Hilldale Club
Encyclopedia
The Hilldale Athletic Club (also known as Hilldale Daisies, Darby Daisies) was an African American professional baseball
team based in Darby, Pennsylvania
, west of Philadelphia.
Established as a boys team in 1910, the Hilldales were developed by their early manager, then owner Ed Bolden
to be one of the powerhouse Negro League baseball
teams. They won the first three Eastern Colored League
pennants beginning 1923 and in 1925 won the second Colored World Series
. Hall of Fame
player Judy Johnson
was a Hilldale regular for most its professional era with twelve seasons in fifteen years 1918–1932.
Pitcher Phil Cockrell played for Hilldale throughout those years.
Oscar Charleston
, Biz Mackey
, Louis Santop
, Chaney White, Jud Wilson
, and Jesse "Nip" Winters
all were team members for shorter terms.
founded the team in 1910 as an amateur athletic club for local young men. Devere Thompson was the first manager but Bolden took over as manager himself before the end of the first season. The club incorporated November 1916, as Hilldale Baseball and Exhibition Company, and began to hire some established players. Spot Poles and Bill Pettus led the 1917 team to a 23-15-1 record.
Hilldale and the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants
played as eastern "Associates" of the western Negro National League in 1920 and 1921. In the latter season they held a four game series in September with the winner to face the NNL champion Chicago American Giants
. After both teams won two games, the American Giants traveled east to play one series each. Chicago defeated the Bacharach Giants 2-1-1 but Hilldale beat Chicago 3-2-1.
Hilldale was a charter member of the Eastern Colored League in 1923 and won the first-place pennants in 1923, 1924, and 1925. They lost the inaugural, 1924 Colored World Series
to the Kansas City Monarchs
five games to four (with one tie). Next season they won a rematch with the Monarchs five games to one. The 1925 club featured star catcher and cleanup hitter Biz Mackey
, third baseman Judy Johnson
, and outfielder Clint Thomas
. Player-manager Frank Warfield
's pitching staff was led by left-handed ace Nip Winters and spitballer Phil Cockrell. Hilldale dropped to third in 1926 and fifth in 1927.
Frustrated by the league's lack of organization, Bolden withdrew his club from the ECL prior to the 1928 season. When the American Negro League
was organized in 1929, Hilldale joined, but the league lasted only one season. Bolden was subsequently forced out of club management, and Hilldale corporation member Lloyd Thompson assumed control of the club in 1930. He had been the a 14-year-old infielder on the original boys team twenty years earlier, when his older brother had been the manager.
After a single season, the team was purchased by John Drew, who ran the club until its final collapse in 1932.
During the Great Depression
, Black
urban
unemployment hit as high as 50%. This negatively impacted attendance in the Negro Leagues in the 1930s. Drew disbanded the ballclub in July 1932 after the combined attendance of two subsequent Saturday afternoon games at Hilldale Park
totaled 295.
While various nicknames were informally applied to the club including "Daisies" and "Clan Darbie", the team was most commonly known simply as Hilldale or the Hilldales.
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
(NLBM) created a series of team logos in the 1990s for the well-known Negro League teams so that the NLBM could license such logos and collect royalties for their use on merchandise. Such revenue helps sustain the museum. Hilldale was one such team for which a contemporary logo was created. It is seen on NLBM-licensed Hilldale Giants merchandise and while it supports the educational efforts of the Museum, it is not a historical logo.
Negro League World Series Championships
No-Hitters
Hall of Famers
These Hall of Fame players were Hilldale team members during the listed seasons. Santop also played post-season with the team in 1917 and 1919, as Charleston did in 1926.
On October 14, 2006, over 500 individuals gathered for the dedication of a Pennsylvania Historical marker at the site of Hilldale's ballpark at Chester and Cedar Streets in Yeadon
. The ceremony was attended by Philadelphia Phillies
hitting coach Milt Thompson, former Phillies player Garry Maddox, and Gene Dias, Phillies director of community relations,. Also attending were the four living members of the Negro League Philadelphia Stars
, Bill Cash, Mahlon Duckett, Stanley Glenn, and Harold Gould, along with Ray Mackey, great grandnephew of former Hilldale and Stars player Biz Mackey
. Area businessman John Bossong led the effort for the historical marker.
The marker is titled, "The Hilldale Athletic Club (The Darby Daisies)" and the text reads,
Bossong originated the idea for the marker in the summer of 1999, after visiting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
in Kansas City, Missouri
.
Centenary
The year 2010 marked the centenary of the club's founding. Bossong worked with the Darby Historical Commission to construct a Walk of Fame alongside the site of the Historical Marker. The celebration was organized by the Hilldale 100 committee. The Walk of Fame honors former-Hilldale owners Bolden and Drew, as well as team batboy and contemporary area-resident Ed Bacon.
Hilldale Kitchen
Hilldale Kitchen is a themed restaurant based on the Giants created by community developers and Darby Mayor Helen Thomas. The restaurant's walls are filled with images and celebrations of the Giants. The Hilldale Kitchen opened on March 6, 2011.
maintains the "William Cash/Lloyd Thompson Collection" of Philadelphia Stars
and Hilldale scorebooks, photographs, and correspondence.
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 based in Darby, Pennsylvania
Darby, Pennsylvania
Darby is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, along Darby Creek southwest of downtown Philadelphia. It has a public library founded in 1743 and a cemetery more than 300 years old. The Quakers lived there early in the colonial era. Darby was settled about 1660 and was...
, west of Philadelphia.
Established as a boys team in 1910, the Hilldales were developed by their early manager, then owner Ed Bolden
Ed Bolden
Edward "Ed" Bolden was an American baseball executive and owner in the Negro Leagues. He established and owned the Hilldale Club of the 1910s–1920s and Philadelphia Stars of the 1930s–1950s, until his death...
to be one of the powerhouse Negro League baseball
Negro league baseball
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...
teams. They won the first three Eastern Colored League
Eastern Colored League
The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs, more commonly known as the Eastern Colored League , was one of the several Negro leagues, which operated during the time organized baseball was segregated.- History :...
pennants beginning 1923 and in 1925 won the second Colored World Series
Negro League World Series
The Negro League World Series was a post-season baseball tournament which was held from 1924-1927 and from 1942-1948 between the champions of the Negro leagues, matching the mid-western winners against their east coast counterparts....
. Hall of Fame
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
player Judy Johnson
Judy Johnson
William Julius "Judy" Johnson was an American third baseman in Negro league baseball.Johnson was born in Snow Hill, Maryland. Although his father wanted him to be a boxer, Johnson, who was 5 ft 11 in and only 150 lb , was far better suited for a career in baseball...
was a Hilldale regular for most its professional era with twelve seasons in fifteen years 1918–1932.
Pitcher Phil Cockrell played for Hilldale throughout those years.
Oscar Charleston
Oscar Charleston
Oscar McKinley Charleston was an American center fielder and manager in baseball's Negro leagues from to ....
, Biz Mackey
Biz Mackey
James Raleigh "Biz" Mackey was an American catcher and manager in Negro league baseball. He came to be regarded as black baseball's premier catcher in the late 1920s and early 1930s...
, Louis Santop
Louis Santop
* , Personal profiles at Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. – identical to Riley -External links:* – unknown content, URL confirmed 2010-04-16*...
, Chaney White, Jud Wilson
Jud Wilson
Ernest Judson Wilson , nicknamed "Boojum," was an American third baseman, first baseman, and manager in Negro league baseball. Born in Remington, Virginia, he served in World War I, and during his career played primarily for the Baltimore Black Sox , Homestead Grays , and Philadelphia Stars...
, and Jesse "Nip" Winters
Nip Winters
Jesse "Nip" Winters was a pitcher in Negro League baseball, playing for many top eastern teams from 1920 to 1933, and considered one of the top left-handed pitchers of his day.-References:...
all were team members for shorter terms.
History
Ed BoldenEd Bolden
Edward "Ed" Bolden was an American baseball executive and owner in the Negro Leagues. He established and owned the Hilldale Club of the 1910s–1920s and Philadelphia Stars of the 1930s–1950s, until his death...
founded the team in 1910 as an amateur athletic club for local young men. Devere Thompson was the first manager but Bolden took over as manager himself before the end of the first season. The club incorporated November 1916, as Hilldale Baseball and Exhibition Company, and began to hire some established players. Spot Poles and Bill Pettus led the 1917 team to a 23-15-1 record.
Hilldale and the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants
Bacharach Giants
The Bacharach Giants were a Negro league baseball team that played in Atlantic City, New Jersey.- Founding :The club was founded when two African-American politicians moved the Duval Giants of Jacksonville, Florida, to Atlantic City in 1916 and renamed them after Harry Bacharach, the city's mayor...
played as eastern "Associates" of the western Negro National League in 1920 and 1921. In the latter season they held a four game series in September with the winner to face the NNL champion 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...
. After both teams won two games, the American Giants traveled east to play one series each. Chicago defeated the Bacharach Giants 2-1-1 but Hilldale beat Chicago 3-2-1.
Hilldale was a charter member of the Eastern Colored League in 1923 and won the first-place pennants in 1923, 1924, and 1925. They lost the inaugural, 1924 Colored World Series
1924 Colored World Series
The 1924 Colored World Series was a best-of-nine match-up between the Negro National League champion Kansas City Monarchs and the Eastern Colored League champion Hilldale. In a ten-game series, the Monarchs narrowly defeated Hilldale 5 games to 4, with one tie game. It was the first World Series...
to the Kansas City Monarchs
Kansas City Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro Leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri and owned by J.L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1930. J.L. Wilkinson was the first Caucasian owner at the time...
five games to four (with one tie). Next season they won a rematch with the Monarchs five games to one. The 1925 club featured star catcher and cleanup hitter Biz Mackey
Biz Mackey
James Raleigh "Biz" Mackey was an American catcher and manager in Negro league baseball. He came to be regarded as black baseball's premier catcher in the late 1920s and early 1930s...
, third baseman Judy Johnson
Judy Johnson
William Julius "Judy" Johnson was an American third baseman in Negro league baseball.Johnson was born in Snow Hill, Maryland. Although his father wanted him to be a boxer, Johnson, who was 5 ft 11 in and only 150 lb , was far better suited for a career in baseball...
, and outfielder Clint Thomas
Clint Thomas
Clint "Hawk" Thomas was a professional baseball player born in Greenup, Kentucky. Thomas was an outfielder and second baseman in the Negro leagues from 1920 to 1938, where he earned the nickname "Hawk" for his sharp-eyed hitting and center field skills...
. Player-manager Frank Warfield
Frank Warfield
Francis Xavier Warfield was an infielder and manager in the Negro leagues.Standing at just 5'7", Warfield was known primarily for his fielding and baserunning excellence, but he also had several good years at the plate. In 1922, he hit .342 for the Detroit Stars...
's pitching staff was led by left-handed ace Nip Winters and spitballer Phil Cockrell. Hilldale dropped to third in 1926 and fifth in 1927.
Frustrated by the league's lack of organization, Bolden withdrew his club from the ECL prior to the 1928 season. When the American Negro League
American Negro League
The American Negro League was one of several Negro leagues which were established during the period in the United States in which organized baseball was segregated...
was organized in 1929, Hilldale joined, but the league lasted only one season. Bolden was subsequently forced out of club management, and Hilldale corporation member Lloyd Thompson assumed control of the club in 1930. He had been the a 14-year-old infielder on the original boys team twenty years earlier, when his older brother had been the manager.
After a single season, the team was purchased by John Drew, who ran the club until its final collapse in 1932.
During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Black
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
urban
Great Migration (African American)
The Great Migration was the movement of 6 million blacks out of the Southern United States to the Northeast, Midwest, and West from 1910 to 1970. Some historians differentiate between a Great Migration , numbering about 1.6 million migrants, and a Second Great Migration , in which 5 million or more...
unemployment hit as high as 50%. This negatively impacted attendance in the Negro Leagues in the 1930s. Drew disbanded the ballclub in July 1932 after the combined attendance of two subsequent Saturday afternoon games at Hilldale Park
Hilldale Park
Hilldale Park was a ballpark in Darby, Pennsylvania at the corner of Chester and Cedar Avenues. It was the home field of the Hilldale Daisies professional baseball team which played in the Negro Leagues between 1910 and 1932. The ballpark opened in 1914. It is said to have had a well-manicured field...
totaled 295.
Names
The Negro National League was formed in 1920. An official League business-card from that year lists the club as one of two "Associated Members" and identifies the club as "Hilldale, Darby, Pa." Unlike other teams listed with both location and team-name, no nickname is identified with Hilldale. (Hilldale was the club name, Darby the locale.)While various nicknames were informally applied to the club including "Daisies" and "Clan Darbie", the team was most commonly known simply as Hilldale or the Hilldales.
Logos and Uniforms
The Daisies did not have an official team logo as professional and collegiate teams have today. It was not common practice for teams to have such standardized team symbols in the 1910s and 1920s. The Daisies wore red and white. Their jerseys in the 1920s had "Hilldale" across the front in the style shown above as the "team logo". The club wore a red cap with a white plain-block capital H as seen above.The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was founded in 1990 in Kansas City, Missouri.-History:The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was founded in 1990 by a group of former Negro Leagues baseball players, including Kansas City Monarchs outfielder, Alfred Surratt, Buck O'Neil, and Horace Peterson...
(NLBM) created a series of team logos in the 1990s for the well-known Negro League teams so that the NLBM could license such logos and collect royalties for their use on merchandise. Such revenue helps sustain the museum. Hilldale was one such team for which a contemporary logo was created. It is seen on NLBM-licensed Hilldale Giants merchandise and while it supports the educational efforts of the Museum, it is not a historical logo.
Honors
Eastern Colored League Pennants- 1923
- 1924
- 1925
Negro League World Series Championships
- 1925
No-Hitters
- Phil Cockrell, September 10, 1921, vs. Detroit StarsDetroit StarsThe Detroit Stars were a United States baseball team in the Negro leagues and played at historic Mack Park.- Founding :Founded in 1919 by Tenny Blount with the help of Rube Foster, owner and manager of the Chicago American Giants, the Detroit Stars immediately established themselves as one of the...
Hall of Famers
These Hall of Fame players were Hilldale team members during the listed seasons. Santop also played post-season with the team in 1917 and 1919, as Charleston did in 1926.
|
Contemporary Honors and Celebrations
Historical MarkerOn October 14, 2006, over 500 individuals gathered for the dedication of a Pennsylvania Historical marker at the site of Hilldale's ballpark at Chester and Cedar Streets in Yeadon
Yeadon, Pennsylvania
Yeadon is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It borders the City of Philadelphia. The population was 11,762 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Yeadon is located at ....
. The ceremony was attended by Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
hitting coach Milt Thompson, former Phillies player Garry Maddox, and Gene Dias, Phillies director of community relations,. Also attending were the four living members of the Negro League Philadelphia Stars
Philadelphia Stars (baseball)
The Philadelphia Stars were a Negro league baseball team from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Stars were founded in 1933 when Ed Bolden returned to professional black baseball after being idle since early 1930...
, Bill Cash, Mahlon Duckett, Stanley Glenn, and Harold Gould, along with Ray Mackey, great grandnephew of former Hilldale and Stars player Biz Mackey
Biz Mackey
James Raleigh "Biz" Mackey was an American catcher and manager in Negro league baseball. He came to be regarded as black baseball's premier catcher in the late 1920s and early 1930s...
. Area businessman John Bossong led the effort for the historical marker.
The marker is titled, "The Hilldale Athletic Club (The Darby Daisies)" and the text reads,
This baseball team, whose home was here at Hilldale Park, won the Eastern Colored League championship three times and the 1925 Negro League World Series. Darby fielded Negro League teams from 1910 to 1932. Notable players included baseball hall of fame members Pop Lloyd, Judy Johnson, Martin Dihigo, Joe Williams, Oscar Charleston, Ben Taylor, Biz Mackey, and Louis Santop. Owner Ed Bolden helped form the Eastern Colored League.
Bossong originated the idea for the marker in the summer of 1999, after visiting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was founded in 1990 in Kansas City, Missouri.-History:The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was founded in 1990 by a group of former Negro Leagues baseball players, including Kansas City Monarchs outfielder, Alfred Surratt, Buck O'Neil, and Horace Peterson...
in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
.
Centenary
The year 2010 marked the centenary of the club's founding. Bossong worked with the Darby Historical Commission to construct a Walk of Fame alongside the site of the Historical Marker. The celebration was organized by the Hilldale 100 committee. The Walk of Fame honors former-Hilldale owners Bolden and Drew, as well as team batboy and contemporary area-resident Ed Bacon.
Hilldale Kitchen
Hilldale Kitchen is a themed restaurant based on the Giants created by community developers and Darby Mayor Helen Thomas. The restaurant's walls are filled with images and celebrations of the Giants. The Hilldale Kitchen opened on March 6, 2011.
Archive
The African American Museum in PhiladelphiaAfrican American Museum in Philadelphia
The African American Museum in Philadelphia is notable as the first museum funded and built by a municipality to help preserve, interpret and exhibit the heritage of African Americans...
maintains the "William Cash/Lloyd Thompson Collection" of Philadelphia Stars
Philadelphia Stars (baseball)
The Philadelphia Stars were a Negro league baseball team from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Stars were founded in 1933 when Ed Bolden returned to professional black baseball after being idle since early 1930...
and Hilldale scorebooks, photographs, and correspondence.
See also
- 1924 Colored World Series1924 Colored World SeriesThe 1924 Colored World Series was a best-of-nine match-up between the Negro National League champion Kansas City Monarchs and the Eastern Colored League champion Hilldale. In a ten-game series, the Monarchs narrowly defeated Hilldale 5 games to 4, with one tie game. It was the first World Series...
- Philadelphia StarsPhiladelphia Stars (baseball)The Philadelphia Stars were a Negro league baseball team from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Stars were founded in 1933 when Ed Bolden returned to professional black baseball after being idle since early 1930...
- Atlantic City Bacharach GiantsBacharach GiantsThe Bacharach Giants were a Negro league baseball team that played in Atlantic City, New Jersey.- Founding :The club was founded when two African-American politicians moved the Duval Giants of Jacksonville, Florida, to Atlantic City in 1916 and renamed them after Harry Bacharach, the city's mayor...