Negro Southern League (1945–1951)

Negro Southern LeagueClassification| Minor league

|

Sport| Negro league baseball
Founded| 1945
Ceased| 1951
Country| United States

The second Negro Southern League (NSL) was one of the several Negro baseball leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The NSL was organized as a minor league in 1945 and lasted until 1951.[1]: 12–16

## League history[edit]

Nine team owners met in February 1945 in Nashville, Tennessee, to form a new minor league named after an old minor league.

The 1948 season received very little coverage in the press and is hard to piece together. Additionally, a new league, the Negro American Association, formed and lured away at least four of the stronger teams, including the Atlanta Black Crackers.

The league did not organize for the 1952 season due to attendance figures being expected to be too low to be profitable. The second Negro Southern League was dissolved after seven seasons.

## Negro Southern League franchises[edit]

Negro Southern League (1945–51)

Team | Years in league | Notes
Atlanta Black Crackers | 1945, 1947–48 | • Associate team 1946
• Left for Negro American Association
Knoxville Grays | 1945 |
Asheville Blues | 1945–47 | • Left for Negro American Association
Nashville Cubs | 1945–51 | • Called Black Vols 1945-46
• Called Louisville-Nashville Cubs 1950
New Orleans Black Pelicans | 1945 | • Only played first half of season
Richmond Cardinals | 1945 | • Replaced New Orleans for second half of season
Chattanooga Choo Choos | 1945–48, 1950 | • Called Black Choo Choos 1947, 50
• Dropped out mid-season 1950
Mobile Black Bears | 1945–46 |
Little Rock Black Travelers | 1945 | • Also called Greys
• Dropped out mid-season
Indianapolis Cardinals | 1945 | • Replaced Little Rock for second half of season
Charlotte Black Hornets | 1946 |
Jacksonville Eagles | 1946–47 | • Left for Negro American Association
Knoxville Giants | 1946 |
Montgomery Dodgers | 1946 | • Also called Red Sox
Memphis Blues | 1947–48 |
New Orleans Creoles | 1947–48, 1950–51 |
Raleigh Tigers | 1947 | • Left for Negro American Association
Birmingham Clowns | 1947 | • Also called All Stars
Memphis Cardinals | 1947 |
Raleigh Grays | 1948 | • Associate team only
Mobile Black Bears | 1948 | • Associate team only
Atlanta Brown Crackers | 1949–50 | • Called Atlanta-Detroit Brown Crackers 1949
Gadsden Tigers | 1949–50 | • Called Gadsden-Florida Tigers 1949
Mobile Black Shippers | 1949 |
Montgomery Tigers | 1949 |
Pensacola Seagulls | 1949 |
Evansville Dodgers | 1949 | • Associate team only
Indianapolis ABCs | 1949 | • Associate team only
• Possibly related to Atlanta Black Crackers
Greenville Delta Giants | 1950 |
Memphis Red Caps | 1950 |
Nashville Stars | 1950–51 |
Owensboro Braves | 1950 | • Dropped out mid-season
Atlanta Braves | 1951 |
Birmingham Black Eagles | 1951 | • Also called Bears
Birmingham All -Stars | 1951 |
Chattanooga Stars | 1951 |
Jackson Cubs | 1951 |
Knoxville Packers | 1951 |

* Note: An "associate team" is one who is not a member of the league, but games played against them by league teams count in the league standings.

## League champions[edit]

Most seasons were split in halves, with the winner of the first half of the season playing the winner of the second half of the season in a formal league play-off that decided the Pennant winner. For some years it is unclear if a split season was played and if the second half schedule was completed. In the below list, the first half winner is noted with a raised "1" and the second half winner is noted with a raised "2".

* 1945 Atlanta Black Crackers
* 1946 Asheville Blues (won both halves)
* 1947 Asheville1 defeated New Orleans Creoles2, 3g-2g
* 1948 New Orleans Creoles (won both halves, reportedly)
* 1949 Gadsden-Florida Tigers1 / Nashville Cubs2, no play-off reported
* 1950 undetermined
* 1951 undetermined

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Negro Southern League Standings" (PDF). Negro Southern League Museum Research Center. Center for Negro League Baseball Research. Retrieved Feb 25, 2017.

## External links[edit]

* Negro Southern League Museum Research Center

* v
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Negro league baseball

* List of players
* A–D
* E–L
* M–R
* S–Z
* First black players in MLB
* Negro leaguers who played in MLB
* Color line
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* List of league champions
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* List of teams by state
* major league teams
* minor league teams
* Timeline of teams
* Category

Major independent 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
* 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
* Cuban House of David
* 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

Major leagues and teams

| Negro National
League (1920–1931)|

* Birmingham Black Barons
* Chicago American Giants
* Chicago Giants
* Cleveland Browns
* Cleveland Elites
* Cleveland Hornets
* Cleveland Tate Stars
* Cleveland Tigers
* Columbus Buckeyes
* Cuban Stars (West)
* Dayton Marcos
* Detroit Stars
* Indianapolis ABCs
* Indianapolis ABCs (II)
* Kansas City Monarchs
* Louisville Black Caps/White Sox
* Memphis Red Sox
* Milwaukee Bears
* Cleveland Cubs/Nashville Elite Giants
* Pittsburgh Keystones
* St. Louis Giants/St. Louis Stars
* Toledo Tigers

|

Eastern Colored
League (1923–1928)|

* Bacharach Giants
* Baltimore Black Sox
* Brooklyn Royal Giants
* Cuban Stars (East)
* Harrisburg Giants
* Hilldale Club
* Homestead Grays
* Lincoln Giants
* Newark Stars
* Washington Potomacs

American Negro
League (1929)|

* Bacharach Giants
* Baltimore Black Sox
* Cuban Stars (East)
* Hilldale Club
* Homestead Grays
* Lincoln Giants

East–West
League (1932)|

* Baltimore Black Sox
* Cleveland Stars
* Pollock's Cuban Stars
* Detroit Wolves
* Hilldale Club
* Homestead Grays
* Newark Browns
* Washington Pilots

Negro Southern
League (1932)|

* 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

2nd Negro National
League (1933–1948)|

* Bacharach Giants
* Baltimore Black Sox
* Baltimore Elite Giants
* Cole's American Giants
* Cleveland Red Sox
* Columbus Blue Birds/Akron Black Tyrites/Cleveland Giants
* Indianapolis ABCs(II)/Detroit Stars (II)
* Harrisburg–St. Louis Stars
* (Washington) Homestead Grays
* New York Black Yankees
* New York Cubans
* Newark Eagles
* Philadelphia Stars
* Pittsburgh Crawfords
* Washington Black Senators

Negro American
League (1937–1960s)|

* Atlanta Black Crackers/Indianapolis ABCs (IV)
* Baltimore Elite Giants
* Birmingham Black Barons
* Chicago American Giants
* Cincinnati Tigers
* Cleveland Buckeyes/Louisville Buckeyes
* Detroit Stars (III)
* Houston Eagles
* Indianapolis Athletics
* Indianapolis Clowns
* Indianapolis Crawfords
* Jacksonville Red Caps/Cleveland Bears
* Kansas City Monarchs
* Memphis Red Sox
* New York Cubans
* Philadelphia Stars
* St. Louis Stars (II)
* Indianapolis ABCs (II)/St. Louis–New Orleans Stars

Other leagues

| 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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