NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
After the Civil War, even though slavery had been outlawed, there was still a great amount of tension between blacks and whites. The southern whites were bitter toward the loss of their slaves, and although the north fought for the slaves freedom, they did not want them to have equal privileges. As a result of this, segregation was born. Segregation is the seperation of two different groups, in this case, black and white people. Blacks and whites were separated in many ways such as having different bathrooms and drinking fountains and even schools and churches. Baseball is usually referred to as the national pastime.
The word nation is defined as a people, usually inhabitants of a specific territory, who share common customs. One would assume that this means everyone was included, but in reality, they were not. When the Major Leagues formed, all of the players were white, European descendants. The National Association of Baseball Players would not allow any teams, which consisted of one or more Negro players, to join. All of these newly freed former slaves wanted to play baseball, but were prevented from doing so, against white teams. So they played each other.
Commonly referred as blackball, it was played as an attraction at county fairs and carnivals. Teams eventually would travel to other cities to play other black teams. Blackball quickly found its way across the country, in both major cities and rural farmlands. With the growing popularity of Blackball across the country, leagues were formed by entrepreneurs.
The leagues usually included teams in a surrounding region, because is was too costly to travel across the country. The team in Philadelphia was called the Hilldales Field Club, or the Hilldale's. The Hilldale's was a popular amateur team that began in 1910 (Clark &# 038; Lester 28). In 1911, Ed Bolden took over the team. He was a clerk in the Philadelphia Post Office. The Hilldale's played in Darby, Delaware County (Clark &# 038; Lester 29).
Bolden advertised games in the Philadelphia Tribune, which was a black newspaper. The advertisements brought crowds of up to 3000 people to the games (Ribowsky History 94). In 1914, Bolden was able to schedule three games with the Philadelphia Athletics. This was a major hurdle that his team overcame, because it shows that they at least were recognized as a team by the Athletics, Philadelphia s professional team (Ribowsky History 94). Bolden did not want to stop there. He wanted people not only to respect his team, but to also prove that blacks are not different than whites, in baseball, and as a people.
Bolden fined any of his players who fought on the field, and prohibited them from having anything at all to do with alcohol (Ribowsky History 95). In 1917, The Hilldale's turned pro, and all of the big eastern teams came to Darby to play them. Also, many white major league teams came to play the Hilldale's also, because of the way that they presented themselves so respectably (Ribowsky History 96). During the first world war, the major leagues were suffering major losses at the box office because of the large amount of players fighting in the war. The losses of men to the war was not the major problem, however. The problem was the fact the Phillies and Athletics fans did not go to the games any more.
The fans were going to Hilldales park and mixing in with the black fans there. The whites had begun to realize how blackball was much more entertaining. There were stolen bases, faster running, and a larger amount of scoring. The Hilldale's regularly outnumbered the Phillies and Athletics in their box office sales (Ribowsky History 97). In 1920, a man named Rube Foster formed a league called The Negro National League, and invited Bolden to join (Ribowsky History 100). Bolden would not enter his team into the league however, because he was still upset by a recent loss to one of Fosters teams.
Also, Foster had ignored Hilldales for years (Ribowsky History 101). When Bolden refused a second time to enter the league, Foster refused to allow any of the teams in the Negro National League to play the Hilldale's, along with the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants, the Lincoln Giants, and the Brooklyn Giants, all of whom declined his offer. Because of this, the Hilldale's ended up playing mostly white teams (Ribowsky History 103 &# 038; 110). In 1921, Bolden joined the Hilldale's into the Negro National League. That October, the first Negro World Series was played in Darby, between the Hilldale's and the American Giants. The Hilldale's won the series 3 - 2 - 1, accomplishing yet another milestone (Ribowsky History 113).
When the Hilldale's went on a road trip, they had so little money that they could not afford hotels in other cities, even the ones that the black players were allowed to stay at. Most of the time they slept on the field at the home teams stadium, using their gloves as pillows. Also, they were still prohibited from playing the teams in their area that had still not joined the league. In December 1922, Bolden withdrew his team from the league because it was costing him too much money (Ribowsky History 113 - 117). Bolden created a new league called the Eastern Colored League, which consisted of six teams including the Hilldale's. Bolden enriched the Hilldale's by signing players from the Negro National League (Ribowsky History 119).
In 1923, the first year of the new league, the Hilldale's took charge and won a total of 137 games. Also, they won 5 out of 6 games against the Athletics. This accomplishment might have been bad for them though, and could have ruined their relations with the Athletics (Bruce 63). In the Negro World Series that year, the Hilldale's played the Kansas City Monarchs in a 9 game series (Bruce 55). Although the Monarchs won in the ninth game, every player on the Hilldale's was still given $ 193, and that did not bother them (Bruce 57). The next year, the Hilldale's won the pennant, and so did the Monarchs.
The Hilldale's beat the Monarchs in best out of 9 series, winning 5 - 1 (Bruce 57). This was a major win for the Hilldale's, because they had beaten the team considered as the best ever, and they were now considered the heroes. Newspapers that had once poked fun at them now praised them (Clark &# 038; Lester 28). The Hilldale's continued winning, and so did the Monarchs. Once again in 1925, they faced each other in the World Series (Clark &# 038; Lester 28).
The Hilldale's came away with the win, however the attendance was so poor that each player only received a $ 69 bonus. Their reign came to an end that year, and they did not play in the World Series in 1926 nor 1927 (Clark &# 038; Lester 28). In 1928, both the Negro National League and the Eastern Colored League collapsed (Clark &# 038; Lester 28). Teams had lost thousands of dollars, and they could not pay rent for their stadiums.
Tension also grew among players, and there were many brawls during games. Bolden withdrew the Hilldale's first, and they played amateur and semipro teams that season (Clark &# 038; Lester 28). All of the Hilldales games were played at home, and this resulted in a minor profit for the Hilldale's that season. The Eastern Colored league disbanded later that year, unable to go on without its cornerstone team, the Hilldale's. They tried for a short while with the Philadelphia Tigers, but that project failed (Ribowsky History 133). Hilldales players were greatly effected by this loss of money, and even started fighting each other (Ribowsky History 132).
They knew the end was near, and became depressed. In 1930, Bolden did not renew the lease on the ballpark, marking the first step toward the end of the team. Bolden left the team, and three members of the Hilldales Amusement Corporation, which had been established by Bolden, renewed the lease (Ribowsky History 132). The 1930 season for the Hilldale's was played mostly against professional clubs, and that year they posted a record of 42 - 13 (Clark &# 038; Lester 29). Some of the other professional negro teams had given up, and at the end of the year, so did the Hilldale's (Clark &# 038; Lester 29). In 1932, a man named Cum Posey began a new Negro National League.
He brought the Hilldale's Back from extinction, but only briefly (Bruce 83). On July 18, 1932 the team folded for good, only a week after playing a game with an attendance of 196 (Ribowsky History 155). In 1934, the Philadelphia Stars joined as an expansion team into the Negro National League, and that year won the pennant (Clark &# 038; Lester 29). The downfall came for the Stars in 1947, but they struggled to survive until 1952, when they played their last season (majorleaguebaseball. com / nbl /ps.
sml). The end came for the Negro Leagues in 1947. That year, on April 15, Jackie Robinson was listed on the Dodgers s lineup at first base. Jackie Robinson was the first black player in major league baseball (Frommer 131).
Although the Negro Leagues had such a long history, with the integration of black players into the major leagues, there was no longer a need for separate leagues. Jackie Robinson led the way for thousands of black baseball players into the major leagues. Many players from the Negro Leagues went on to the Major Leagues, and the others retired. Many players from the Negro Leagues are in the Hall of Fame, and most are regarded as the greatest players to ever play the game (Frommer: Introduction).
Free research essays on topics related to: blacks and whites, major leagues, national league, negro leagues, jackie robinson
Research essay sample on Blacks And Whites Negro Leagues
