Negro American League Dr. J. B. Martin Letter (1944)

This letter was sent by Dr. J.B. Martin (President of Negro American League) to a J.A. Zellar of the Detroit Tigers. The letter confirmed that the Negro American League had rented Briggs Stadium (home of the Detroit Tigers) for two dates. Dr. Martin also identifies that the Negro American League would play a double header on each of the two dates for which they had rented the stadium. The letter is signed by Dr. Martin.

Dr. J. B. Martin and League Owners

The Negro American League was founded in 1937 and fielded a regular schedule through the 1963 season. Teams and the final standings for the 1944 Negro American League season were as follows:

                                                                  1st Half         2nd Half 

                                                                  Season          Season               

                        Birmingham Black Barons            24-9                 24-13

                        Indianapolis-Cincinnati Clowns    18-13               22-18

                        Cleveland Buckeyes                  20-20               20-21

                        Memphis Red Sox                     20-23               24-28

                        Kansas City Monarchs               12-19               11-23

                        Chicago American Giants           10-20               22-19

Dr. J.B. Martin was born in 1884. He was educated as a dentist, but he was an extremely successful businessman in Memphis and Chicago.  Besides his dental practice, Dr. Martin owned a drugstore, funeral home, hotel, ballpark (Memphis), concession stands for the ball park and had extensive real estate investments. He was also the co-owner of the Chicago American Giants and the Memphis Red Sox from 1929 to 1950. During his career in Negro League baseball, Dr. Martin also served as president of the Negro American League, Negro Southern League and Negro Dixie League.