Baltimore Elite Giants
Encyclopedia
The Baltimore Elite Giants were a professional baseball
team that played in the Negro leagues
from to . 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 , and would move to Baltimore, Maryland
in , where it played until its final season in . The team pronounced the word "Elite" to rhyme with "light".
, Tennessee
in the early 1900s. Tom T. Wilson took control of the club in . On March 26, 1920, the team was chartered as a semi-professional team. The Standard Giants welcomed any and all competition, including white-only teams. The team was renamed the Nashville Elite Giants in . This team would play independently, that is to say that they did not play in an organized league, through .
Also in 1929, Wilson built a new ballpark for his team to play at, Tom Wilson Park, which also served as a spring training site for other Negro league teams, as well as white-only minor league teams. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Roy Campanella are known to have played at the park. The 8,000 seat facility featured a single-decked, covered grandstand. The ballpark was centrally located in Nashville's largest black community, known as Trimble Bottom, near the convergence of Second and Forth Avenues. Before his death in 1947, Wilson converted the park into a dog racing track and later the Paradise Ballroom, a popular black nightclub that attracted top musical talents of the day, including Duke Ellington
and Louis Armstrong
. The structure was later demolished and is presently the site of semi-truck loading dock.
The following season, , Wilson moved the team to Cleveland
, Ohio
and renamed the team the Cleveland Cubs, remaining in the same league. The team finished in seventh place with a 25-28 record.
, where they played in .
. Nashville lost a three-game playoff with Pittsburgh for a spot in the league championship game. In , the Elite Giants finished in fourth place with a 20-28 record.
In , 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 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 , the Elites finished in third place with a 27-17 record.
The team moved again in to Baltimore, Maryland
and became the Baltimore Elite Giants. In , the Elites won the Negro National Title, defeating the Homestead Grays
. In , they won the first half, but lost the championship to second half winners, the Homestead Grays.
. 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 before dissolving.
and Leon Day
. Junior Gilliam (1953 National League Rookie of the Year), and Joe Black
(1952 National League Rookie of the Year) were both former 'Elites' and won consecutive Rookie of the Year honors for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the early 1950s.
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team that played in the Negro leagues
Negro league baseball
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...
from to . The team was established by Thomas T. Wilson, in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
as the semi-pro Nashville Standard Giants on March 26, 1920. The team was renamed the Elite Giants in , and would move to Baltimore, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
in , where it played until its final season in . The team pronounced the word "Elite" to rhyme with "light".
Barnstorming years
The Nashville Standard Giants was formed as an amateur all-Negro team in NashvilleNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
in the early 1900s. Tom T. Wilson took control of the club in . On March 26, 1920, the team was chartered as a semi-professional team. The Standard Giants welcomed any and all competition, including white-only teams. The team was renamed the Nashville Elite Giants in . This team would play independently, that is to say that they did not play in an organized league, through .
Also in 1929, Wilson built a new ballpark for his team to play at, Tom Wilson Park, which also served as a spring training site for other Negro league teams, as well as white-only minor league teams. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Roy Campanella are known to have played at the park. The 8,000 seat facility featured a single-decked, covered grandstand. The ballpark was centrally located in Nashville's largest black community, known as Trimble Bottom, near the convergence of Second and Forth Avenues. Before his death in 1947, Wilson converted the park into a dog racing track and later the Paradise Ballroom, a popular black nightclub that attracted top musical talents of the day, including Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
and Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
. The structure was later demolished and is presently the site of semi-truck loading dock.
National League
In , 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.The following season, , Wilson moved the team to Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and renamed the team the Cleveland Cubs, remaining in the same league. The team finished in seventh place with a 25-28 record.
Southern League
The Negro National League collapsed after the 1931 season, and the team moved back to Nashville, reverted to being called the Elite Giants, and joined the Negro Southern LeagueNegro Southern League
The Negro Southern League was a Negro baseball league organized in 1920 that lasted into the 1940s. Negro leagues in Southern United States were far less organized and lucrative than those in the north due to Jim Crow laws. Tom Wilson organized the Negro Southern League in .For most of its...
, where they played in .
Second National League
A second incarnation of the Negro National League was formed in , 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 CrawfordsPittsburgh Crawfords
The Pittsburgh Crawfords, popularly known as the Craws, were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Named after the Crawford Grill, a club in the Hill District of Pittsburgh owned by Gus Greenlee, the Crawfords were originally a youth semipro team sponsored by...
. Nashville lost a three-game playoff with Pittsburgh for a spot in the league championship game. In , the Elite Giants finished in fourth place with a 20-28 record.
In , the team moved to Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and became the Columbus Elite Giants. They played only one season in Columbus, 1935, finishing in fourth place with a 16-17 record.
In 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 , the Elites finished in third place with a 27-17 record.
The team moved again in to Baltimore, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and became the Baltimore Elite Giants. In , the Elites won the Negro National Title, defeating the Homestead Grays
Homestead Grays
The 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 would remain in continuous operation for 38 seasons. The team was based in Homestead, Pennsylvania, adjacent to Pittsburgh.-Franchise...
. In , they won the first half, but lost the championship to second half winners, the Homestead Grays.
American League
In , the Negro National League ceased operations, so the Elite Giants joined the Negro American LeagueNegro American League
The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues which were created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and continued to exist until 1960...
. 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 before dissolving.
Notable players
A number of future major leaguers wore the uniform of the Elite Giants, including Hall of Famers Roy CampanellaRoy Campanella
Roy Campanella , nicknamed "Campy", was an American baseball player, primarily at the position of catcher, in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball...
and Leon Day
Leon Day
Leon Day was an American right-handed pitcher in the Negro leagues. He played for the Baltimore Black Sox, the Brooklyn & Newark Eagles, and the Baltimore Elite Giants.He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995....
. Junior Gilliam (1953 National League Rookie of the Year), and Joe Black
Joe Black
Joseph Black was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro League and Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Redlegs, and Washington Senators who became the first black pitcher to win a World Series game, in 1952. Black died of prostate cancer at age 78.A native of Plainfield,...
(1952 National League Rookie of the Year) were both former 'Elites' and won consecutive Rookie of the Year honors for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the early 1950s.