Atlanta Black Crackers

• Ballpark: Ponce de Leon Park

The Negro League team from Atlanta, GA, the Atlanta Black Crackers generally played in lesser leagues. In 1938 they had their most prominent season, playing in the Negro American League and going 21-14, including the second-half title. Managed by Nish Williams, the team was led by OF Donald Reeves (.377, second in the NAL in average) and SS Pee Wee Butts (.360). The Black Crackers lost the first two playoff games to the Memphis Red Sox but the series went unfinished. A second team called the Atlanta Black Crackers, this one also playing in lesser leagues, surfaced in 1943 and played until 1949.

Sources: "The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues" by John Holway, "The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues" by James Riley

Further Reading

• Leslie Heaphy: "The Atlanta Black Crackers", in Ken Fenster and Wynn Montgomery, eds: Baseball in the Peach State, The National Pastime, SABR, Volume 40 (2010), pp. 30-36.

Related Sites

• BR Franchise page