Bessemer Stars

Information
League| Negro Southern League (1921, 1927)
Location| Bessemer, Alabama
Ballpark| Garfield Park (1921)
Established| 1921
Disbanded| 1927
Nickname(s)| Bessemer Stars (1921)
Bessemer Grey Sox (1927)

The Bessemer Stars was the initial nickname of Negro leagues baseball team based in Bessemer, Alabama in the 1921 and 1927 seasons. The Bessemer Stars played as members of the 1921 Negro Southern League, while the Bessemer Grey Sox joined the league in 1927.

## History

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The 1921 Bessemer Stars began the season as charter members of the 1921 Negro Southern League, in its first season of play. The Bessemer Stars, along with the Gadsen Giants and Mobile Braves played briefly as members of the 1921 Negro Southern League, before folding. As all three teams failed to complete the season schedule, their final records were not counted in the final standings and are unknown. The Nashville Elite Giants won the 1921 Negro Southern League championship.[1][2]

In 1927, the Bessemer Grey Sox rejoined in the Negro Southern League. Other league members were the Atlanta Black Crackers, Chattanooga Black Lookouts, Evansville Louis Reichert Giants, Hopkinsville Athletics and Nashville Elite Giants. As per the final reported standings published in the Chicago Defender on June 25, 1927, the Grey Sox had a record of 4–5, playing behind the 1st place Chattanooga Black Lookouts who were 22–8. It is possible the Negro Southern League played a fragmented schedule in the second half of the 1927 season. The league did not play in the 1928 season, before resuming without a Bessemer team in 1929.[1][3][4]

## The ballpark

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The 1921 Bessemer Stars played home games at Garfield Park.[5]

## Notable alumni

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* Roster information for the Bessemer Stars and Bessemer Grey Sox teams is unknown.
* Bessemer, Alabama native George Harney was a star player in the Negro Leagues for the Chicago American Giants,[6]

## References

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1. ^ a b "StackPath" (PDF). www.negrosouthernleaguemuseumresearchcenter.org.
2. ^ "The little-known 'Minors' of the Negro Leagues". MiLB.com.
3. ^ "Birmingham News_1927-6-26_p25". The Birmingham News. June 26, 1927. p. 25 - via newspapers.com.
4. ^ Plott, William J. (April 13, 2015). The Negro Southern League: A Baseball History, 1920-1951. McFarland. ISBN 9780786475445 - via Google Books.
5. ^ "StackPath" (PDF). Center for Negro League Baseball Research.
6. ^ Riley, James A. (1994). The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-0959-6.

## External links

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* Negro Southern League History

* v
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Negro Southern League (1920–1936)

* Classifications: Major league (de facto): 1932
* Minor league: 1920–1931, 1933–1936

Major league teams
(1932)|

* Atlanta Black Crackers
* Birmingham Black Barons
* Cole's American Giants
* Indianapolis ABCs (II)
* Little Rock Grays
* Louisville Black Caps/Columbus Turfs
* Memphis Red Sox
* Monroe Monarchs
* Montgomery Grey Sox
* Nashville Elite Giants

Minor league teams|

| Multi seasons
played|

* Knoxville Giants (1920–22,31)
* Montgomery Grey Sox (1920–22,26,31–33,35–36)
* Atlanta Black Crackers (1920–21,26–27,29,35–36)
* Birmingham Black Barons (1920–21,23,26,31,34–36)
* New Orleans Caulfield Ads (1920–22,26,29,35)
* Nashville Elite Giants (1921–23,26–27,29,31–32)
* Memphis Red Sox (1921–23,26,31–33–36)
* New Orleans Crescent Stars (1922–23,33–34)
* Chattanooga Black Lookouts (1926–27,29,31,35–36)
* Louisville Black Caps (1929)

|

Two seasons
played or less|

* Jacksonville Stars (1920)
* Pensacola Giants (1920)
* Nashville White Sox (1920)
* Chattanooga Tigers (1921–22)
* Bessemer (AL) Stars/Grey Sox (1921,27)
* Gadsden (AL) Giants (1921)
* Mobile Braves (1921)
* Louisville Stars (1922)
* Albany (GA) Giants (1926)
* Evansville Reichert Giants (1927,29)
* Hopkinsville (KY) Athletics (1927,36)
* Jackson (TN) Cubs (1927)
* Atlanta Panthers (1931)
* Shreveport Cubs (1933)
* Algiers (LA) Giants (1933)
* Little Rock Stars (1933)
* Jackson (TN) Senators (1933)
* Alexandria (LA) Lincoln Giants (1933)
* Pine Bluff (AR) Boosters (1933)
* Cincinnati Tigers (1934,36)
* Atlanta Athletics (1934)
* Claybrook (AR) Tigers (1935)
* Louisville Caps (1934)
* Nashville Black Vols (1936)

Years in parentheses are years as a full member in the Negro Southern League. Years as an associate team are not noted.

* The Negro Southern League did not organize for the following seasons: 1924–1925, 1928, 1930

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Negro league baseball

Players|

* List of players
* A–D
* E–L
* M–R
* S–Z
* First black players in MLB
* Negro leaguers who played in MLB
* Color line
* Museum

Post-season|

* List of Negro league baseball postseason games
* List of league champions
* Negro World Series
* East–West All-Star Game

International competitions|

* American Series
* Serie Monumental

Teams|

* List of teams by state
* major league teams
* minor league teams
* Timeline of teams

Leagues|

| Major leagues|

* Negro National League (I)
* Eastern Colored League
* American Negro League
* East–West League
* Negro Southern League (I)
* Negro National League (II)
* Negro American League

|

Proto-leagues|

* Southern League of Colored Base Ballists (1886)
* National Colored Base Ball League (1887)
* International League of Independent Professional Base Ball Clubs (1906)
* National Association of Colored Baseball Clubs of the United States and Cuba (1907–1909)

Minor leagues|

* Negro Southern League (1920–1936)
* Texas Colored League (1919–1931)
* Negro American Association (1939)
* Negro Major League (1942)
* United States League (1945–1946)

Post-integration|

* Negro Southern League (1945–1951)
* West Coast Negro Baseball Association (1946)
* Negro American Association (1948–1949)
* Negro American League (1951–1960)

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