Frank Leland
Encyclopedia
Frank C. Leland was an African-American baseball
player, field manager
and club owner in the Negro Leagues.
Leland was born in Memphis, Tennessee
. He graduated from Fisk University
in Nashville, Tennessee
and began his professional career with the Washington Capital Cities in the 1887 National League of Colored Baseball Clubs, a team which played no league games before the experiment collapsed. He "moved to Chicago and was instrumental in organizing and developing five successful baseball teams in that city" (Riley, 475).
In 1888, he organized the black amateur Union Base Ball Club, with sponsorship from some of Chicago's black businessmen. Leland obtained a lease from the city government to play at South Side Park, a 5,000-seat facility. In 1898 his team went pro and became the Chicago Unions
.
He played outfield with the Unions in the 1880s. A businessman, Leland returned to baseball in 1901 when he merged the Unions and the Columbia Giants to form the Chicago Union Giants. This became the top Negro League team in the Midwest. Leland served as manager of the Union Giants as well as owner.
The team changed its name to the Leland Giants
in 1905; in 1907 Rube Foster replaced Leland as manager and Pete Hill
and Foster strengthened the club in the field. A rift between Foster and Leland in 1910 split the team in two; Foster's team won a legal battle over the Leland Giants name, so while Foster ran the team with Leland's name, Leland's club was called the Chicago Giants
. This confusion ended in 1911 when Foster's team became the Chicago American Giants
. Leland left baseball a short while later after having been the premier owner and manager in black baseball for a decade.
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...
player, field manager
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
and club owner in the Negro Leagues.
Leland was born in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. He graduated from Fisk University
Fisk University
Fisk University is an historically black university founded in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. The world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers started as a group of students who performed to earn enough money to save the school at a critical time of financial shortages. They toured to raise funds to...
in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
and began his professional career with the Washington Capital Cities in the 1887 National League of Colored Baseball Clubs, a team which played no league games before the experiment collapsed. He "moved to Chicago and was instrumental in organizing and developing five successful baseball teams in that city" (Riley, 475).
In 1888, he organized the black amateur Union Base Ball Club, with sponsorship from some of Chicago's black businessmen. Leland obtained a lease from the city government to play at South Side Park, a 5,000-seat facility. In 1898 his team went pro and became the Chicago Unions
Chicago Unions
The Chicago Unions were a professional, black baseball team that played in the late 19th century, prior to the formation of the Negro Leagues.- Founding :...
.
He played outfield with the Unions in the 1880s. A businessman, Leland returned to baseball in 1901 when he merged the Unions and the Columbia Giants to form the Chicago Union Giants. This became the top Negro League team in the Midwest. Leland served as manager of the Union Giants as well as owner.
The team changed its name to the Leland Giants
Leland Giants
The Chicago Union Giants, the top black baseball team in the Midwest or West in the first decade of the 20th century, changed its name in 1905 to the Leland Giants, after manager and owner Frank Leland....
in 1905; in 1907 Rube Foster replaced Leland as manager and Pete Hill
Pete Hill
* , Personal profiles at Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. – identical to Riley -External links:* – unknown content, URL confirmed 2010-04-16...
and Foster strengthened the club in the field. A rift between Foster and Leland in 1910 split the team in two; Foster's team won a legal battle over the Leland Giants name, so while Foster ran the team with Leland's name, Leland's club was called the Chicago Giants
Chicago Giants
The Chicago Giants were a professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois which played in the Negro Leagues. The team was founded by Frank Leland after he and his partner, Rube Foster, split up the Leland Giants in 1910. The new club was sometimes also known as the Leland Giants...
. This confusion ended in 1911 when Foster's team became the Chicago American Giants
Chicago American Giants
Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team, owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" Foster. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball...
. Leland left baseball a short while later after having been the premier owner and manager in black baseball for a decade.
External links
- A little history from the Josh Gibson Foundation