The second Negro Southern League (NSL) was one of the several Negro baseball leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The NSL was organized as a minor league in 1945 and lasted until 1951.
League history
Nine team owners met in February 1945 in Nashville, Tennessee, to form a new minor league named after an old minor league.
The 1948 season received very little coverage in the press and is hard to piece together. Additionally, a new league, the Negro American Association, formed and lured away at least four of the stronger teams, including the Atlanta Black Crackers.
The league did not organize for the 1952 season due to attendance figures being expected to be too low to be profitable. The second Negro Southern League was dissolved after seven seasons.
Negro Southern League franchises
Negro Southern League (1945–51) Team Years in league Notes Atlanta Black Crackers 1945, 1947–48 • Associate team 1946• Left for Negro American Association Knoxville Grays 1945 Asheville Blues 1945–47 • Left for Negro American Association Nashville Cubs 1945–51 • Called Black Vols 1945-46• Called Louisville-Nashville Cubs 1950 New Orleans Black Pelicans 1945 • Only played first half of season Richmond Cardinals 1945 • Replaced New Orleans for second half of season Chattanooga Choo Choos 1945–48, 1950 • Called Black Choo Choos 1947, 50• Dropped out mid-season 1950 Mobile Black Bears 1945–46 Little Rock Black Travelers 1945 • Also called Greys• Dropped out mid-season Indianapolis Cardinals 1945 • Replaced Little Rock for second half of season Charlotte Black Hornets 1946 Jacksonville Eagles 1946–47 • Left for Negro American Association Knoxville Giants 1946 Montgomery Dodgers 1946 • Also called Red Sox Memphis Blues 1947–48 New Orleans Creoles 1947–48, 1950–51 Raleigh Tigers 1947 • Left for Negro American Association Birmingham Clowns 1947 • Also called All Stars Memphis Cardinals 1947 Raleigh Grays 1948 • Associate team only Mobile Black Bears 1948 • Associate team only Atlanta Brown Crackers 1949–50 • Called Atlanta-Detroit Brown Crackers 1949 Gadsden Tigers 1949–50 • Called Gadsden-Florida Tigers 1949 Mobile Black Shippers 1949 Montgomery Tigers 1949 Pensacola Seagulls 1949 Evansville Dodgers 1949 • Associate team only Indianapolis ABCs 1949 • Associate team only• Possibly related to Atlanta Black Crackers Greenville Delta Giants 1950 Memphis Red Caps 1950 Nashville Stars 1950–51 Owensboro Braves 1950 • Dropped out mid-season Atlanta Braves 1951 Birmingham Black Eagles 1951 • Also called Bears Birmingham All -Stars 1951 Chattanooga Stars 1951 Jackson Cubs 1951 Knoxville Packers 1951
Note: An "associate team" is one who is not a member of the league, but games played against them by league teams count in the league standings.
League champions
Most seasons were split in halves, with the winner of the first half of the season playing the winner of the second half of the season in a formal league play-off that decided the Pennant winner. For some years it is unclear if a split season was played and if the second half schedule was completed. In the below list, the first half winner is noted with a raised "1" and the second half winner is noted with a raised "2".
1945 Atlanta Black Crackers 1946 Asheville Blues (won both halves) 1947 Asheville1 defeated New Orleans Creoles2, 3g-2g 1948 New Orleans Creoles (won both halves, reportedly) 1949 Gadsden-Florida Tigers1 / Nashville Cubs2, no play-off reported 1950 undetermined 1951 undetermined
References
External links
Negro Southern League Museum Research Center