1923 in the Negro Leagues

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1923 in baseball
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<< 1922 1924 >>

1923 in the Negro Leagues


Standings[edit]

BOLD indicates League Champion

Negro National League[edit]

BR page

Rank Team G W L PCT GB
1 Kansas City Monarchs 86 54 32 .628 --
2 Chicago American Giants 63 39 24 .619 3.5
3 Detroit Stars 66 39 27 .591 5.0
4 Indianapolis ABCs 76 44 32 .579 5.0
5 Toledo Tigers 27 10 17 .370 14.5
6 Cuban Stars West 57 24 33 .421 15.5
7 St. Louis Stars 72 29 43 .403 18.0
8 Milwaukee Bears 53 11 42 .208 26.5

Eastern Colored League[edit]

BR page

Rank Team G W L T PCT GB
1 Hilldale Club 59 37 21 1 .638 --
2 Cuban Stars East 38 22 16 0 .579 5.0
3 Brooklyn Royal Giants 33 16 16 1 .500 8.0
4 Atlantic City Bacharach Giants 49 23 25 1 .479 9.0
5 New York Lincoln Giants 40 17 23 0 .425 11.0
6 Baltimore Black Sox 53 19 33 1 .365 15.0

Independent Teams[edit]

Western teams
Team G W L T PCT
Birmingham Black Barons 46 17 25 4 .405
Cleveland Tate Stars 40 20 19 1 .513
Memphis Red Sox 23 15 8 0 .652
Cleveland Nationals 6 2 4 0 .333
Chicago Giants 6 1 5 0 .167
Homestead Grays 5 3 2 0 .600
Eastern teams
Team G W L T PCT
Washington Potomacs 34 12 21 1 .364
Harrisburg Giants 11 7 4 0 .636
Richmond Giants 7 3 4 0 .429
Philadelphia Giants 4 1 3 0 .250

Many of these teams played at a semi-pro level, providing de facto "farm teams" for the upper-tier teams.

  • Chappie Johnson's All-Stars barnstormed mainly along the Atlantic coast.
  • The Chicago Giants played mostly in Chicago, though they barnstormed as far south as St. Louis.
  • The Cleveland Tate Stars were associated with the ECL, but switched associations to the NNL in July.
  • The Cleveland Nationals were associated with the NNL, but were disbanded and merged with the Toledo club in May.
  • The Dayton Marcos barnstormed in the upper midwest, mainly through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
  • The Harrisburg Giants were associated with the ECL, though they played no games against league teams.
  • The Homestead Grays played most of their games in the Pittsburgh area.
  • The Middletown All-Cubans, managed by Pop Watkins, barnstormed along the Atlantic coast.
  • The Philadelphia Giants, unrelated to the earlier great independent Negro team, barnstormed mostly through New England.
  • The Richmond Giants played a few home games against other Negro teams, and played against white semi-pros in the Baltimore and Philadelphia areas.
  • The Washington Potomacs associated with and played 20+ games against ECL teams, played against semi-pro teams in the Baltimore and Philadelphia areas, and against some teams in Ohio and western Pennsylvania.

Leading Players[edit]

Negro National League[edit]

Batters[edit]

  • Slugging Percentage (280+ plate appearances)
    • Heavy Johnson (Kansas City), .722
    • Turkey Stearnes (Detroit), .710
    • Oscar Charleston (Indianapolis), .591
    • Cristobal Torriente (Chicago), .556
    • John Beckwith (Chicago), .537
  • On Base Percentage (280+ plate appearances)
    • Cristobal Torriente (Chicago), .481
    • Heavy Johnson (Kansas City), .471
    • Oscar Charleston (Indianapolis), .453
    • Dobie Moore (Kansas City), .407
    • Turkey Stearnes (Detroit), .401
  • RBI
    • Heavy Johnson (Kansas City), 120
    • Oscar Charleston (Indianapolis), 94
    • Turkey Stearnes (Detroit), 85
    • Dobie Moore (Kansas City), 79
    • John Beckwith (Chicago), 77
    • Turkey Stearnes (Detroit), 76

Pitchers[edit]

  • Losses
    • Fulton Strong (Milwaukee/Chicago), 14
  • ERA
    • Ed Rile
  • IP
  • Strikeouts

Eastern Colored League[edit]

Batters[edit]

  • Batting Average
  • Slugging Percentage
  • On-Base Percentage
  • Home Runs
  • RBI

Pitchers[edit]

  • Wins
  • Losses
  • ERA
  • IP
  • Strikeouts

Individual Achievements[edit]

  • José Méndez and Bullet Rogan combined to throw a no-hitter against the Milwaukee Bears on August 5 in Kansas City's Muehlebach Field, winning 7-0. Mendez pitched five perfect innings before yielding to Rogan, who walked the second batter he faced for Milwaukee's only baserunner, and pitched the remaining four innings. It was the first no-hitter in what would be later known as Municipal Stadium, and was the first of only two combination no-hitter in the history of the Negro Leagues.

Postseason[edit]

There were a few postseason exhibitions played by some teams, but any hope for a Colored World Series was dashed early on owing to the animosity between the two leagues and their respective presidents.

Sources[edit]

Negro League Seasons

Early Era
1800s · 1900s
1910 · 1911 · 1912 · 1913 · 1914 · 1915 · 1916 · 1917 · 1918 · 1919
Middle Era
1920 · 1921 · 1922 · 1923 · 1924 · 1925 · 1926 · 1927 · 1928 · 1929
1930 · 1931 · 1932 · 1933 · 1934 · 1935 · 1936 · 1937 · 1938 · 1939
1940 · 1941 · 1942 · 1943 · 1944 · 1945
Late Era
1946 · 1947 · 1948 · 1949 · 1950
1950s · 1960s