1922 Cleveland Tate Stars

1922 Cleveland Tate Stars / Franchise: Cleveland Tate Stars / BR Team Page

Record: 15-26-1, Finished 7th in Negro National League (1922 NNL)

Managed by Candy Jim Taylor

Ballpark: Stars Park

History, Comments, Contributions

The first of many Negro League franchises to try and fail in Cleveland, OH was the Cleveland Tate Stars (named after owner George Tate). They played in the Negro National League in 1922 and finished next-to-last at 15-26. Candy Jim Taylor managed and played third base for the club.

Following a dispute between team owner Tate and NNL president Rube Foster and Tate's sacking of manager Taylor, the Tate Stars played the first part of the 1923 season as an associate team of the Eastern Colored League. They were opposed in Cleveland by the short-lived Cleveland Nationals, and some of their players were raided by NNL teams, but they rejoined the NNL as an associate team in July following the demise of the Toledo Tigers, and went 7-14. Second baseman Claude "Hooks" Johnson was the player-manager.

In 1924 they were replaced in the city by the Cleveland Browns.

Sources:

• The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John Holway
• The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues by James Riley
• 1923 Negro National League Yearbook, by Pete Ventura and Patrick Rock, Replay Publishing
• as yet unpublished SABR research by Patrick Rock and Larry Lester

Further Reading

• Leslie Heaphy: "Cleveland Tate Stars", in Brad Sullivan, ed.: Batting Four Thousand: Baseball in the Western Reserve, SABR, Cleveland, OH, 2008, pp. 34-36.