An in-depth look at the Homestead Grays who are considered one of the most successful of the professional Negro League baseball teams. We take a look at their impact on Washington D.C. Sports, famous players and team history.
With the recent announcement of Major League Baseball officially recognizing the Negro League records, it is has brought increased visibility on one of the most successful Negro League Baseball teams of all time, which played many of their games right in the Washington D.C. area: The Homestead Grays.
From their outstanding players to the impact they had on Washington D.C. in this Special Report, we take a look at all things about the Homestead Grays.
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The Homestead Grays were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 by player/manager Cumberland Posey and was active for 38 seasons. Homestead Grays are considered one of the most successful of the professional Negro League baseball teams.
The Grays won ten Negro National League Titles (1937-1945, 1948) and three Negro League World Series Titles (1943-1944, 1948), where they played the Negro American League's champion.
The Homestead Grays were first named the "Germantown Blue Ribbons," as a team in 1900 as an African American industrial league in the once center of the Negro League in Pittsburgh, PA. According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette: "After adopting the "Grays" nickname in 1910, they officially became the Homestead Grays two years later with the help of player-manager Cumberland Posey."
For the first couple of years in existence, the Homestead Grays split their home games between Pittsburgh and Washington D.C.
The Grays played mostly at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field until World War II, when they moved to play played half of their home games at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh.
While in existence, the Homestead Grays participated in four different Negro Leagues:
In 1943, the Homestead Gray's popularity in the Washington D.C. area grew so much that the team ended up playing more than two-thirds of their home games in Washington. The Homestead Greys were more popular and famously outdrew their white counterparts, Major League Baseball's Washington Senators.
While in Washington D.C., the Homestead Grays or sometimes called the "Washington Grays," played at Griffith Stadium from 1940-1948.
According to Brad Snyder's 2003 book, Beyond the Shadow of the Senators (which many consider the definitive history of the Grays' association with D.C.), the Gray's failed to get a lot of press coverage by the local papers at the time. It wasn't until May 31, 1942, when the Gray's fortunes took a turn for the better. According to the book, the Grays hosted an exhibition game against a white all-star team, including players from the Kansas City Monarchs who were on loan for the game.
This game ended up drawing a capacity crowd and a lot of local press coverage from all of the Washington D.C. daily papers. The Homestead Grays easily won that game over the all-star team, and the popularity of the Homestead Grays went through the roof.
Additionally, the location of Griffth Stadium and the availability of a Washington D.C. streetcar line that dropped off fans who were unable to drive to games right at the stadium's entrance due to Wartime gasoline rationing. According to historical records from the book, the '43 Grays drew more than 225,000 fans, helped by four games against Paige and the Monarchs, which attracted crowds of more than 20,000."
According to Brad Snyder, "The aging Grays lineup produced a losing record for the first time since the team joined the league. Still, Griffith Stadium for the first time hosted an all-star game between the two Negro Leagues. The Aug. 15 game attracted a crowd of just over 15,000, respectable but a far cry from the 45,000 that attended the traditional East-West All-Star Game in Chicago three days later. The 1946 season turned out to be the last profitable one for the Grays. It was also Gibson's final season. He died in January 1947 at age 36 after years of substance abuse and mental health problems.The Grays continued to play league games at Griffith Stadium even after the Negro National League folded following the 1948 season, with the Grays winning a final title. Average attendance at Grays' game had fallen to about 2,000."
The Homestead Grays' impact on Washington D.C., Grays can be felt even today. When the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, "Grays" was one of the three finalists (along with "Senators" and the eventual winner "Nationals") for the relocated team's new name, reflecting Washington's baseball history. Additionally, today at National Park includes numerous references to the Grays, from retired numbers around the stadium to a statue of Josh Gibson outside.
Below are profiles of some of the famous Homestead Grays Baseball Players. Thanks to Wikipedia for providing the background.
Joshua Gibson was an American Negro league baseball catcher. Baseball historians consider Gibson to be among the very best power hitters and catchers in baseball.
Gibson played for the Homestead Grays from 1930 to 1931, moved to the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1932 to 1936, and returned to the Grays from 1937 to 1939 and 1942 to 1946.
Josh Gibson's 1930, 430-foot home run into the left-field bleachers went so far; it led many to believe that the homerun left Yankee Stadium. It turns out that home run didn't leave Yankee Stadium and became folklore. However, the fact of the ball leaving Yankee Stadium was even refuted by Gibson himself. in a book titled: "Voices from the Great Black Baseball Leagues: Revised Edition," John Holway quotes Gibson saying, "I hit the ball on a line into the bullpen in deep left field." Holway concludes, "[W]e can assume that the ball probably did not go over the roof but instead went over the corner of the third tier [of upper-deck seats]." This homerun turned out to rank as one of the longest home runs hit at Yankee Stadium.
Despite being a legendary and amazing baseball player in the Negro League, Gibson never played in the Major Leagues because of an unwritten "gentleman's agreement," that prevented non-white players from participating in the Majors.
On Feb. 8, 1972, Gibson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Gibson was the second Negro League players, behind Satchel Paige the year before, to be elected.
was an American professional third baseman and manager whose career in Negro league baseball spanned 17 seasons, from 1921 to 1937. Slight of build, Johnson never developed as a power threat but achieved his greatest success as a contact hitter and an intuitive defenseman. Johnson is regarded as one of the greatest third basemen of the Negro leagues. In 1975, he was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame after being nominated by the Negro Leagues Committee.
After growing up in North Carolina, he played for the Homestead Grays between 1934 and 1950, batting fourth behind Josh Gibson for many years. Leonard never played in Major League Baseball (MLB); he declined a 1952 offer of an MLB contract because he felt he was too old. Late in life, Leonard worked as a physical education instructor and was the vice-president of a minor league baseball team. He and Gibson were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. In 1999, he was ranked number 47 on the 100 Greatest Baseball Players list by The Sporting News.
Cumberland Posey was an American baseball player, manager, and team owner in the Negro leagues, as well as a professional basketball player and team owner.
n baseball, Posey played with the Homestead Grays in 1911, was manager by 1916, and became owner in the early 1920s. In a quarter-century running the team, he built it into one of the powerhouse franchises of black baseball, winning numerous pennants, including nine consecutively from 1937–1945.
In 1910, a group of Homestead steelworkers was organized into one of baseball's greatest clubs by Posey. This team, the Homestead Grays, played many locations such as Forbes Field and Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. The team won eight out of nine Negro National League titles.
James Thomas "Cool Papa" Bell (May 17, 1903 – March 7, 1991) was an American center fielder in Negro league baseball from 1922 to 1946. He is considered to have been one of the fastest men ever to play the game. Stories demonstrating Bell's speed are still widely circulated. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. He ranked 66th on a list of the greatest baseball players published by The Sporting News in 1999.
Over the years, both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Nationals have worn throwback jerseys of the Homestead Grays in official Major League Baseball games. The Pittsburgh Pirates have worn the Grays jersey seven times, and the Washington Nationals have worn the Grays jersey six times. In a May 3, 2008 game in Washington D.C. between the Nationals and the Pirates, both teams wore the Grays jersey.
According to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), "The 1931 Grays outscored their opponents 1,251–514. That results in an average game score of 7.7–3.2. There is no doubt that the 1931 Grays were the original Pittsburgh Lumber Company, the nickname given to the World Series-winning 1971 Pirates. As a team, they batted .346 against the greatest competition while holding their opponents to a .207 batting average. The pitching for the Grays was a pleasant surprise. The Grays had 774 extra-base hits to their opponents' 438. The 1931 Grays shut out their opponents 15 times. Their opponents shut out the Grays twice. The first pitcher to shut out the Grays was Tom Phoebus of the 1970 Baltimore Orioles. The second was Gary Nolan of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds in the next-to-last game of the season. The 1931 Grays recorded a team ERA of 2.95 as opposed to a 7.53 ERA of their opponents. The data show the 1931 Grays had the best success against American League teams, going 62–9 (.873 winning average). They were 55–11 (.833) against National League teams. The teams that gave the 1931 Grays the most competition were the Negro League teams, who managed to win five out of 25 games, so even against them, the 1931 Grays recorded a .800 winning average."
Many baseball historians consider the 1927 New York Yankees as the greatest baseball team of all time, which is accurate; however, now that Major League Baseball has officially recognized Negro League records, you can now consider the 1931 Homestead Grays as one of the greatest Major League Baseball teams of all-time.