1939 in the Negro Leagues

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1939 in the Negro Leagues

Standings

BOLD indicates League Champion

Negro National League

BR page

Rank	Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB
1	Homestead Grays	56	36	19	1	.654	--
2	Newark Eagles	56	33	22	1	.600	3.0
3	New York Black Yankees	41	19	18	4	.513	8.0
4	Toledo Crawfords	11	4	6	1	.400	9.5
5	Baltimore Elite Giants	44	20	24	0	.455	10.5
6	Philadelphia Stars	54	24	29	1	.453	11.0
7	New York Cubans	32	7	25	0	.219	17.5

Postseason:

• 1st round: Baltimore Elite Giants defeated Newark Eagles, 3 games to 1; Homestead Grays defeated Philadelphia Stars, 3 games to 2
• Negro National League Championship: Baltimore Elite Giants defeated Homestead Grays, 3 games to 1 with 1 tie

Negro American League

BR page

Rank	Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB
1	Kansas City Monarchs	71	46	25	0	.648	--
2	Chicago American Giants	74	40	34	0	.540	7.5
3	Cleveland Bears	41	20	21	0	.488	11.0
4	Toledo Crawfords	21	9	11	1	.450	11.5
5	Indianapolis ABCs/Atlanta Black Crackers	16	6	10	0	.375	12.5
6	St. Louis Stars	36	15	20	1	.429	13.0
7	Memphis Red Sox	53	19	34	0	.358	18.0

The Toledo Crawfords replaced the Indianapolis ABCs in the second half.

Postseason:

• Negro American League Championship: Kansas City Monarchs defeated St. Louis Stars, 4 games to 1

Independent Teams

Source: Teams list from The Negro Leagues Book by Dick Clark and Larry Lester; records are from The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues, John Holway

• Atlantic City Bacharach Giants
• Brooklyn Royal Giants
• Jacksonville Red Caps

Postseason

Kansas City won the first half of the NAL pennant, and the St. Louis Stars took the second half. A best of seven playoff was scheduled, but St. Louis was unable to secure home grounds, so the playoff was set back to a best of five. The Monarchs won in three straight games, though the remaining two games were played as exhibitions, the fifth game set as a benefit for local charities.

The Monarchs took the first game on August 31 at Oklahoma City's Holland Field, winning 4-1 before a crowd of 3,000 under the lights, Hilton Smith striking out 12. They won game two by a 7-2 count on September 1 at Muskogee, Oklahoma before a similar-sized crowd, manager-pitcher Andy Cooper striking out seven and center fielder Turkey Stearnes hitting a long home run.

The Monarchs clinched the series and pennant on Sunday, September 3, beating St. Louis 6-5 in the first game of a double-header, Hilton Smith beating Theo Smith. St. Louis won the second game 5-1 in seven innings, and also won the Labor Day benefit game the following day, but the series was over after three.

There was no Colored World Series that season.