The 1st Negro National League game was played 105 years ago today — and Chicago played a part

Chicago Tribune

02-05-2025

It was a long fight for Black baseball players to be treated with respect. We see the results of that battle for athletic equality today, and Chicago was involved in a turning point more than a century ago.
While the percentage of Black players in Major League Baseball remains low (just 6.2% on opening day), Black stars are prominent across all 30 teams. The New York Yankees' Aaron Judge holds the American League's single-season record with 62 home runs. Mookie Betts hasn't lost a step with the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning his third World Series ring last fall. And the Pittsburgh Pirates' Andrew McCutchen is a former MVP who could find himself in the Hall of Fame one day.
The Chicago White Sox have their own share of Black history. Hall of Famer Minnie Miñoso was the first Black player in a Sox lineup and finished his career with 2,110 hits, 1,225 runs, 1,093 RBIs and 216 stolen bases. The Cuban native also was the first Afro-Latin player to play in MLB, which was a massive leap for the Latin community. Now about 28% of the league is Latin American according to MLB's opening-day report.
In 1959, the Sox traded the beloved Miñoso for another Black player, outfielder Al Smith. Along with Hall of Fame pitcher Early Wynn, Smith helped lead the Sox to the AL pennant in 1959. They would go 56 years before winning another pennant in 2005.
Before Thursday's series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers at Rate Field, Sox left fielder Michael A. Taylor spoke about his views on Black baseball today. He said he had the 'obvious' childhood heroes such as Ken Griffey Jr. and Derek Jeter, but he believes there's work to do in terms of Black representation in the majors.
'I still think there's room for growth,' Taylor told the Tribune. 'But there's things in place and the Players Alliance is doing a good job at growing the game, and in the next few years we'll see that number (of Black players) increase.'
Black men were involved in the growth of professional baseball in the mid-1800s, with many of them playing at an elite level compared with their white peers. Those players didn't see success due to the Jim Crow laws in place after the Civil War.
The players' love for the game remained unscathed, so they created their own teams across the United States to continue to play. Pitcher Andrew 'Rube' Foster gained national attention after winning 44 straight games for the Philadelphia Cuban X-Giants in 1902. He was widely seen as the best pitcher in the country, but race laws prevented him from making the strides he desired.
Still looking for a chance to play professionally, Foster partnered with John Schorling, the son-in-law of former White Sox owner Charles Comiskey, to create the Chicago American Giants in 1911. With the team playing an exciting brand of baseball, attendance increased at Giants games as time went on.
Despite their success, Giants games — along with those of other Black teams — were strictly regulated by booking agents. Foster wanted better for his peers, so he began juggling the idea of a Black professional league.
The team's owners met at a YMCA in Kansas City, Mo., to discuss plans for a professional Black baseball league. To their surprise, Foster came in with the papers, signaling that the Negro National League (NNL) was official.
In the inaugural NNL game played on May 2, 1920, the Indianapolis ABCs defeated the Chicago American Giants 4-2. This was the beginning of euphoria for Black baseball, and the NNL led the way up until Jackie Robinson broke the MLB color barrier in 1947.
The stats from the NNL would go through a long process of being excluded from MLB record books before the Negro Leagues were classified as major in 2020. Four years later, more than 2,300 Negro League players were added to the major-league record books.
This flipped the history of baseball completely, and the hard work of Black players throughout history was finally recognized. The move was seen as long overdue by current players such as Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene.
'I'm going to have to do a little bit more research and understand some of the history to kind of rewire my brain on some of the best players,' Greene told the AP in 2024.
The pursuit for equality remains prevalent in the United States today. Former White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, now with the Los Angeles Angels, stood for equal rights during his time in Chicago. He kneeled during the national anthem in the 2020 season opener against the Minnesota Twins, calling it an 'emotional moment.'
'I tried not to shed too many tears because we are going through something where the world needs to change,' Anderson said that day. 'It was only right that I had to show my love, I had to support.'