Cleveland Nationals

The Cleveland Nationals were an associate team of the Negro National League in April and May 1923, created by Candy Jim Taylor and Rube Foster to compete with the Cleveland Tate Stars. The Tate Stars's owner, George Tate, had recently fired Taylor as manager and had decided to switch his allegiance to the Eastern Colored League, and Foster helped Cleveland businessman Phil Fears start a team, made up mostly of players from the 1922 squads of the Tates, the Dayton Marcos, and the defunct Pittsburgh Keystones.

The club played several local white and black semi-pro teams, and had a 2-4 record against the Detroit Stars and Cuban Stars, but were disbanded on or about May 25, when its best players were signed by the Toledo Tigers, in what amounted to a merger of the teams. Fears then became the owner of the Tigers, who played in the NNL until July 12, when they folded and their best players were signed by other NNL teams, primarily Milwaukee and St. Louis.

The Tate Stars survived the challenge, and when Tate and Foster made peace in July, the team became an associate team of the NNL, replacing the defunct Tigers.

Source: As yet unpublished SABR research by Patrick Rock and Larry Lester.