Black Baseball Entrepreneurs, 1902-1931: The Negro National and Eastern Colored Leagues

11Before the Fall

371 11 Before the Fall Beginning in 1925, several members from the black press, a club owner, and a prominent player-manager wrote a series of articles critically assessing the inner workings of the Negro National League and the Eastern Colored League. Some raised the familiar complaint regarding the lack of league statistics, while others focused on the need for both circuits to hire presidents who were unaffiliated with league clubs. Two of the sharpest critiques came from Homestead Grays’ owner Cumberland Posey and Lincoln Giants’ player-manager John Henry Lloyd. Posey was critical of the business relationship between Nat Strong and Ed Bolden and stressed the need for the ECL to reform the poor umpiring at league games and to eliminate rowdyism on and off the field. Lloyd, on the other hand, suggested a revised Eastern League, including Posey’s Homestead Grays, along with a “high commissioner” to govern the league. Few could argue with the critiques these contemporaries raised about the inner workings of both leagues. Nonetheless, they essentially overlooked the club owners’ motives that led to the creation of the Negro Leagues from the outset. Those motives made many of the proposed reform measures impractical. While the commissioners held their annual winter meeting and both leagues conducted their joint sessions, the breakup of the Eastern Colored League was inevitable. Colonel Jacob Strothers’s resignation from the league had a domino effect, with other club owners leaving the circuit . Ed Bolden recovered from his illness and assumed control of the Hilldale Corporation. His first official act was to withdraw from the ECL and simultaneously indict some of the former commissioners in the press. Isaac Nutter attempted to hold the league together, but the ECL 372 ◆ Negro National and Eastern Colored Leagues, 1920–1931 magnates returned to independent ball. During the course of the season, several sportswriters, led by Rollo Wilson and Bill Gibson, urged the eastern owners to form a new league. In his second year as president, Judge William Hueston attempted to exert stronger leadership over the NNL’s day-to-day operations. He applied many of the black press’s recommendations to reform the club owners’ business practices. Hueston also sought to improve the league’s image by promoting black baseball as a means of self-expression, conducting a series of promotions, and illustrating the ways in which the sport served as a leveler of race prejudice among blacks and whites. The 1928 season was noteworthy for the league championship series between the Chicago American Giants and the St. Louis Stars. The series marked the end of an era in midwestern black baseball. In January 1929, Ed Bolden invited several former ECL owners and Cumberland Posey to form the American Negro League (ANL). Six clubs constituted the new league: Hilldale AC, Baltimore Black Sox, Bacharach Giants, Cuban Stars, Homestead Grays, and Lincoln Giants. The owners exhibited a willingness to cooperate, as the Lincoln Giants, Hilldale, and Baltimore agreed to play league games away from home. The clubs also tried to improve their relationship with the press by hiring Rollo Wilson as their publicity director and inviting several sportswriters to attend league meetings. Several players tested the owners’ resolve when they refused to report to their respective clubs prior to the start of the season. A baseball war almost occurred when Cum Posey lured several players away from NNL clubs. Despite these obstacles, the ANL managed to complete the season, although several owners claimed they had lost money. The Negro National League, on the other hand, experienced its worst season in its brief history. League secretary Quincy Gilmore resigned his position to organize a league in Texas. Several teams were in transition, such as the Memphis Red Sox, which change ownership for a second time in as many years. The Chicago American Giants lost several key players, including their player-manager, Dave Malarcher. Inclement weather impacted negatively on attendance for a second straight year, leading Judge Hueston to encourage fans to attend league Before the Fall ◆ 373 games in the second half of the split season. The season was marred by a fire at the Detroit Stars’ home grounds, Mack Park, which injured several fans. The Mack Park fire and declining attendance led many contemporaries to ponder whether the NNL would survive another season. A Call for Reform: The Black Press Speaks Out The early relationship between the black press and the Negro Leagues was...