Cincinnati-Indianapolis Clowns Program (1945)

This program was from the 1945 Cincinnati-Indianapolis Clowns season. These programs were sold at the ballparks that the Clowns appeared at and were an extra source of income for the team. The program features pictures of all the Clowns players. 

The Cincinnati-Indianapolis Clowns played in the Negro American League during the 1944 and 1945 seasons. In 1944, the Clowns finished in second place with a record of 22-18 for the second half of the season. The Clowns moved permanently to Indianapolis with the start of the 1946 season. From this time on, the team was known only as the Indianapolis Clowns.



Jesse “Hoss” Walker managed the 1945 Cincinnati-Indianapolis Clowns. Some of the star players from the team were Buster Haywood, Roosevelt Davis, Verdes Drake, Sam Hairston, Henry “Speed” Merchant, Raul Navarro, Alex Radcliffe, Henry Smith, Armando Vasquez and Johnny Williams. King Tut and Ed Hamman were still with the Clowns as the team’s main entertainers.