| Philadelphia Stars | |||||
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| Information | |||||
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| Location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | ||||
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| Established | 1933 | ||||
| Disbanded | 1952 | ||||
| League titles | 1934 | ||||
ThePhiladelphia Stars were aNegro league baseball team fromPhiladelphia. The Stars were founded in 1933 whenEd Bolden returned to professional black baseball after being idle since early 1930. The Stars were an independent ball club in 1933, a member of the Negro National League from 1934 until the League's collapse following the 1948 season, and affiliated with the Negro American League from 1949 to 1952.
In 1934, led by 20-year-old left-handerSlim Jones, the Stars defeated theChicago American Giants in a controversial playoff series, four games to three, for theNegro National League pennant. At their high point in mid-1930s, the team starred such greats asBiz Mackey,Jud Wilson, andDick Lundy. Following his release byCleveland,Satchel Paige signed with the Stars in July 1950, before returning to the Majors withBill Veeck and theSt. Louis Browns.
The club disbanded after the 1952 season.
The Stars were founded and organized by Ed Bolden. Bolden had owned theHilldale Club that won theEastern Colored League pennant in 1923, 1924, and 1925, and which beat theKansas City Monarchs in theNegro League World Series in 1925. Bolden was also a founder of the ECL. Bolden was instrumental in building the Stars' 1934 championship club and ran the team until his death in 1950.[1]
After Bolden's death, his ownership passed to his daughter, Hilda Bolden Shorter. Shorter ran the club through 1952.[2]
The team was financed, and owned in part by sports promoterEddie Gottlieb who also owned thePhiladelphia Sphas andPhiladelphia Warriors basketball teams. Gottlieb leasedPenmar Park from thePennsylvania Railroad for use by the Stars. In addition to the Stars, Gottlieb was the booking agent for all the Negro league teams in the Northeast, taking 10-percent of gate receipts for his work.[3]
Ed Bolden organized the Philadelphia Stars who played their first season in 1933. TheNegro National League was composed primarily of mid-western teams in 1933 and many east-coast clubs were independent. The Stars were originally one such unaffiliated club and primarily played against local white semi-professional and professional teams. For example, by June 1933, the Stars' only games against black teams had been against thePhiladelphia Bacharach Giants and thePittsburgh Crawfords.[4]
TheNegro National League used a split-season playoff system in 1934 with the season's first-half winner playing the second-half winner for the championship. TheChicago American Giants won the first-half. The Stars won the second-half with a record of 11-4.
The Stars won the 1934 Negro National League Championship by beating theChicago American Giants 4-3-1 in a best of seven game series. The championship series, however, was beset by problems.
The first four games of the best-of-seven series were played in Chicago. The games went smoothly and Chicago won three of four.[5] But game 5 was delayed by 10 days for unexplained reasons. When the Series resumed in Philadelphia, the Stars won game 6 to tie the series but did so amidst controversy.
Early in game 6, Stars’ third-baseman Jud Wilson seemed to hit umpireBert Gholston which should have meant immediate ejection. Over the protest of Chicago manager Dave Malarcher, Gholston refused to eject Wilson. Later in the game, Stars catcherAmeal Brooks pushed another of the umpires who also refused to eject the Stars player.
Prior to game 7, Malarcher filed a protest with NNL Commissioner Rollo Wilson over Jud Wilson's actions. The Commissioner met with the team owners and umpires. Gholston claimed he had wanted to eject Wilson but was threatened by Stars players and intimidated into allowing Wilson to play. Stars owner Bolden threatened not to play game 7 if Jud Wilson was suspended and the Commissioner buckled under the pressure.
The teams played game 7 on October 1 at Passon Field. The game ended in a 4-4 tie due to darkness. Game 8 was played the following day and Slim Jones pitched the Stars to a 2-0 victory and the championship.
Both the Stars and Giants filed protests over games 7 and 8. Giants playerTurkey Stearnes hit an umpire and controversy hung over the series. The Stars claimed the Giants had used ineligible players. The Giants protested that two games should not have been played at night. Nevertheless, the Stars championship was upheld by the league.[4]
The Stars finished in fourth place in 1945 and 1946, fifth in 1947, and finished in fourth place again in 1948 with a 27–29 record.[6]
After integration and the collapse of the Negro National League, the Stars popularity and impact declined dramatically before folding at the end of 1952 season.
The team played at Passon Field during the 1934 and 1935 seasons. Passon Field was located at the current site ofWest Philadelphia High School's athletic field (baseball and football) now called Pollock Field and was the former home of thePhiladelphia Bacharach Giants.
In 1936, the Stars moved to44th and Parkside Ballpark where they played the majority of their home games through 1947 when they lost their lease.[7]
The Stars often played on Monday nights atShibe Park which had a higher seating capacity and which was located inNorth Philadelphia.[3] 24,165 fans saw the Stars defeatSatchel Paige and theKansas City Monarchs on June 21, 1943.[8]
After 1947, the Stars played home games at area ballparks includingWilmington Park in Delaware, home of theWilmington Blue Rocks minor-league team.[9]
The Stars did not have an official team logo as professional and collegiate teams have today. It was not common practice for teams to have such standardized team symbols in the 1930s and 1940s. The Stars wore uniforms with red and navy blue decoration. The cap most commonly associated today with the Stars is their 1938 cap, which has a navy crown, red brim, and white star with a red sans-serif P. For most of their history, they wore a white cap with a red brim and red sans-serif P.[10] Another style cap worn by the Stars was an all navy cap with a red P.
TheNegro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) created a series of team logos in the 1990s for the well-known Negro league teams so that the NLBM could license such logos and collect royalties for their use on merchandise. Such revenue helps sustain the museum. The Stars were one such team for which a contemporary logo was created. It is seen on NLBM-licensed Stars merchandise and while it supports the educational efforts of the Museum, it is not a historical logo.[11]
TheNegro League Baseball All-Star Game was called the East-West Game. Players were not divided by league, but by geographical location; Stars players played for the East. Players were voted to the teams by the fans with votes tallied by theChicago Defender and thePittsburgh Courier newspapers. These Philadelphia Stars appeared in the All-Star game for the East team.
Only players from thePittsburgh Crawfords andWashington Elite Giants played for the East in the 1936 game.
Two games were played in 1939, 1942, and 1946–1948.[12]
No player has been enshrined in theBaseball Hall of Fame with a Stars cap and the following inductees were with the Philadelphia Stars in their career.
| Philadelphia Stars Hall of Famers | |||
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| Inductee | Position | Tenure | Inducted |
| Roy Campanella | OF | 1944 | 1969 |
| Oscar Charleston | CF Manager | 1941 1942–1944 1946–1950 | 1976 |
| Biz Mackey | C | 1933–1935 | 2006 |
| Satchel Paige | P | 1946, 1950 | 1971 |
| Turkey Stearnes | OF | 1936 | 2000 |
| Jud Wilson | 3B Manager | 1933–1939 1937 | 2006 |
Stars co-owner Eddie Gottlieb was inducted into theBasketball Hall of Fame in 1972 for his pioneering work as a team owner, promoter, and league official.[13]
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