1923 Toledo Tigers

1923 Toledo Tigers / Franchise: Toledo Tigers / BR Team Page

Record: 10-17, Finished 5th in Negro National League (1923 NNL)

Managed by Dicta Johnson (3-10) and Candy Jim Taylor (7-7)

Ballpark:

History, Comments, Contributions

The Toledo Tigers were members of the Negro National League in 1923. They lasted only half a season before disbanding.

For first two weeks of the season the team roster was comprised of a few past-their-prime veterans and a large number of semi-pro players. After playing only a handful of league games in those first two weeks, they merged with the Cleveland Nationals an associate team of the NNL. They continued to play mostly semi-pro games during the remainder of May 1923.

They played their last home game on May 28; unable to book any more games in Toledo, OH, they played the remaining six weeks of their existence as a road team before folding on July 12. They had a final league record of 11-18 and were originally managed by Bill Gatewood before the merger; Candy Jim Taylor managed the remainder of the way.

Taylor (.427/.522/.707) was the club's clear star, while Dicta Johnson (5-2, 4.29) was the most reliable pitcher. Taylor hit 20 homers that year, splitting his season between Toledo and the St. Louis Stars, to tie for the league lead with Heavy Johnson, who had won the other two legs of the Triple Crown as well. It would be 16 years until the next Negro League team in the city, the Toledo Crawfords.

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