Brooklyn Royal Giants

Historic Negro league baseball team based in Brooklyn, active from 1905 to 1942.

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Brooklyn Royal Giants

Information
League|

* Independent (1904–06, 1909–22, 1928–42)
* National Association (1907–08)
* Eastern Colored League (1923–27)

Location| Brooklyn, New York
Ballpark|

* Saratoga Park (1906)
* Washington Park (1906-07, 1912)[1]
* Meyerrose Park (1908-11)
* Ridgewood Park (1912-14, 1916-17)
* Dexter Park (1923-31, 1936-37)

Established| 1905
Disbanded| 1942

The Brooklyn Royal Giants were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1905 by John Wilson Connor (1875–1926),[2][Note 1] owner of the Brooklyn Royal Cafe, the team initially played against white semi-pro teams.[3] They were one of the prominent independent teams prior to World War I before organized league play began.

## League play

[edit]

For a list of annual win-loss records, see List of Brooklyn Royal Giants seasons.

1919 Brooklyn Royal Giants team photo

In 1907, the Brooklyn Royal Giants joined the National Association of Colored Baseball Clubs of the United States and Cuba.[4] The league lasted three seasons and included the teams Philadelphia Giants, Cuban X-Giants, Cuban Stars of Havana, and the Cuban Giants of New York.

During the 1920s, under the ownership of Nat Strong, a white New York City booking agent, the team fell into somewhat of a decline, and did very poorly while in the Eastern Colored League. The Giants played their home games while part of the Eastern Colored League at Dexter Park in Queens.

## Final years and demise

[edit]

The Giants played a pair of games against teams featuring Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.[5] On October 11, 1926, the Giants took on a squad featuring Babe Ruth in Bradley Beach, New Jersey. The Giants won this game 3-1. Following this, in 1928, the Giants played a combined team of the Bustin' Babes (Ruth's barnstorming squad) and the Larrupin' Lous (Gehrig's barnstorming squad) in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The Giants returned to independent play in 1928 and rebuilt the roster, but the quality of the rebuilt team never matched that of the early years. By the mid-1930s, the quality was no better than that of a minor league team, and in the early 1940s it had fallen to a semi-professional status. The team disbanded in 1942.

## Significant players

[edit]

For a more comprehensive list, see Brooklyn Royal Giants all-time roster.

* Smokey Joe Williams – elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
* John Henry "Pop" Lloyd – elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
* Louis Santop – elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
* "Cannonball" Dick Redding
* Frank Wickware
* Charles "Chino" Smith

## Notes and references

[edit]

1. ^ John Wilson Connor's surname was sometimes spelled "Connors."

### General

[edit]

1. Riley, James A. (1994). "Brooklyn Royal Giants". The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. Carroll & Graf. pp. 111–12. ISBN 0-7867-0959-6.
2. (Riley.) Brooklyn Royal Giants, Team profiles at Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. - identical to Riley (confirmed 2010-04-16)

### Inline citations

[edit]

1. ^ Ashwill, Gary. "Brooklyn Royal Giants". Negro Leagues Data Base. Seamheads.com. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
2. ^ "John W. Connor, Founder Organized Negro Baseball in New York, Is Dead," New York Age, July 17, 1926, front page (accessible via Newspapers.com; subscription required)
3. ^ Holway, John (2001). The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues: The Other Half of Baseball History. Fern Park, Florida: Hastings House Publishers. p. 48\. ISBN 0-8038-2007-0.
4. ^ "Colored Baseball Men Organize Association" The Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, MT, Sunday Morning, November 11, 1906, Page 2, Column 7
5. ^ "Babe Ruth part of rich baseball history at Jersey Shore". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved April 29, 2016.

## External links

[edit]

* 1920 Brooklyn Royal Giants Calendar

* v
* t
* e

Brooklyn Royal Giants

* Operated 1905–1942
* Based in Brooklyn, New York

Franchise|

* Players
* Seasons

Ballparks|

* Saratoga Park
* Washington Park
* Meyerrose Park
* Ridgewood Park
* Dexter Park

League affiliations|

* National Association of Colored Baseball Clubs of the United States and Cuba
* Eastern Colored League

Hall of Famers|

* John Henry Lloyd
* Louis Santop
* Smokey Joe Williams

Other play-off
appearances|

* 1905
* 1920

Seasons (29)

1900s|

* · 1900 · 1901 · 1902 · 1903 · 1904 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909

1910s|

* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919

1920s|

* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929

1930s|

* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939

1940s|

* 1940
* 1941
* 1942  · 1943 · 1944 · 1945 · 1946 · 1947 · 1948 · 1949

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Eastern Colored League (1923–1928)

Teams|

* Bacharach Giants (1923–1928)
* Baltimore Black Sox (1923–1928)
* Brooklyn Royal Giants (1923–1928)
* Cuban Stars (East) (1923–1928)
* Harrisburg Giants (1924–1927)
* Hilldale Club (1923–1927)
* New York Lincoln Giants (1923–1928)
* Newark Stars (1926)
* Philadelphia Tigers (1928)
* Washington Potomacs (1924–1925)

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

* v
* t
* e

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

Post-season|

* List of Negro league baseball postseason games
* List of league champions
* Negro World Series

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)

Related|

* No-hitters
* East–West All-Star Game
* Color line
* Museum

* Category

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