Top 15 Negro League Teams
#10: Baltimore Elite Giants
League Affiliation: Negro
National League
Negro Southern League
Negro National League II
Negro American League
Established: 1920
Folded: 1950
Based in: Baltimore,
Maryland
The
Baltimore Elite Giants were formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1920 and named
the Nashville Standard Giants. In 1921 they were re-named the Nashville Elite
Giants and would play 19 years in Tennessee before moving to Baltimore in 1938.
Up until 1929, they were an independent semi-professional team.
They were granted entry into the
Negro National League in 1930 and finished in seventh place with a record of
39-47. The following season, they moved to Cleveland and nicknamed the Cubs,
but the relocation didn’t improve the team’s fortunes and they finished seventh
again (25-28).
After the NNL folded, the team
moved back to Nashville, took back the Elite Giants moniker and joined the
Negro Southern League for 1932. In 1933, the second Negro National League was
formed and Memphis was one of the clubs granted membership. They tied for first
in the second-half standings and played the Pittsburgh Crawfords in a
best-of-three series. Nashville lost the series and tumbled to fourth in the
standings in 1934.
In 1935, they moved to Columbus
and finished in fourth place with a 16-17 record. Then it was on to Washington,
DC, for two seasons, where they finished fifth in 1936 (21-24) and third in
1937 (27-17). Finally, in 1938, they moved to Baltimore where they would play
for the next 13 seasons.
They won the NLL Championship in
1939, defeating the Homestead Greys in the championship series. In 1948, they
made the championship again, but this time lost to the Greys.
In 1949, the NLL ceased
operations and the Baltimore franchise joined the Negro American League. In
their first year in the NAL, the Elite Giants won the championship. In their
thirteen seasons in Baltimore, they team finished in the top three in the
standings in nine of those years.
Notable players included future
Major League players Roy Campanella, Junior Gilliam and Joe Black.
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