Independent Teams

Like barnstorming teams, the independent clubs did not play in a formal league. They would play an independent schedule. Rather than travel all over the country, however, they would limit their travel to the local region that they called home.

Transportation costs, traveling conditions, abundance of local competition and the fact that some players may have other jobs limited the geographic area in which it was feasible for these teams to play. But make no mistake, they still were professional baseball teams in every sense of the word. Many of these teams were just as competitive as the Negro “League” and barnstorming teams.

1919 Chicago American Giants

Some of the more prominent independent Negro baseball teams were:

Atlanta Stars

Boston Royal Giants

Chicago Barons

Kansas City Giants

Mobile Black Bears

Mohawk Colored Giants

Paris Brown Bombers

Pennsylvania Reds Caps of New York

Washington Aztecs