The Negro Southern League (NSL) was one of the several Negro baseball leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The NSL was organized as a minor league in 1920 and lasted until 1936. It was considered a major league for the 1932 season and it was also the only organized league to finish its full schedule that season (primarily due to the Great Depression ). Prior to the season, several established teams joined the NSL, mainly from the collapsed Negro National League .
23-471: Grey Sox may refer to a number of defunct baseball teams in the Negro Southern League : Atlanta Black Crackers Bessemer Grey Sox Montgomery Grey Sox Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Grey Sox . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
46-646: A 16–17 record. In 1936 the team moved to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Elite Giants . In their first season, they finished in fifth place with a 21–24 record. In 1937 , the Elites finished in third place with a 27–17 record. The team moved again in 1938 to Baltimore, Maryland and became the Baltimore Elite Giants . In 1939 , the Elites won the Negro National Title, defeating
69-459: A formal league play-off that decided the Pennant winner. For some years it is unclear if a split season was played and if the second half schedule was completed. In the below list, the first half winner is noted with a raised "1" and the second half winner is noted with a raised "2". The Negro Dixie Series was an informal "championship" series between a top NSL team and the champion of one of
92-604: A new minor Negro league was organized with teams in the South; it assumed the name of the old league and also called itself the Negro Southern League . This second NSL lasted until 1951. Eight franchises competed in what many consider the first "minor league" season in 1920. They were the Montgomery Grey Sox , Atlanta Black Crackers , New Orleans Caulfield Ads , Knoxville Giants , Birmingham Black Barons , Nashville White Sox , Pensacola Giants and Jacksonville Stars . Below
115-647: A schedule for the 1924, 1925 or 1928 seasons due to the Birmingham Black Barons and Memphis Red Sox participating in the Negro National League those years. The remaining NSL teams all played independent schedules those years. The 1929 season was poorly attended and teams struggled to complete their schedules; Birmingham and Memphis did not participate. For the 1930 season, the Nashville Elite Giants and Louisville Black Caps left for
138-526: Is a list of teams that competed in the Negro Southern League. Eight franchises competed in the league in 1932, the sole season the Negro Southern League was considered a major Negro league: Below is a timeline of teams that played more than one season in the NSL: Most seasons were split in halves, with the winner of the first half of the season playing the winner of the second half of the season in
161-578: Is the Monroe Monarchs acting as a farm team for the Kansas City Monarchs . The Negro National League collapsed for good after the 1931 season and many players (and two teams) migrated to the NSL. The Great Depression had decimated the profits of most Negro league teams and only a few organized Negro leagues survived; the newly formed East-West League also folded in mid-1932. The NSL was considered
184-765: The Homestead Grays . In 1948 , they won the first half, but lost the championship to second half winners, the Homestead Grays. In 1949 , the Negro National League ceased operations, and the Elite Giants joined the Negro American League . In their first season with the new league, Baltimore captured the Eastern and Western Division titles, earning them a second Negro National Title. In thirteen seasons in Baltimore, of
207-526: The Southern Association 's Nashville Vols . Babe Ruth , Lou Gehrig , and Roy Campanella are known to have played at the park. The 8,000 (or 4,000) seat facility featured a single-decked, covered grandstand. The ballpark was centrally located in Nashville's largest black community, known as Trimble Bottom, near the convergence of Second and Forth Avenues, just north of the fairgrounds. In 1930 ,
230-648: The 1933 season in fifth place with a 29–22 record and tied as winners of the second half of the season with the Pittsburgh Crawfords . Nashville lost a three-game playoff with Pittsburgh for a spot in the league championship game. In 1934 , the Elite Giants finished in fourth place with a 20–28 record. In 1935 , the team moved to Columbus, Ohio and became the Columbus Elite Giants . They played only one season in Columbus, 1935, finishing in fourth place with
253-485: The 1936 season, some of its member teams folded as well, but a handful of the teams continued on. The Nashville Elite Giants excelled in the new Negro National League for years, while the Memphis Red Sox and Birmingham Black Barons excelled in the Negro American League , which was newly organized in time for the 1937 season and absorbed some NSL teams when the league collapsed. On the eve of integration in 1945,
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#1732847899728276-593: The NNL; this, and the continued absence of Birmingham and Memphis, led to the 1930 season being scrapped. The remaining NSL teams played independent schedules that year, while the New Orleans Caulfield Ads moved to the Texas–Louisiana League . For most of its existence, the NSL was considered a minor league, with some teams providing talent to more profitable Negro league teams. The most notable example
299-528: The eleven which have available standings, the Elite Giants finished in the top three during nine of those seasons. In dire financial straits, the club played one final season in 1950 before dissolving. These Baltimore Elite Giants alumni have been inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum . A number of future major leaguers wore the uniform of the Elite Giants, including Hall of Famers Roy Campanella and Leon Day (who played in with
322-403: The highest quality surviving league and it therefore became the de facto major league for the 1932 season. The NSL was the only organized league to complete their full schedule. With the creation of a new Negro National League in 1933, many players and some teams left the NSL and it slipped back into being regarded as having minor league status. When the NSL collapsed for the last time after
345-400: The league with a 15–15 (.500) record. In 1929, Nashville was granted an associate membership in the Negro National League . The team finished in eighth (last) place with a 10–20 (.333) record. That same year, Wilson built a new ballpark for his team, Tom Wilson Park , which also served as a spring training site for other Negro league teams, as well as white-only minor league teams, such as
368-417: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grey_Sox&oldid=1084613551 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Negro Southern League (1920%E2%80%931936) The Negro Southern League
391-506: The mid-1920s. The team was renamed the Nashville Elite Giants (pronounced EE-light ) in 1921. That same year, they swept the Montgomery Grey Sox (of the minor league Negro Southern League ) in a four-game championship series to win the right to declare themselves the Southern Colored Champions. They continued to play independently until joining the Negro Southern League in 1926. Nashville completed its first season in
414-472: The semi-pro Nashville Standard Giants on March 26, 1920. The team was renamed the Elite Giants in 1921 , and moved to Baltimore, Maryland in 1938 , where the team remained for the duration of their existence. The team and its fans pronounced the word "Elite" as "ee-light". The Nashville Standard Giants were formed as a semi-professional all-Negro team in Nashville, Tennessee , on March 26, 1920. The club
437-400: The team gained admission into their first organized league, the Negro National League . The Elite Giants finished in seventh place with a 39–47 record. The Elite Giants joined the Negro Southern League , where they played in 1931 and 1932. A second incarnation of the Negro National League was formed in 1933 , where the Elite Giants played for the following two seasons. Nashville finished
460-513: The team who did claim the first-half title ( Pittsburgh Crawfords ). In response, Chicago held their own championship series, and defeated the Crescent Stars, 5 games to 1. Nashville Elite Giants The Baltimore Elite Giants were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues from 1920 to 1950 . The team was established by Thomas T. Wilson , in Nashville, Tennessee as
483-510: The various Texas-based Negro leagues. Oddly, the NSL participant was usually not the league champion. After the completion of the 1933 Negro Dixie Series, the Chicago American Giants challenged the Crescent Stars to a "self-proclaimed" Negro World Series. The American Giants had their claim to the NNL first-half title dismissed by the league president, who also happened to be the owner of
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#1732847899728506-497: Was a Negro baseball league organized by Tom Wilson in 1920 as a minor league. Leagues in the depression-era Southern United States were far less organized and lucrative than those in the north, owing to a smaller population base and a lower standard of living . The NSL operated on an irregular basis as each season's schedule was depended upon the availability of the more prominent team owners who were quick to seek more profitable avenues whenever possible. The NSL did not organize
529-677: Was chartered by Thomas T. Wilson, T. Clay Moore, J. B. Boyd, Marshall Garrett, Walter Phillips, W. H. Pettis, J. L. Overton, and R. H. Tabor. The team's origins lie in that of two of Nashville's local negro amateur baseball teams: the Nashville Maroons (formed in 1909) and the Elites (formed in 1913). Their home games were played at Sulphur Dell and Greenwood Park , the African American community's local park. The Standard Giants welcomed any and all competition, including white-only teams, but played independently of any organized leagues until
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