Boston Royal Giants
Encyclopedia
Boston Royal Giants was a Negro League baseball
team in Boston
. The team was also known as the Boston Giants, Quaker Giants, Philadelphia Giants and Boston Colored Giants. The Royal Giants served as a farm team of sorts for the league. They played as far north as Canada’s Cape Breton League, and games against mill or industrial teams in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire.
In 1923, Negro League veteran Danny McClellan organized a team that had been playing as the Quaker Giants into a Boston-based contingent called, for marketing purposes, the Philadelphia Giants. Black sports teams often named themselves after cities that would immediately identify them as African American to white fans and media (such as the Harlem Globetrotters, who were founded in Chicago).
The Boston Royal Giants sometimes played in famed Boston Park League
. Venues that hosted the Giants were often small public parks such as Cambridge’s Playstead Park and Boston’s Lincoln Park, but Braves Field (now Boston University's Nickerson Field) rented to African American owners as early as 1938, and Fenway Park
was used for heavily-promoted games after 1942.
By 1945, pressure on Boston’s major league teams to sign black players mounted, including pickets and boycotts, Fenway tryouts for young Jackie Robinson
, Sam Jethroe
, and Marvin Williams
and a threat from City Councilman Isadore Muchnick to revoke the Red Sox’ license to play Sunday baseball unless they integrated their roster.
When Red Sox icon Ted Williams
gave his Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech in 1966, he lamented the fact that great Negro Leaguers were not represented in Cooperstown. This sparked an interest in black baseball, and committees to enshrine and recognize its legends. It is unfortunate for Red Sox Nation that Williams never teamed with some of the luminaries that were right under Mr. Yawkey’s nose, particularly the ageless Will Jackman.
On July 13, 2002 the Boston Red Sox
dressed in 1948 Boston Royal Giants uniforms to honor the Negro league. The shirts were modeled after a uniform Herb Holmes’ great-grandson found in a foot locker.
Longtime Negro League pitcher "Pud" Flournoy pitched for the team when he was past his prime, and centerfielder Gene Benson told a Black baseball author the Royal Giants left him stranded in Michigan during a road trip (Benson went on to a distinguished career with the Philadelphia Stars, and was such a respected player he was asked to room with a young Jackie Robinson in the Venezuelan Winter League in hopes Robinson's notorious temper would cool off enough to allow him to be a prime candidate to integrate the major leagues). Newark Eagle first baseman Frannie Matthews, a Cambridge, Mass. native, also saw time with the RG's.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/27/auction_throws_curve_into_effort_to_honor_negro_league_star_jackman/
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. The team was also known as the Boston Giants, Quaker Giants, Philadelphia Giants and Boston Colored Giants. The Royal Giants served as a farm team of sorts for the league. They played as far north as Canada’s Cape Breton League, and games against mill or industrial teams in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire.
History of the team
Black baseball in Boston started in the 1870s, when the City League formed teams of men. Though the Boston Giants were never among the most nationally popular black semi-pro teams, Boston was a hotbed of black baseball in the 1930s and 1940s.In 1923, Negro League veteran Danny McClellan organized a team that had been playing as the Quaker Giants into a Boston-based contingent called, for marketing purposes, the Philadelphia Giants. Black sports teams often named themselves after cities that would immediately identify them as African American to white fans and media (such as the Harlem Globetrotters, who were founded in Chicago).
The Boston Royal Giants sometimes played in famed Boston Park League
Boston Park League
The Boston Park League, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest amateur baseball league in the United States.-History:The Boston Park League was founded in 1929 by Bob Cusick, program director for the Boston Parks and Recreation Department...
. Venues that hosted the Giants were often small public parks such as Cambridge’s Playstead Park and Boston’s Lincoln Park, but Braves Field (now Boston University's Nickerson Field) rented to African American owners as early as 1938, and Fenway Park
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"...
was used for heavily-promoted games after 1942.
By 1945, pressure on Boston’s major league teams to sign black players mounted, including pickets and boycotts, Fenway tryouts for young Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
, Sam Jethroe
Sam Jethroe
Samuel Jethroe, nicknamed "The Jet" , was an American center fielder in Negro League and Major League Baseball. With the Cincinnati & Cleveland Buckeyes he won a pair of batting titles, hit .340 over seven seasons from 1942 to 1948, and helped the team to two pennants and the Negro League World...
, and Marvin Williams
Marvin Williams
Marvin Gaye Williams, Jr. is an American professional basketball player. He currently is playing for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association and is listed at 6' 9" and 240 pounds...
and a threat from City Councilman Isadore Muchnick to revoke the Red Sox’ license to play Sunday baseball unless they integrated their roster.
When Red Sox icon Ted Williams
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
gave his Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech in 1966, he lamented the fact that great Negro Leaguers were not represented in Cooperstown. This sparked an interest in black baseball, and committees to enshrine and recognize its legends. It is unfortunate for Red Sox Nation that Williams never teamed with some of the luminaries that were right under Mr. Yawkey’s nose, particularly the ageless Will Jackman.
On July 13, 2002 the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
dressed in 1948 Boston Royal Giants uniforms to honor the Negro league. The shirts were modeled after a uniform Herb Holmes’ great-grandson found in a foot locker.
Significant players
Players included Texan sidearm pitcher Will "Cannonball" Jackman and catcher Burlin White. Over the 1920’s Giants came and went, and the team adopted the names Boston (Colored) Giants and Boston Royal Giants, but Jackman and White were mainstays. Jackman threw a blazing fastball that dropped as it approached the plate — legendary New York Giants manager John McGraw coveted him so that he called Jackman a great pitcher and hitter who would help bring a pennant to any major league team, but for his complexion. Negro League superstar Bill Yancey, later a Yankees scout, said Jackman was the greatest all-around ballplayer he ever saw. According to James A. Riley’s "Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Leagues," Jackman was "52-2 one season with the Giants and bested Satchel Paige twice in two outings."Longtime Negro League pitcher "Pud" Flournoy pitched for the team when he was past his prime, and centerfielder Gene Benson told a Black baseball author the Royal Giants left him stranded in Michigan during a road trip (Benson went on to a distinguished career with the Philadelphia Stars, and was such a respected player he was asked to room with a young Jackie Robinson in the Venezuelan Winter League in hopes Robinson's notorious temper would cool off enough to allow him to be a prime candidate to integrate the major leagues). Newark Eagle first baseman Frannie Matthews, a Cambridge, Mass. native, also saw time with the RG's.
Known Players
- Herbert "Chink" Holmes
- Gene BensonGene BensonEugene Benson was an American center fielder in baseball's Negro Leagues. He played for the Philadelphia Stars in 1937, moved to the Homestead Grays in 1938, and returned to the Stars from 1939 to 1948...
- Pud Flournoy
- Frannie Matthews
- Will Jackman
- Burlin White
- Jimmy SpencerJimmy SpencerJimmy Spencer is a current television commentator, and a former NASCAR driver. He formerly hosted the NASCAR inspired talk show, “What’s the Deal?”, on SPEED. He is the former co-host, with John Roberts and Kenny Wallace, of the SPEED's pre-race and post-race NASCAR shows NASCAR RaceDay and...
- Jimmy GriffinJimmy GriffinJames Arthur Griffin was a singer, guitarist, and songwriter with the 1970s rock band Bread.-Early life:An Academy Award winning songwriter, Griffin was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, but grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. His musical training began when his parents signed him up for accordion lessons...
- Fran Matthews
External links
http://thecannonballfoundation.org/http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/27/auction_throws_curve_into_effort_to_honor_negro_league_star_jackman/
- Recap of game in which Boston Red Sox wore Giants uniforms
- "Black baseball in Boston: recovering a lost legacy"
- Photo of Red Sox wearing Giants uniforms
- Online query for information on Jackman's career
- Includes a photo of a stadium where the Giants played
- History of barnstorming baseball teams
- Further discussion of Jackman's career
- Post about the Boston Giants at Baseball-Fever.com
