Chicago Giants

For other uses, see Chicago Giants (disambiguation).

Chicago Giants 1910–1940s
Leagues
Independent (1910-1919) Negro National League (1920-1921) Independent (1922-1940s)

The Chicago Giants were a professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois which played in the Negro Leagues. The team was founded by Frank Leland after he and his partner, Rube Foster, split up the Leland Giants in 1910. The new club was sometimes also known as the Leland Giants. After Leland's death, the team came under the control of longtime player Joe Green.

In a post-season 1913 exhibition game, Cyclone Joe Williams defeated Grover Cleveland Alexander and the Phillies. ^[1]

In 1920, the Chicago Giants became a founding member of the Negro National League (NNL). They played as a travelling team, without a home field, and finished in last place in both 1920 and 1921. Their best player was a young catcher/shortstop named John Beckwith, who was purchased by Rube Foster for his Chicago American Giants after the 1921 season. In 1922, the Chicago Giants left the NNL (though they remained associate members for several years), and continued to play as an independent team well into the 1940s.

References

1. ^ Palmer, Pete, ed. (2006), "Black Baseball/Negro League Season Synopses, 1910-1950", The 2006 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., p. 1646, http://books.google.com/books?id=eUe37F9gN00C&pg=PT1675&dq=%22Philadelphia+Phillies%22+exhibition&lr=