| Baltimore Black Sox | |
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| Location | Baltimore, Maryland |
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| Established | 1913 |
| Disbanded | 1936 |
| League titles | 1929 |
TheBaltimore Black Sox were a professionalNegro league baseball team active between 1913 and 1936, based inBaltimore, Maryland.
The Black Sox started as an independent team in 1913 by Howard Young. They were one of the original six teams to make up theEastern Colored League in1923.
In1929, The Black Sox boasted the "Million Dollar Infield" ofJud "Boojum" Wilson (first baseman),Frank Warfield (second baseman),Oliver Marcell (third baseman) andSir Richard Lundy (shortstop). The nickname was given to them by the media because of the prospective worth had they been white players. The Black Sox won over 70% of their games during the 1929 season and won theAmerican Negro League Championship.
During their only season in the East–West League (1932), the Black Sox were in third place with a 41–41 record when the league ceased operations.
In 1932,Joe Cambria became co-owner and general manager and moved the team intoCum Posey's newEast–West League. During that same year, the team moved its home games toBugle Field, which was owned by Cambria. He renovated and expanded the field and added lighting equipment for night games.[1] The team was in first place in the East–West League in late June when the league disbanded and the teams stopped paying player salaries, instead splitting a percentage of the gate receipts with the players.[2] In 1933, the team joinedGus Greenlee's newNegro National League. The next season, Cambria applied to reenter the Negro National League, but when several star players announced they would leave the team, his application was rejected and he disbanded the team.[3]
In mid-season 1934, another team entered the league using the Black Sox name, but it didn't meet with much success and disbanded after only one year[citation needed]. Another Black Sox team led byCrush Holloway joined the short lived minorNegro American Association in 1939.[4]
On September 6, 2007, theBaltimore Orioles wore Black Sox uniforms in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Black Sox'1932 season.[5]
On May 18, 2014, theBaltimore Orioles wore Black Sox uniforms as part of theKansas City Royals's "Salute to the Negro Leagues".[6]
McKenna, Bernard. The Baltimore Black Sox: A Negro Leagues History, 1913-1936. McFarland, 2020.
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| League pennants (1) | American Negro League: 1929 | ||||||||
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