystone Athletics of Philadelphia, the Orions of Philadelphia, and the Manhattans of Washington, D.C., merged to form the Cuban Giants.[10]
The success of the Cubans led to the creation of the first recognized "Negro league" in 1887 – the National Colored Base Ball League. It was organized strictly as a minor league[2] and founded with six teams: Baltimore Lord Baltimores, Boston Resolutes, Louisville Falls Citys, New York Gorhams, Philadelphia Pythians, and Pittsburgh Keystones. Two more joined before the season but never played a game, the Cincinnati Browns and Washington Capital Cities. The league, led by Walter S. Brown of Pittsburgh, applied for and was granted official minor league status and thus "protection" under the major league-led National Agreement. This move prevented any team in organized baseball from signing any of the NCBBL players, which also locked the players to their particular teams within the league. The reserve clause would have tied the players to their clubs from season to season but the NCBBL failed. One month into the season, the Resolutes folded. A week later, only three teams were left.[citation needed]
Because the original Cuban Giants were a popular and business success, many similarly named teams came into existence — including the Cuban X-Giants, a splinter and a powerhouse around 1900; the Genuine Cuban Giants, the renamed Cuban Giants, the Columbia Giants, the Brooklyn Royal Giants, and so on. The early "Cuban" teams were all composed of African Americans rather than Cubans; the purpose was to increase their acceptance with white patrons as Cuba was on very friendly terms with the US during those years. Beginning in 1899 several Cuban baseball teams played in North America, including the All Cubans, the Cuban Stars (West), the Cuban Stars (East), and the New York Cubans. Some of them included white Cuban players and some were Negro Leagues members.[11]
The few players on the white minor league teams were constantly dodging verbal and physical abuse from both competitors and fans. Then the Compromise of 1877 removed the remaining obstacles from the South's enacting the Jim Crow laws. To make matters worse, on July 14, 1887, Cap Anson's Chicago White Stockings were scheduled to play the Newark Giants of the International League, which had Fleet Walker and George Stovey on its roster. After Anson marched his team onto the field, military style as was his custom, he demanded that the blacks not play. Newark capitulated, and later that same day, league owners voted to refuse future contracts to blacks, citing the "hazards" imposed by such athletes.[citation needed]
In 1888, the Middle States League was formed and it admitted two all-black teams to its otherwise all-white league, the Cuban Giants and their arch-rivals, the New York Gorhams. Despite the animosity between the two clubs, they managed to form a traveling team, the Colored All Americans. This enabled them to make money barnstorming while fulfilling their league obligations. In 1890, the Giants returned to their independent, barnstorming identity, and by 1892, they were the only black team in the East still in operation on a full-time basis. ProHittingCages.com
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