Harman Patil (Editor)

Negro Southern League

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Sport
  
Baseball

Ceased
  
1940s

Country
  
United States

Founded
  
1920 (see Note)

No. of teams
  
7 (in 1932)

Negro Southern League httpsimagesnasslimagesamazoncomimagesI5

Last champion(s)
  
Chicago American Giants (1932)

Negro southern league museum


The Negro Southern League was a Negro baseball league organized in 1920 that lasted into the 1940s. Negro leagues in Southern United States were far less organized and lucrative than those in the north. Tom Wilson organized the Negro Southern League in 1920.

Contents

For most of its existence, the NSL was considered a minor league. However in 1932 it was the de facto Negro major league when it was the only organized league to complete the year after the East-West League folded in mid-summer. With the creation of the second Negro National League the following year, the NSL slipped back into being regarded as having minor league status. Many of the teams left the league in later years, seeking the brighter pastures of the Negro American League.

Negro southern league museum groundbreaking


Champions

  • 1932: Cole's American Giants
  • Franchises

    The eight franchises listed below competed in what many consider the first "minor league" season in 1920. Knoxville easily finished in first place that inaugural season.

  • Montgomery Grey Sox
  • Atlanta Black Crackers
  • New Orleans Ads
  • Knoxville Giants
  • Birmingham Black Barons
  • Nashville White Sox
  • Pensacola Team
  • Jacksonville Stars
  • The following season, Nashville swept a four-game championship series from Montgomery, and Memphis won the 1922 season.

    Seven franchises competed in the league in 1932, the sole season the Negro Southern League was considered a major Negro league:

  • Cole's American Giants
  • Indianapolis ABC's
  • Louisville Black Caps; moved to Columbus and became the Columbus Turfs during the 1932 season
  • Memphis Red Sox
  • Monroe Monarchs
  • Montgomery Grey Sox
  • Nashville Elite Giants
  • During the other years of existence, the league operated as a minor Negro league producing talent for other Negro league teams; some of those teams include:

  • Little Rock Greys
  • Atlanta Black Crackers (1920–1937), team joined the Negro American League in 1938
  • Birmingham Black Barons (1920–1922), team joined the Negro National League then left to rejoin the NSL before moving on to other leagues
  • Chattanooga Black Lookouts (1920, 1926–1927)
  • Chattanooga Choo-Choos (1940–1946)
  • References

    Negro Southern League Wikipedia