Chicago Unions

Defunct American baseball team

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Chicago Unions

Information
League|

* Independent (1887–1900)

Location| Chicago, Illinois
Established| 1887
Disbanded| 1900
Nickname(s)|

* Merged with Chicago Columbia Giants to form Chicago Union Giants 1901

The Chicago Unions were a professional, black baseball team that played in the late 19th century, prior to the formation of the Negro leagues.

## Founding

[edit]

Organized as the Unions in 1887, the club was led by Abe Jones (1887–1889) and by W.S. Peters (1890–1900). In 1899, they lost a series for the western championship to the Columbia Giants, also based in Chicago.

The Unions, along with the Cuban Giants, are the only Negro teams to survive the political and economic crisis that eventually lead to the Panic of 1893. Every other significant Negro team which operated prior to the Panic ultimately ceased to exist.

1899 Chicago Unions promotional calendar

## Merge

[edit]

During 1901 and 1902, Frank Leland created the Chicago Union Giants by hiring many players from the Chicago Unions and Columbia Giants. The Union Giants "were recognized as the top team in the West, but lost a challenge playoff to the Algona Brownies in 1903 for the western championship" (Riley 168). The Union Giants were renamed Leland Giants in 1905.

### Franchise continuum

[edit]

The Chicago Unions and the Chicago Columbia Giants merged for the 1901 season creating the Chicago Union Giants, who later changed their name to the Leland Giants. The Leland Giants then split into two teams for the 1910 season creating the Chicago Giants and the new Leland Giants, who later changed their name to the Chicago American Giants.

## References

[edit]

* Holway, John B. (2001). The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues: The Other Half of Baseball History. Fern Park, FL: Hastings House Publishers. ISBN 0-8038-2007-0.
* Riley, James A. (1994). "Chicago Unions". The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. Carroll & Graf. pp. 168–69. ISBN 0-7867-0959-6.

* v
* t
* e

Major independent Negro league teams

Pre-1920 teams|

* Algona Brownies
* All Cubans
* All Nations
* Austin Black Senators
* Birmingham Giants
* Chicago Columbia Giants
* Chicago Unions
* Chicago Union Giants/Leland Giants
* Cuban Giants
* Cuban X-Giants
* French Lick Plutos
* New York Lincoln Stars
* Louisville White Sox
* Minneapolis Keystones
* New York Gorhams
* Oklahoma Monarchs
* Page Fence Giants
* Philadelphia Giants
* Philadelphia Pythians
* San Antonio Black Bronchos
* Schenectady Mohawk Giants
* St. Paul Colored Gophers
* West Baden Sprudels

Post-1920 teams|

* Bismarck Churchills
* Boston Royal Giants
* Brooklyn Bushwicks
* Pollock's Cuban Stars
* Ethiopian Clowns
* Gilkerson's Union Giants
* Illinois Giants
* Jamestown Red Sox
* Mineola Black Spiders
* Mobile Black Bears
* Philadelphia Tigers
* St. Louis Giants (1924)
* Zulu Cannibal Giants

* Formal leagues began to organize in 1920

* v
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* 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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