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| Chicago American Giants | |
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| Information | |
| League |
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| Location | Chicago, Illinois |
| Ballpark |
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| Established | 1910 |
| Disbanded | 1956 |
| Nicknames |
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| Negro World Series championships | |
| League titles | |
TheChicago American Giants were aChicago-basedNegro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 byplayer-managerAndrew "Rube" Foster, they were charter members of Foster'sNegro National League. The American Giants won five pennants in that league, along with another pennant in the 1932Negro Southern League and a second-half championship in Gus Greenlee's Negro National League in 1934.
In 1910, Foster, captain of theChicago Leland Giants, wrestled legal control of the name "Leland Giants" away from the team's owner,Frank Leland. That season, featuring Hall of Fame shortstopJohn Henry Lloyd, outfielderPete Hill, second basemanGrant Johnson, catcherBruce Petway, and pitcherFrank Wickware, the Leland Giants reportedly won 123 games while losing only 6. In 1911, Foster renamed the club the "American Giants".
| TheChicago Unions and theChicago Columbia Giants merged for the 1901 season creating theChicago Union Giants, who later changed their name to the Leland Giants. The Leland Giants then split into two teams for the 1910 season creating theChicago Giants and the new Leland Giants, who later changed their name to theChicago American Giants. |
Playing in spaciousSchorling's Park (formerly "South Side Park III", the home field of the American League'sChicago White Sox), Foster's club relied on fielding, pitching, speed, and "inside baseball" to succeed in the youngNegro National League (NNL), winning championships in 1920, 1921, and 1922. When theKansas City Monarchs supplanted the American Giants as the dominant team beginning in 1923, Foster tried rebuilding but by 1926 his health (physical and mental) was failing. Accordingly, his protégéDave Malarcher took over on-field management of the team. Malarcher followed Foster's pattern, emphasizing pitching and defense, and led the American Giants back to the top-tier of the Negro leagues, winning pennants in 1926 and 1927. Both seasons also saw the American Giants defeat theBacharach Giants of Atlantic City, champions of the Eastern Colored League, in theNegro League World Series.
The NNL collapsed in 1931, and in 1932 the team won theNegro Southern League pennant asCole's American Giants. The next season the American Giants joined the newNegro National League, losing the pennant to thePittsburgh Crawfords in a controversial decision by league president Gus Greenlee (owner of the Crawfords). The 1933 season saw the Giants get kicked off of their home field after the end of May; the park owners preferred to use the land as a dog racing track for the remaining summer months. This forced the Giants to play the majority of their home games inIndianapolis for the balance of that season.[2] In 1934, the American Giants won the NNL's second-half title, then fell to thePhiladelphia Stars in a seven-game playoff for the championship. In 1937, after a year spent playing as an independent club, the American Giants became a charter member of yet another circuit, theNegro American League.
Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe was appointed manager in 1950. The team's owner,Dr. J.B. Martin, was concerned about black players joiningmajor league teams so he instructed Radcliffe to sign white players. Radcliffe recruited at least five young white players (Lou Chirban,Lou Clarizio,Al Dubetts,Frank Dyall, andStanley Miarka). Sports entrepreneurAbe Saperstein owned the American Giants in 1952, its last season in the Negro American League. Its players were dispersed to the four remaining NAL teams for the 1953 season. After dropping out of the Negro American League, the American Giants became unaffiliated and turned to barnstorming, playing games in the Midwest. The team disbanded after the 1956 season, then was revived in 1958, playing throughout the South until 1961.
The American Giants played atSchorling's Park (1911–1940) andPerry Stadium (Indianapolis) (1933), when Schorling's Park was briefly re-purposed mid-season in 1933. Finally, after a destructive fire at Schorling's Park, they sharedComiskey Park (I) (1941–1950), playing when the White Sox were on the road.[3]
Prior to 1911, the predecessor Union Giants club had played in various small local venues, primarily the first "Schorling's Park", a.k.a. "Auburn Park", at 79th Street and Wentworth Avenue in the Auburn Park neighborhood of Chicago's south side.
TheChicago White Sox have honored the American Giants by wearing replica uniforms during regular-season baseball games on several occasions, including July 1, 2007 (at Kansas City), July 26, 2008 (at home vs. Detroit), and July 16, 2011, during the 9th Annual Negro League weekend at Detroit, where the home team also wore the jerseys of theDetroit Stars during the 17th annual Negro League Tribute Game.[4]
Thirteen alumni have been inducted into theNational Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.[5]
| Chicago American Giants Hall of Famers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Inductee | Position | Tenure | Inducted |
| Cool Papa Bell | CF | 1942 | 1974 |
| Oscar Charleston | CF | 1919 | 1976 |
| Andy Cooper | P | 1937 | 2006 |
| Bill Foster | P | 1923–1930 1932–1935, 1937 | 1996 |
| Rube Foster | P Manager | 1911–1926 | 1981 |
| Pete Hill | OF | 1911–1918 | 2006 |
| John Henry Lloyd | SS | 1914–1917 | 1977 |
| Hilton Smith | P / OF | 1937 | 2001 |
| Turkey Stearnes | OF | 1932–1935 1937–1938 | 2000 |
| Mule Suttles | 1B /LF | 1929, 1933–1935 | 2006 |
| Cristóbal Torriente | OF | 1919–1925 | 2006 |
| Willie Wells | SS | 1929, 1933–1935 | 1997 |
| Smokey Joe Williams | P | 1914 | 1999 |
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| Colored World Series championships (2) | |||||||||||||
| League pennants (6) | |||||||||||||
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| International | |
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| National | |
