There’s been a ton of interest in this archaeological dig, so I figured I’d stick with it. I’m talking about the baseball talent pyramid pre-1947, and how the Negro League players and teams stacked up against white Major League and minor league teams, as well as the semi-pros. Simply posting the charts has inspired some great questions. I’ll do my best to answer them in good time. The first one I’d like to tackle is “Who were the top white semi-pro teams, in terms of winning percentage, in games against Negro League and Major League teams?”
I decided to include only ballclubs which had played over 20 games against a combination of Negro and MLB teams, then rank them by winning percentage. There are some famous names here.
UPDATE (2-18-09) 11:50am: Thanks to Gary Ashwill (see comments) the Tesreau Bears now make the list. Actually, they jump to the TOP of the list.
UPDATE (2-19-09) 9:59am: One thing I failed to mention is the following records do NOT include games versus the Cuban teams. The Tesreau Bears may in fact include games versus Cuban teams (I’ll need to check with Gary), but the other teams do NOT. When time permits, I’m going to calculate the Cuban teams as their own category.
|
TEAM Tesreau Bears (New York) |
W 21 |
L 15 |
PCT. .583 |
|
Brooklyn Bushwicks |
58 |
60 |
.492 |
|
Bay Parkway (New York) |
16 |
17 |
.485 |
|
Mills (Chicago) |
14 |
16 |
.467 |
|
West Ends (Chicago) |
14 |
20 |
.412 |
|
Doherty Silk Sox (New Jersey) |
10 |
17 |
.370 |
|
Logan Squares (Chicago) |
14 |
24 |
.368 |
|
Chester (Pennsylvania) |
10 |
26 |
.278 |
|
Gunthers (Chicago) |
11 |
52 |
.175 |
|
House of David (Benton Harbor, MI) |
5 |
43 |
.104 |
|
|
|
|
|
There are a lot of other great teams, but I haven’t collected enough box scores against top competition for their inclusion. Teams I’m very interested in learning more about include the Pyotts (Chicago), Spaldings (Chicago), Tesreau Bears (NYC), Kingston Colonials (NY), Beloit (WI) Fairies, Savitt (CT) Gems, Madison (WI) Blues, Kokomo (IN) Red Sox, Toledo (OH) Rail Lights, Lloyd (PA) Athletic Club, Akron (OH) General Tires. More specifically, I’m interested in acquiring roster information for these teams, as well as box scores and line scores against Major, Negro and Minor league competition.
Okay, I have to balance my check book and pay some bills. Be back later.
6 Comments
February 18, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I can do the Gems, but it will take me some time.
February 18, 2009 at 5:44 pm
The 1921 Tesreau Bears went 21-15 (with maybe a tie or two) against Negro League teams in games I have (I don’t have their games against major leaguers, if any). They featured Jeff Tesreau himself, Manuel Cueto, Larry Doyle for at least a doubleheader against the American Giants, and (I think) former PCL batting champ & major leaguer Harry Wolter. Plus a bunch of NY semipro fixtures, though most of those guys I only know as last names.
February 18, 2009 at 7:57 pm
For the benefit of those who are new to the study of semi-pro baseball history, I think it’s worth pointing out that just about every team listed up there had former (or future) Major Leaguers on their rosters. Even the lowly House of David had a number of washed up big leaguers and minor leaguers in their line-up.
February 21, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Scott–yeah, the Bears’ games do include some against Pompez’s Cuban Stars (I’ll have to check to see how many).
August 13, 2009 at 3:06 pm
To make researching a bit easier note that the Savitt Gems played out of Hartford Connecticut, and Lloyd Athletic Club out of Chester, Pennsylvania. The local papers sometimes carried game accounts and box scores of their games.
October 8, 2009 at 5:40 pm
I started looking around for information on my Great Grandfather’s baseball team, The Niesen Pyotts.
I have some great old photos of the team as well as a large photo taken at a ball park in Chicago in 1922. It was a packed stadium, a real nice panoramic shot.
If anyone has anymore info on the team or would like to share any vintage pictures let me know. I know very little about the team. My Father didn’t tell me too much. Sadly he passed away last year. I only now wish I would have asked him about it.
My email is tjniesen(the ‘at’ symbol)hotmail.com
-Tom Niesen