Black Baseball Entrepreneurs, 1860-1901: Operating by Any Means Necessary (review)

Many baseball fans are aware of the twentieth-century Negro Leagues and its players, including greats Josh Gibbons and Satchel Page. However, most people have little or no knowledge of pre-twentieth-century black baseball. Finally, there is a book that describes that era in depth. It examines black baseball from the Civil War era to 1900 and infuses it with the political events of the time, including discussion of federal laws, urbanization, and the racist attitudes of the day.

The first chapter describes the rise of black baseball, with discussions of how slaves played the games during celebrations after the Civil War. At this time four major processes helped black baseball metamorphose into a more structured activity, including the creation of an African American middle class, growth of mutual aid societies, and development of economic and entrepreneurial systems in the African American community. The second chapter examines how black baseball transformed into a commercial enterprise, with a discussion of the Philadelphia Pythians, one of the most elite teams of the era. The author discusses in detail the creation of the team and how they collected income. However, this elite team was excluded from the �rst organization that brought baseball players together�the National Association of Base Ball Players.

The third chapter illustrates the rise of baseball, black and white, into full-fledged commercial enterprises. One major factor was that business started to change its stance about baseball as baseball became an accepted part of society. This chapter also discusses the emergence of the National League, the American Association (two Major Leagues), and the Northwestern League (a Minor League). It also examines the early boycotts by some white ballplayers of African American players. There is also discussion of the Cuban Giants, who would become one of the elite African American teams in the pre-twentieth-century era, including how they were formed and how they used cooperative enterprise, which is defined by the author as an economic and political partnership with elite whites. Walter Cooke, a white businessman for the Giants, is cited as an example.

The fourth chapter examines the rise of the National Colored League and the problems that erupted within the league, including trouble with travel and lack of money. The chapter also de scribes the profitability of a rival team to the Cubans, the Gorhams of New York. Chapter5 discusses the growth of the Cuban Giants and the Gorhams of New York, especially the movement to increase teams' "territory," when the Giants expanded into Florida. Both teams also joined a professional league, the Middle States League, which consisted of teams in Pennsylvania. We find out later that this was not the best move for either the Giants or the Gorhams, because of racism and the instability of other franchises in the league. In fact, the decline of the Cubans' dominance would continue over the next few years.

Chapter 6 illustrates the constant decline of the Cubans. S. K. Govern, their manager, left the Giants. Soon after his departure the dismantling of the team continued as other teams started to sign away their players. The author then makes a major point that race was still the major ingredient in the white club's business relationship between African American clubs. In the next chapter black baseball begins to move west with the Chicago Unions and the Page Fence Giants and their rise to prominence. The eighth chapter reveals the goal of a Colored Championship Series between the Unions, the Giants, and the new-look Cuban X Giants. Unfortunately, there did not seem to be one all encompassing series for the championship. Finally, the book concludes with the movement of black baseball to the international stage, especially to Cuba.

This is an amazing book because...