Detroit Wolves
Encyclopedia
The Detroit Wolves were a Negro Leagues baseball club that played for just one year (1932). In 1931 the Negro National League collapsed. It reformed in 1933, but in the interim Detroit was left without a Negro Leagues team, as the Detroit Stars
Detroit Stars
The Detroit Stars were a United States baseball team in the Negro leagues and played at historic Mack Park.- Founding :Founded in 1919 by Tenny Blount with the help of Rube Foster, owner and manager of the Chicago American Giants, the Detroit Stars immediately established themselves as one of the...
had been members of the NNL. In 1932, the city placed the Wolves in the new East-West League
East-West League
The East-West League was an American Negro baseball league that operated during the period when professional baseball in the United States was segregated. Cum Posey organized the league in 1932, but it didn't last the full year and folded in June of that year...
. They played in Hamtramck Stadium, where the Stars had played.
The Wolves posted the best record in the league, behind the play of stars like Willie Wells
Willie Wells
Willie James Wells was an American shortstop who played from -48 for various teams in the Negro Leagues.Wells was born in Austin, Texas...
, Cool Papa Bell, Mule Suttles
Mule Suttles
George "Mule" Suttles was an American first baseman and outfielder in Negro league baseball, most prominently with the Birmingham Black Barons, St. Louis Stars and Newark Eagles...
, Quincy Trouppe
Quincy Trouppe
Quincy Thomas Trouppe was an American professional baseball player and an amateur boxing champion. He was a catcher in the Negro Leagues from 1930 to 1949. He was a native of Dublin, Georgia....
, Ted Trent, Ray Brown and Judy Johnson
Judy Johnson
William Julius "Judy" Johnson was an American third baseman in Negro league baseball.Johnson was born in Snow Hill, Maryland. Although his father wanted him to be a boxer, Johnson, who was 5 ft 11 in and only 150 lb , was far better suited for a career in baseball...
.
The team was owned by Cum Posey
Cumberland Posey
Cumberland Willis "Cum" Posey, Jr. was an American baseball player, manager, and team owner in the Negro leagues, as well as a star professional basketball player and team owner....
, who also owned 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...
and shuffled players between the two teams. Posey was the founder of the East-West League.
By May 1932 the Wolves were about to collapse, but Posey kept pumping money into the club. By June, however, not only the Wolves but all the other teams except the Grays were going broke, so Posey shut down the league.