“List of Negro league baseball champions”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

This List of Negro league baseball champions includes champions of black baseball prior to the organization of any traditional Negro league and goes through to the collapse of segregated baseball after Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color line in 1946. Champions include self-declared, regional and (later) league champions, but is limited to top-tier teams and major Negro leagues. The champions listed after 1948 through the 1950s are listed for posterity, but the quality of play had deteriorated so far as to only incidentally be covered by contemporary media or historians.

1867–1891: Era of amateur and semi-pro teams

During the formative years of black baseball, most Negro teams toured the US playing white or mixed-race teams of an amateur or semi-pro standing. There was little to no collaboration between black teams, and few if any scheduled meetings. Therefore, during this era, it was usually up to an individual team (or newspaper writer) to declare themselves the black champion and see if anyone challenged them.

1892–1894: First crisis for organized black teams

Beginning around 1890, political and economic turmoil—eventually leading to the Panic of 1893—took a toll on the bottom line of each Negro team. Every significant Negro team, except for two, ceased operations entirely. Only one team, the Chicago Unions, managed to survive the crisis intact; while the Cuban Giants suspended play at the end of 1891 but reformed for the 1893 season.^[6]{{rp|30}}

1895–1919: Era of independent barnstorming teams

Segregated baseball leagues, both black and white, started to appear around this time. Starting in 1887, the International League began prohibiting the signing of black players. By 1890, the last of the "white" leagues (the American Association and the National League) had unofficially banned blacks, and the color line was drawn. Early on, due to social and lingering fiscal reasons, there was minimal interest and press coverage regarding black teams, so champions were not easily determined. After the economic crisis had subsided around 1897, black teams began actively competing against other black teams for local or regional championships.

1. ^¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹{{cite web | format=pdf | title="Colored Championship" Series (1867-1899) | publisher=Center for Negro League Baseball Research | url=http://www.cnlbr.org/Portals/0/RL/Colored%20Championship%20Series%20%281867-1899%29.pdf | accessdate=8 June 2014}}
2. ^¹The X-Giants initially played the Unions for the championship; during the series, Columbia stepped up and issued challenges to the Unions for the Western championship and the X-Giants for the Colored championship.
3. ^¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹¹⁰¹¹¹²¹³¹⁴¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸¹⁹{{cite web | format=pdf | title="Colored Championship" Series (1900-1919) | publisher=Center for Negro League Baseball Research | url=http://www.cnlbr.org/Portals/0/RL/Colored%20Championship%20Series%20%281900-1919%29.pdf | accessdate=8 June 2014}}
4. ^¹{{cite web|url=http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/year.php?yearID=1910|title=1910 Season|publisher=Negro leagues database (Seamheads.com)|accessdate=10 April 2014}}
5. ^¹{{cite web|url=http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/year.php?yearID=1911|title=1911 Season|publisher=Negro leagues database (Seamheads.com)|accessdate=10 April 2014}}
6. ^¹{{cite web|url=http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/year.php?yearID=1912|title=1912 Season|publisher=Negro leagues database (Seamheads.com)|accessdate=10 April 2014}}
7. ^¹{{cite web|url=http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/year.php?yearID=1913|title=1913 Season|publisher=Negro leagues database (Seamheads.com)|accessdate=10 April 2014}}
8. ^¹{{cite web|url=http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/year.php?yearID=1914|title=1914 Season|publisher=Negro leagues database (Seamheads.com)|accessdate=10 April 2014}}
9. ^¹{{cite web|url=http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/year.php?yearID=1916|title=1916 Season|publisher=Negro leagues database (Seamheads.com)|accessdate=10 April 2014}}
10. ^¹{{cite web|url=http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/year.php?yearID=1917|title=1917 Season|publisher=Negro leagues database (Seamheads.com)|accessdate=10 April 2014}}
11. ^¹{{cite web|url=http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/year.php?yearID=1918|title=1918 Season|publisher=Negro leagues database (Seamheads.com)|accessdate=10 April 2014}}
12. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/year.php?yearID=1919|title=1919 Season|publisher=Negro leagues database (Seamheads.com)|accessdate=10 April 2014}}
13. ^¹²³⁴⁵⁶{{cite web | format=pdf | title="Colored Championship" Series (1920-1931) | publisher=Center for Negro League Baseball Research | url=http://www.cnlbr.org/Portals/0/RL/Colored%20Championship%20Series%20%281920-1931%29.pdf | accessdate=8 June 2014}}
14. ^¹²³⁴{{cite web | format=pdf | title="Play-Off Championship" Series (1925-1929) | publisher=Center for Negro League Baseball Research | url=http://www.cnlbr.org/Portals/0/RL/Negro%20League%20Play-Off%20Series%20%281925-1929%29.pdf | accessdate=15 March 2014}}
15. ^¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸{{cite web | format=pdf | title="Play-Off Championship" Series (1930-1939) | publisher=Center for Negro League Baseball Research | url=http://www.cnlbr.org/Portals/0/RL/Negro%20League%20Play-Off%20Series%20%281930-1939%29.pdf | accessdate=15 March 2014}}
16. ^¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹¹⁰¹¹¹²¹³¹⁴¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸¹⁹²⁰{{cite book | title=The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues: The Other Half of Baseball History |last=Holway | first=John | year=2001 | publisher=Hastings House Publishers | location=Fern Park, Florida | isbn=0-8038-2007-0}}
17. ^¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹{{cite web | format=pdf | title="Play-Off Championship" Series (1940-1955) | publisher=Center for Negro League Baseball Research | url=http://www.cnlbr.org/Portals/0/RL/Negro%20League%20Play-Off%20Series%20%281940-1955%29.pdf | accessdate=15 March 2014}}

The championships during this period were informal as the post-season challenges were issued by the individual teams.

1920–1931: First endeavor of organized league play

With the emergence of the hard-fisted leadership of former pitcher Rube Foster, playing a formal scheduled season between other black teams became reality. Foster, known for his business acumen, recognized that attendance was just high enough so that a reasonable profit can be derived from gate receipts to sustain the travel and commitment required to maintain a league schedule. This led to the formation of a handful of official Negro leagues, and later to a planned end-of-season World Series.

Beginning in 1924, the championships during this period were formal, pre-arranged post-season challenges agreed to by the respective leagues. The 1922 championship was an informal post-season challenge issued by the individual teams.

1932–1935: Second crisis and rebuilding

Several factors led to the collapse of league play beginning with the 1928 break up of Eastern Colored League and then the 1929 folding of the American Negro League. These leagues were constantly warring with the Negro National League regarding player raiding and contract disputes; this led to an instability that was incompatible with the weakening economy. That October saw the 1929 stock market crash, known as Black Tuesday, which was a sign of things to come. In 1930, the NNL collapsed (largely due to the death of Rube Foster) but the individual teams continued to play. The NNL regrouped for 1931, but again collapsed — this time for good and the teams were on their own. By 1932, the Great Depression had taken a severe toll on the entire country. Only a few organized Negro leagues survived and all of those were either a minor or semi-pro league. The Negro Southern League was considered the highest quality surviving league and many players (and two teams) migrated to it; it therefore became the de facto major league for the 1932 season.

After the worst of the depression had passed, teams were again able to profit from playing a league schedule. At first, only a few team owners were able to put together enough investors to join a league; therefore, for the first time in black baseball, one league spanned both the eastern and western regions of the US. A new Negro National League was formed with both east and west teams.

1936–1948: Negro league glory years

Negro league baseball hit its stride after the country had recovered from the devastation of the Great Depression. The second incarnation of the Negro National League became the "eastern" league and a year later the new Negro American League assumed the role of the "western" league. Both leagues generally respected the players' contracts and a relative peace existed between the leagues. An agreed upon championship series was held at the end of the season between each league's pennant winner. Only integration could challenge their success, and it came in 1946. By 1949, the NNL broke up and the NAL was the only league in operation.

Post-1948: Integration and inevitable extinction

By 1949, enough black talent had integrated into the white leagues (both major and minor) that the Negro leagues themselves had become a minor league circuit. With the demise of the NNL, only the NAL remained as a top-tier league for black players. If the purpose of the Negro leagues was to end segregation, then in 1947 (with Jackie Robinson's MLB debut) they became a success and their mission was complete. With an infrastructure still in place and a viable audience for a short period of time, there was still money to be made for a few more years before total demise. Therefore, the following teams are listed for posterity; the real black championship contest was now considered to be the annual East–West Game.

Regional and league championships by club

Below are the regional and league championships by club. During the formative years until about 1891, it was usually up to an individual team (or newspaper writer) to declare themselves the black champion and see if anyone challenged them; these are listed in the chart as "Declared" champions. Later, up until the end of the Great Depression, there were periods when press coverage and fan interest waned to the point that some seasons a champion was not determined; in these years a champion was retroactively determined by historical research as to which team probably had the most successful season and these are listed in the chart as "Unofficial" champions. Where a champion was determined via a traditional play-off, it is listed in the chart as an "Earned" champion. Only the seasons prior to integration are considered for this table; teams who continued after 1948 are represented by a "+".

East–West All-Star game

Major League Baseball began the tradition of an "All-Star" exhibition game between the stars of the American League and National League in 1933. Encouraged by the success of the white game, Gus Greenlee organized a black All-Star game at the end of the 1933 season. This game was to feature the top talent from the western region against the top eastern region talent, hence the name "East–West Game". In the years a World Series was not held, the East–West Game was a surrogate championship game – replete with the media hype and sold-out attendance.