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

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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

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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

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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

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

## External links

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* Negro Southern League Museum Research Center

* v
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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

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
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