Baltimore Elite Giants

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Washington Elite Giants)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Main other Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The Baltimore Elite Giants were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues from Template:Baseball year to Template:Baseball year. The team was established by Thomas T. Wilson, in Nashville, Tennessee as the semi-pro Nashville Standard Giants on March 26, 1920. The team was renamed the Elite Giants in Template:Baseball year, and moved to Baltimore, Maryland in Template:Baseball year, where the team remained for the duration of their existence. The team and its fans pronounced the word "Elite" as "ee-light".[1]

Barnstorming years

Script error: No such module "Hatnote". The Nashville Standard Giants were formed as a semi-professional all-Negro team in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 26, 1920.[2] The club was chartered by Thomas T. Wilson, T. Clay Moore, J. B. Boyd, Marshall Garrett, Walter Phillips, W. H. Pettis, J. L. Overton, and R. H. Tabor.[2] The team's origins lie in that of two of Nashville's local negro amateur baseball teams: the Nashville Maroons (formed in 1909) and the Elites (formed in 1913).[2] Their home games were played at Sulphur Dell and Greenwood Park, the African American community's local park.[2] The Standard Giants welcomed any and all competition, including white-only teams, but played independently of any organized leagues until the mid-1920s.[2]

The team was renamed the Nashville Elite Giants (pronounced EE-light) in 1921.[3] That same year, they swept the Montgomery Grey Sox (of the minor league Negro Southern League) in a four-game championship series to win the right to declare themselves the Southern Colored Champions.[4] They continued to play independently until joining the Negro Southern League in 1926.[2] Nashville completed its first season in the league with a 15–15 (.500) record.[5]

In 1929, Nashville was granted an associate membership in the Negro National League.[6] The team finished in eighth (last) place with a 10–20 (.333) record.[6] That same year, Wilson built a new ballpark for his team, Tom Wilson Park, which also served as a spring training site for other Negro league teams, as well as white-only minor league teams, such as the Southern Association's Nashville Vols.[7] Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Roy Campanella are known to have played at the park.[7] The 8,000 (or 4,000)[2] seat facility featured a single-decked, covered grandstand.[7] The ballpark was centrally located in Nashville's largest black community, known as Trimble Bottom, near the convergence of Second and Forth Avenues, just north of the fairgrounds.[2]

Negro league years

National League

In Template:Baseball year, the team gained admission into their first organized league, the Negro National League. The Elite Giants finished in seventh place with a 39–47 record.

Southern League

The Elite Giants joined the Negro Southern League, where they played in 1931 and 1932.

Second National League

A second incarnation of the Negro National League was formed in Template:Baseball year, where the Elite Giants played for the following two seasons. Nashville finished the 1933 season in fifth place with a 29–22 record and tied as winners of the second half of the season with the Pittsburgh Crawfords. Nashville lost a three-game playoff with Pittsburgh for a spot in the league championship game. In Template:Baseball year, the Elite Giants finished in fourth place with a 20–28 record.

In Template:Baseball year, the team moved to Columbus, Ohio and became the Columbus Elite Giants. They played only one season in Columbus, 1935, finishing in fourth place with a 16–17 record.

In Template:Baseball year the team moved to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Elite Giants. In their first season, they finished in fifth place with a 21–24 record. In Template:Baseball year, the Elites finished in third place with a 27–17 record.

The team moved again in Template:Baseball year to Baltimore, Maryland and became the Baltimore Elite Giants. In Template:Baseball year, the Elites won the Negro National Title, defeating the Homestead Grays. In Template:Baseball year, they won the first half, but lost the championship to second half winners, the Homestead Grays.

American League

In Template:Baseball year, the Negro National League ceased operations, and the Elite Giants joined the Negro American League. In their first season with the new league, Baltimore captured the Eastern and Western Division titles, earning them a second Negro National Title. In thirteen seasons in Baltimore, of the eleven which have available standings, the Elite Giants finished in the top three during nine of those seasons. In dire financial straits, the club played one final season in Template:Baseball year before dissolving.

Baseball Hall of Fame inductees

Script error: No such module "Main list".

These Baltimore Elite Giants alumni have been inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

colspan=5 style="Template:Baseball primary style"|Baltimore Elite Giants Hall of Famers
style="Template:Baseball secondary style"|Inductee style="Template:Baseball secondary style"|Position style="Template:Baseball secondary style"|Tenure style="Template:Baseball secondary style"|Inducted
Roy Campanella C 1937–1945 1969
Ray Dandridge 3B / 2B / SS 1933 1987
Leon Day P 1949 1995
Biz Mackey C / SS / 1B 1936–1939 2006
Willie Wells SS / 3B 1946 1997

A number of future major leaguers wore the uniform of the Elite Giants, including Hall of Famers Roy Campanella and Leon Day (who played in with the team in the non-major league years of 1949-50). Also a member of the Elite Giants were two future National League Rookie of the Years in Junior Gilliam (1953) and Joe Black (1952), each who played with Campanella for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Elite Giants also added the first known professional baseball player of Cape Verdean descent, Joe Campini, to their roster in 1948.

Championships

style="Template:Baseball primary style;"|Season style="Template:Baseball primary style;"|Manager style="Template:Baseball primary style;"|Record style="Template:Baseball primary style;"|Postseason
1939 Felton Snow 20–24 3–1–1 over Homestead Grays
Total Negro National League pennants 1

References

Template:Reflist

External links

Template:Baltimore Elite Giants Template:Negro Southern League (1920–1936) Template:Negro National League (1920–1931) Template:Negro National League (1933–1948) Template:Negro American League Script error: No such module "Navbox". Template:Professional baseball in Nashville, Tennessee Template:Authority control

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Retrieved from "http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Baltimore_Elite_Giants&oldid=2059917"