Columbia Giants

Formed from the remnants of the Page Fence Giants, the Columbia Giants of Chicago, IL were a top Negro League team for two years, 1899 and 1900. In 1899, managed by Al Garrett, they beat the Chicago Unions for the western championsip, winning game one 4-2 and game 2 6-0. Stars included Home Run Johnson at SS and Charlie Grant at 2B. They lost a cross-country title match with the Cuban X-Giants by a 7-4 score. Johnson homered in two of the three major matches.

In 1900 no championship was played and the Unions and Columbia Giants both claimed to be number one. Johnson went to the Union Giants but was replaced by future Hall-of-Famer Sol White. Billy Holland also joined the team that year. In 1901 Frank Leland merged the Unions and Columbia Giants to form the Chicago Union Giants.

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