Homestead Grays

The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States.

Homestead Grays
Information
League
LocationPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Ballpark
Year established1900
Year disbandedc.1950
Nickname(s)
  • Homestead Grays
  • Washington Homestead Grays
  • Washington Grays
League titles
Negro World Series championships

The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and remained in continuous operation for 38 seasons. The team was originally based in Homestead, Pennsylvania, adjacent to Pittsburgh. By the 1920s, with increasing popularity in the Pittsburgh region, the team retained the name "Homestead" but crossed the Monongahela River to play all home games in Pittsburgh, at the Pittsburgh Pirates' home Forbes Field and the Pittsburgh Crawfords' home Greenlee Field.

From 1940 until 1942, the Grays played half of their home games in Washington, D.C., while remaining in Pittsburgh for all other home stands.[1] As attendance at their games in the nation's capital grew, by 1943, the Grays were playing more than two-thirds of their home games in Washington.[1]

Franchise history

The Grays grew out of an earlier industrial team. In 1900, a group of African-American players had joined together to form the Germantown Blue Ribbons, an industrial league team. For ten years, the Blue Ribbons fielded a team every season and played some of the best sandlot teams in the area. In 1910, the managers of the team retired. The players reorganized the team and named themselves the Murdock Grays. In 1912, they became the Homestead Grays, the name they retained for the remainder of the franchise's history.

1913 Homestead Grays. Cumberland Posey Jr is third from left middle row
1931 Homestead Grays. Cumberland Posey Jr is standing at far left

American/East-West League

The Grays did join the American Negro League in 1929, but that league lasted only one season. Cumberland Posey was their inaugural manager in organized league play. The Grays went 32-29 (with three ties) for a fourth place finish. The team operated independently again until 1932, when Posey organized the ill-fated East-West League; that league also collapsed before completing its first and only season. Jud Wilson and Posey combined to lead the 1932 team to a 24-16 record (with one tie) before the Grays joined the Negro National League in 1933

Period of dominance in the National League

Posey managed the next two seasons, leading them to a 3rd and 7th place finish, respectively. Outfielder Vic Harris (a long-time player for the Grays) became player-manager in 1936. With the near-collapse of the Pittsburgh Crawfords, Josh Gibson returned to the Grays in 1937, combining with slugger Buck Leonard to power the Grays. From 1937 to 1948, the Grays went on an unprecedented run of success in Negro league baseball. They finished first place in the league in ten of twelve seasons while competing in organized playoff baseball in six of those seasons (which they won three).

Their one challenge for the Negro National League came in 1939, which matched the top four teams (of a six team league) in a postseason tournament that required three victories. They beat the Philadelphia Stars in five games to reach the Championship Series against the Baltimore Elite Giants. They lost to Baltimore in five games.[2] The Grays rolled through the next two seasons with ease; in 1942, they competed in the re-born Negro World Series, which they lost in four games to the Kansas City Monarchs. For the 1943 and 1944 seasons, Candy Jim Taylor served as the manager for the Grays. They won the pennant each time to advance to the Series, which they won each time. Harris returned to manage the Grays for 1945, where he continued for four seasons. They went to the Series twice and won the 1948 Negro World Series, the final one to be played before the demise of quality in the leagues.

During their tenure in organized league baseball, the Grays went 629–377, which included a season each in the ANL and EWL and fifteen years spent with the Negro National League (where they went 573-332). They finished first place in the league ten times while reaching the Negro World Series (second incarnation) five times, which resulted in three championships. The Grays had just one losing season in their time in the National League (1935, when they finished 26-36), which was also one of only three times they ever finished in the bottom half of a league.[3]

Pittsburgh Steelers founder and owner Art Rooney related in a 1981 interview that he "from time to time" had "helped financially support the Negro League team, the Homestead Grays, and . . . was a better baseball fan than football fan."[4]

Post-Negro league play

Following the collapse of the Negro National League after the 1948 season, the Grays struggled to continue as an independent club, and ultimately disbanded in May 1951.[5]

Home fields

From the late 1930s through the 1940s, the Grays played their home games at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, during this same period the club adopted the Washington, D.C. area as its "home away from home" and scheduled many of its "home" games at D.C.'s Griffith Stadium, the home park of the Washington Senators. During these games, they were alternatively known as the Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays.

Baseball Hall of Fame inductees

These Homestead Grays alumni have been inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Homestead Grays Hall of Famers
No. Inductee Position Tenure Inducted
4Cool Papa BellOF1932, 1943–19461974
—Ray BrownP1937–1945
1947–1948		2006
—Oscar CharlestonOF1930–19311976
—Martín DihigoP1927–19281977
—Bill FosterP19311996
20Josh GibsonC1930–1931
1937–1946		1972
—Judy Johnson3B1930, 19371975
32Buck Leonard1B1934–19501972
—Cumberland PoseyFounder-Owner1912–19462006
—Willie WellsSS19321997
—Smokey Joe WilliamsP1925–19321999
—Jud Wilson3B1929–1931
1941–1946		2006

AL/NL Players

The following players appeared in at least one game for the Grays and at least one game in the AL/NL.

Playoffs/Championships

Independent
Season Manager Record East Coast Championship Series
Opponent Series
1937 Cumberland Posey 45–15–1 New York Lincoln Giants 6–4

Negro National League
Season Manager Record Negro National League
Playoffs		 Negro National League
Championship Series		 Negro World Series
Opponent Series Opponent Series Opponent Series
1937 Vic Harris 45–18–1 Nonexistenta Clinched pennantb Nonexistentc
1938 Vic Harris 41–13
1939 Vic Harris 36–19–1 Philadelphia Stars 3–2 Baltimore Elite Giants 1–3–1
1940 Vic Harris 34–19 Nonexistenta Clinched pennantb
1941 Vic Harris 51–22–2 New York Cubans 3–1
1942 Vic Harris 47–19–3 Clinched pennantb Kansas City Monarchs 0–4
1943 Candy Jim Taylor 53–14–1 Birmingham Black Barons 4–3–1
1944 Candy Jim Taylor 47–24–3 Birmingham Black Barons 4–1
1945 Vic Harris 37–19–2 Cleveland Buckeyes 0–4
1948 Vic Harris 44–23–1 Baltimore Elite Giants 2–1–1 Birmingham Black Barons 4–1
Total NNL pennants 9 World Series titles 3
  • a The Negro National League (second incarnation) ran from 1933 to 1948, and during that time they held a playoff to determine the league champion five times (1934, 1935, 1939, 1941, 1948). 1939 was the only time the league matched four teams together to play for the title, as all other playoffs were between two teams.
  • b On occasions without a playoff, the team leading the season in winning percentage was generally considered the pennant champion
  • c The Negro World Series was held 1924 to 1927 and from 1942 to 1948 as a matchup of two Negro leagues.

Legacy

On July 11, 2002, the Homestead High-Level Bridge which connects Pittsburgh to Homestead over the Monongahela River at Homestead was renamed the Homestead Grays Bridge in honor of the team.[6]

Washington Nationals

When the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, "Grays" was one of the three finalists (along with "Senators" and the eventual winner "Nationals") for the relocated team's new name, reflecting Washington's baseball history.[7]

The Nationals′ home field, Nationals Park, includes numerous references to the Grays:

  • The "Ring of Honor" on the facade behind home plate lists the names of Cool Papa Bell, Ray Brown, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Cumberland Posey, Jud Wilson, and players from the Nationals, Expos, original Washington Senators of 1901–1960, and expansion Washington Senators of 1961–1971. The Ring honors players who are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and had played "significant years" for at least one of the teams or "anyone who has made a significant contribution to the game of baseball in Washington, D.C." All six Grays players were among the original 18 inductees to the Ring of Honor when it was unveiled on August 10, 2010.
  • The multi-sport Washington Hall of Stars display in the outfield features Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard.
  • A statue of Josh Gibson (along with ones of original Senator Walter Johnson and second-run Senator Frank Howard) stands near the center field gate.

MLB throwback jerseys

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals have worn Homestead Grays throwback uniforms in official Major League Baseball games several different times:

Pirates
Nationals
Both

References
  1. Snyder, Brad (2003). Beyond the Shadow of the Senators: The Untold Story of the Homestead Grays and the Integration of Baseball, p. 155. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-007-1431-97-2.
  2. "1939 NN2 Championship Series - Baltimore Elite Giants over Homestead Grays (3-1-1) | Baseball-Reference.com".
  3. "Homestead Grays Team History & Encyclopedia | Baseball-Reference.com".
  4. Donovan, Dan (August 28, 1988). "Works of Art". Pittsburgh Press. p. D3.
  5. "Grays out of baseball". Youngstown Vindicator. Ohio. INS. May 23, 1951. p. 29.
  6. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Homestead Span Honors Baseball Team", July 12, 2002
  7. USA Today, "In Washington, it'll be 'Let's go Nats'", November 22, 2004. Accessed April 17, 2008.
  8. MLB.com, "Brewers Honor Negro Leagues", June 2, 2006
  9. MLB.com, "Nats, Mets Recognize Negro Leagues", August 11, 2006
  10. Washington Post, Nationals vs. Brewers: Jordan Zimmermann throws a gem in his first MLB game in home state.
  • Beyond the Shadow of the Senators — the website is a companion to the book of the same name, a comprehensive history of the Grays, written by Brad Snyder. The site contains information on the individuals featured in the book and the first chapter of the book.
  • GraysFan.org — Latest attempt to name the Washington Major League Baseball Team after the Grays
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