New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Negro Leagues Baseball

Brooklyn Royal Colored Giants Baseball in Northern New York

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1919 Brooklyn Royal Giants team photo“A cloudburst of the harshest kind ever known in local baseball history,” hit Port Henry on Lake Champlain, June 14, 1923. It was not the kind of cloudburst of rain which disrupts a ballgame and sends fans scrambling, but a cloudburst of talent that finds local fans cheering for the visiting team.

The Brooklyn Royal Colored Giants professional baseball team defeated the Port Henry semi-professional team, comprised primarily of local players, 20-1 in a game the home team was not expected to win. Sourian, the Giants pitcher, had 19 strikeouts. [Read more…] about Brooklyn Royal Colored Giants Baseball in Northern New York

New York State Baseball Hall of Fame Museum Opening in Gloversville

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The New York State Baseball Hall of Fame Museum’s Rene M LeRoux movie theater with authentic baseball stadium seating (Photo by Carla Kolbe, Fulton County Tourism)The New York State Baseball Hall of Fame Museum has announced the grand opening of its new facility in Gloversville, Fulton County, NY. Located at 45 Harrison Street, directly across the street from Parkhurst Field Little League Stadium. – a replica and tribute to the original grand stands built in 1906. Together they are hoped to be able to put Gloversville on the map for baseball fans. [Read more…] about New York State Baseball Hall of Fame Museum Opening in Gloversville

Schenectady Baseball History: The Mohawk Giants

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MohawkGiantsTalk-007When you discuss Negro Baseball, most people think of names like Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Cool Papa Bell.  These were some of the biggest stars in the professional Negro leagues.  However, this was not the only place where you could see Negro teams play.  Throughout the country there were independent teams, like the Mohawk Colored Giants.

The Giants got their start in 1913 under the organization of Bill Wernecke.  Although this was seasonal work for these ball players, they were full time paid players.  By offering full time jobs, Wernecke was able to lure players into Schenectady from all over the country.  The Giants would play their home games at the nicest ball field in Schenectady, Island Park.
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The Cuban Giants: Black Baseball in Northern New York

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1885-86 Cuban GiantsFans admired the Cuban Giants baseball team for its athletic skills, and Granville, Washington County, NY baseball promoters admired the black baseball team for its draw at the gate.

About 1,000 people, “including many ladies,” with groups of baseball enthusiasts traveling from Rutland, Whitehall, Glens Falls and Troy, attended the June 26, 1890 game when the Cuban Giants defeated the Granville Granvilles 7-0. [Read more…] about The Cuban Giants: Black Baseball in Northern New York

Baseball’s Satchel Paige on Long Island

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long island history project logoBy 1950, Satchel Paige was a star of the Negro Leagues and a World Series winner with the Cleveland Indians. He spent most of that year barnstorming across the United States which is what brought him to Riverhead Stadium on Long Island.

In this episode of the Long Island History Project, librarian and historian Fabio Montella relates his research into Satchel, Riverhead, and the deeper connections between Long Island and Negro League baseball. [Read more…] about Baseball’s Satchel Paige on Long Island

The Negro National And Eastern Colored Leagues

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Negro National and Eastern Colored LeaguesAs the companion volume to Black Baseball Entrepreneurs, 1860–1901: Operating by Any Means Necessary, Michael E. Lomax’s new book, Black Baseball Entrepreneurs, 1902-1931: The Negro National and Eastern Colored Leagues (Syracuse Univ. Press, 2014), continues to chronicle the history of black baseball in the United States.

The first volume traced the development of baseball from an exercise in community building among African Americans in the pre–Civil War era into a commercialized amusement and a rare and lucrative opportunity for entrepreneurship within the black community. In this book, the author takes a closer look at the marketing and promotion of the Negro Leagues by black baseball magnates. [Read more…] about The Negro National And Eastern Colored Leagues