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

7Pitfalls of Baseball: The Rise of the Negro National League

241 7 Pitfalls of Baseball The Rise of the Negro National League From November 1919 to January 1920, Andrew “Rube” Foster made his third, and most passionate, plea for black baseball clubs to organize into professional leagues. Using Organized Baseball’s institutional structure as a model, Foster called for a national organization of eastern and western clubs to form into two leagues. He urged the club owners to meet in order to resolve their past differences and to eliminate destructive business practices, like player jumping, to sustain black baseball’s future. Foster laid out his vision to place the black game on a sound economic footing that included strong leadership and able lieutenants to carry out the organization’s policies. Eastern club owners rejected Foster’s call for a national meeting. However, in February 1920, midwestern club owners met and formed the Negro National League (NNL). The Negro National League enjoyed a good inaugural season, as each club reportedly made a profit. Prior to the start of the season, Foster embarked on what could best be described as a promotional tour of the East to drum up support for league formation. He negotiated a deal with Bacharach Giants’ owner John Connor to affiliate with the NNL as an associate member, enabling league clubs to travel to New York and play the Bacharachs at Ebbets Field and Dyckman Oval in Harlem. Foster’s trip to Philadelphia, however, marked the start of a conflict between himself and Hilldale magnate Ed Bolden. To tap into the Philadelphia market, Foster supported the newly created Madison Stars and simultaneously boycotted the Hilldale AC by refusing to schedule league 242 ◆ Negro National and Eastern Colored Leagues, 1920–1931 clubs to play there. Foster’s actions presented a dilemma for Bolden and his HBEC. While the AC continued to schedule games against “outlaw” clubs in New York like the Brooklyn Royal Giants and the Cuban Stars East, the Bacharach Giants refuse to play Hilldale because of the former ’s affiliation with the NNL. The situation between Bolden and Connor was further aggravated regarding a dispute over players, leading the HBEC to go to court and seek injunctions to prevent several players from jumping to the Giants. Although Rube Foster’s promotional tour of the East yielded mixed results, Negro National League officials took the initial steps to solidify their organization at their 1920 winter meeting. They revised the constitution and secured a working agreement to use a Major League park. The Dayton Marcos were transferred to Columbus, leading to Sol White’s return to black baseball. Because the league’s teams exhibited a degree of profitability, Ed Bolden’s attitude toward the NNL began to change. He applied for and received an associate membership for the AC. With Hilldale and the Bacharach Giants as associate members, Foster’s vision of a national organization appeared plausible. The 1921 season produced mixed results. Whereas gate receipts were reportedly 25 percent lower than the previous season, the EastWest association proved to be the NNL’s finest hour. It occurred at a time when the Bacharach Giants and Hilldale AC enjoyed spectacular seasons. Both teams began a rivalry that included doubleheaders at Ebbets Field. Although Hilldale and the Bacharachs boycotted the Brooklyn Royal Giants, Lincoln Giants, and Cuban Stars East, Bolden was willing to make this compromise when several NNL clubs barnstormed to Darby for gate receipts for the first time. At the end of the 1921 season, Rube Foster wrote a series of articles titled, “What Baseball Needs to Succeed.” The fundamental underpinning of these articles was what Foster considered the important steps to ensure black baseball’s “permanent success.” He addressed several issues, including the black game’s need to improve its image, the ballpark dilemma, and the hiring of African American umpires. At the outset, Foster wrote that much of what he would say would be controversial. The articles resulted in Foster’s alienating the very Rise of the Negro National League ◆ 243 men he needed to establish a national organization. At no time did he acknowledge the efforts of successful club owners like Bolden and Connor, nor was he willing to recognize the kinds of obstacles his fellow owners faced in their respective league cities. By the time the winter meetings approached, Rube Foster’s vision of a national organization became unglued. Winds of Change: The Rise of the Negro National League...