TheToledo Blue Stockings formed as aminor league baseball team inToledo, Ohio, in 1883. They won theNorthwestern League championship in 1883. Their home ballpark wasLeague Park. The following year, they joined themajor leagueAmerican Association. That year, they finished 8th with a 46–58 record. The team returned to the minors the next year and disbanded after the1885 season.
The team was one of only two major league teams with black players (brothersMoses Fleetwood Walker andWeldy Walker) along with the Providence Grays (William Edward White) prior toJackie Robinson's appearance with theBrooklyn Dodgers in1947. This was before baseball'scolor barrier had been firmly established in 1887.
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