1923 in the Negro Leagues

1923 in baseball
Japanese baseball
American League
National League
Negro Leagues
<< 1922 1924 >>

1923 in the Negro Leagues

Standings

BOLD indicates League Champion

Negro National League

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

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

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

Negro National League

Batters

• Batting Average (280+ plate appearances)
  • Heavy Johnson (Kansas City), .406
  • Cristobal Torriente (Chicago), .387
  • Dobie Moore (Kansas City), .365
  • Oscar Charleston (Indianapolis), .364
  • Turkey Stearnes (Detroit), .362

• 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

• Home Runs
  • Heavy Johnson (Kansas City), 20
  • Candy Jim Taylor (Toledo/St. Louis), 20
  • Turkey Stearnes (Detroit), 17
  • Edgar Wesley (Detroit), 16
  • Oscar Charleston (Indianapolis), 11
  • George Scales (St. Louis), 11

• 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

• Wins
  • Wilber "Bullet" Rogan (Kansas City), 16

• Losses
  • Fulton Strong (Milwaukee/Chicago), 14

• ERA
  • Ed Rile

• IP

• Strikeouts

Eastern Colored League

Batters

• Batting Average

• Slugging Percentage

• On-Base Percentage

• Home Runs

• RBI

Pitchers

• Wins

• Losses

• ERA

• IP

• Strikeouts

Individual Achievements

• 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

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

• 1923 Negro National League Yearbook, by Peter Ventura and Patrick Rock, Replay Publishing
• The Negro Leagues Book by Dick Clark and Larry Lester
• SABR Negro League Committee research
• The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues, John Holway