Joseph Servis Bacharach Giants (1935)

This National Association of Negro Base Ball Leagues Uniform Player’s Contract is between Joseph Servis and the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants. The contract signs Joe Servis for the 1935 baseball season. The contract is signed by both Servis (player) and M. M. McGowan (Club President). The contract calls for Servis to be paid $ 90.00 per month and get 75 cents per day meal money. There is a special provision added to the standard contract that calls for players when requested to drive the team’s cars.  Contracts related to Negro League baseball are rare in any form, but one this old is especially rare.

The Bacharach Giants were one of the most important teams in Negro League baseball during the 1920’s and 1930’s on the East Coast. During these years, the Bacharach Giants played in the following leagues:

            Independent Schedule         1916-1922

            Eastern Colored League       1923-1928

            American Negro League       1929

            Independent Schedule         1930-1933

            Negro National League         1934

            Independent Schedule         1935 to early 1940’s

The Bacharach Giants were originally from Jacksonsville, Florida where they were called the Duval Giants. The team moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1916 under the new ownership of two Atlantic City councilmen, Henry Tucker and Thomas Jackson. The Giants changed their team name to the Bacharach Giants in honor of the mayor of Atlantic City, Harry Bacharach. The highlight of the Bacharach Giants career franchise was winning the Eastern Colored League championship in 1926 and 1927. When the league folded at the start of the 1928 season, the team returned to playing an independent schedule. The team played in the American Negro League in 1929, finishing next to last with a 19-45 record. The team’s last season of league play came in 1934 when they played in the Negro National League. The Bacharach Giants finished next to last in the Negro National League with a second half season record of 3-12. After the Giants dropped out of the Negro National League, they returned once again to a barnstorming schedule. The Bacharach Giants continued to barnstorm into the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. But by this time the team had diminished into a second division club.

During its heyday some of the top Negro League players played for the Bacharach Giants. Some of the team’s outstanding players were: John Henry “Pop” Lloyd, Oliver “The Ghost” Marcelle, Dick “Cannonball” Redding, Rats Henderson, Jesse Hubbard, Chaney White, Jesse “Nip” Winters and Dick Lundy (who was also Player-Manager of the Eastern Colored League championship team in 1926).

Joe Servis was a local ball player from Philadelphia who played with the Bacharach Giants after the team had dropped out of the Negro National League.

Bacharcach Giants Contract - Signature Page