To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues, we recognize the teams in New Jersey that were outlets for black players and their impact on integrated baseball in the present day.
Edited by Tyler Vu
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues. Although they were a product of segregated society, the organization of black baseball helped many black baseball players get on the path toward professional, integrated careers. The teams came from all over the country, with many success stories rooting themselves in the Garden State. From the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants to the Newark Eagles, black baseball teams in New Jersey are a crucial part of the state’s history.
The Negro Leagues were an outlet for black players to participate in organized baseball during a time of substantial segregation throughout the country. Future Major League Baseball (MLB) stars, such as Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby, started on all-black teams before becoming pioneers for inclusive major league baseball. Doby, specifically, began his professional baseball career with the Newark Eagles from New Jersey. He went on to break the color barrier in the American League with the Cleveland Indians, whose owner, Bill Veeck, was known for drafting veterans of the Negro Leagues.
New Jersey is home to some of the greatest baseball players never heard of. The segregation of baseball made only the best white players known during the time. As journalists and sports fanatics turned their attention towards the big names of the early- to mid-twentieth century on white teams all over America, the highly-skilled, all-black teams that called New Jersey home were glossed over. New Jersey’s history of black baseball exemplifies past inequalities, even in the North, by exhibiting the separation of races.
Starting in 1923, with the creation of the Eastern Colored League, the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants, and the Paterson Silk Sox played professionally against other teams in the league. Arguably the most famous New Jersey team was the Newark Eagles. The Eagles featured seven future Baseball Hall of Fame inductees, including Larry Doby and Leon Day.
Unlike the white professional teams in most states, Negro League teams in New Jersey were forced to play on dog tracks and other unideal “fields” to practice. These initial hardships that the teams faced were just the tip of the iceberg, and as the leagues expanded, the racism from white establishments increased. Black baseball players were kept from staying at most hotels while on the road, and they faced harassment from the audience along with the towns that they traveled to. Even in the North, segregation was common throughout New Jersey, and black players were not immune to many towns’ racist ideals.
However, the unfortunate truth was that the Negro Leagues were a symptom of savage racism throughout the country, and the segragation of ballplayers seems truly disturbing when considering how far America’s pastime has come. Even so, all-black baseball leagues were some of the only ways black players could participate in organized baseball. The Negro Leagues are no longer around today, but their impact is evident in modern times.
Without the Negro Leagues, Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby, Satchel Paige, and many other black players may have never broken the color barrier. Baseball today would not be the same if all-black teams were not around to empower and unite players. While recognizing that the Negro Leagues were an apparent show of the country’s segregation, black baseball teams–especially in New Jersey, where other sports were not desegregated or at all inclusive of black players–were truly vital for the progress of civil rights for black Americans.
Simply being aware of the Negro Leagues’ presence in New Jersey is already one step closer to understanding this state’s civil rights history. Racism is still prominent in America, New Jersey included. However, recognizing the past and applying the fight for equality back then to the ongoing fight for equality now, can help keep history’s mistakes from repeating. Every individual is responsible for standing up against racism, as black baseball players, Bill Veeck, and other supporters of integrated baseball–and society–rose against it 100 years ago.
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