The term “Negro League” refers to the highest level of play for Black baseball during segregation. Over the years, many of these teams reorganized or moved to different communities, changing names, personnel and ownership.
While segregation was still present in American culture, several Negro League teams represented Indianapolis. Here is information on teams that showed pride for Indianapolis:
The Indianapolis Athletics was a team established in 1937 alongside the establishment of the Negro American League. The club from Indianapolis went 16-20 and finished in 6th place in the eight-team league.
Managed by Sam Crawford, the team was led by Casey Walker, Bubber Hyde and Ted Strong. The team did not return the following year.
The Indianapolis Clowns was a professional baseball team in the Negro American League. They began operation in Cincinnati in 1943, and operated between Cincinnati and Indianapolis in 1944 and 1945 before officially moving in 1946. The team won the league championship in 1950. While still fielding a legitimate team, the Clowns also toured with several members known for comical antics, including Joe “Prince” Henry. After the decline of the Negro Leagues, the team continued operations on barnstorming tours into the 1960s.
The Clowns disbanded around 1988. The team’s best known player was Hank Aaron, who played for them in 1952 before being sent to the Boston Braves for $10,000.
The Clowns were also the first professional baseball team to hire a female player. Toni Stone played second base with the team in 1953. Women also served as umpires for the team.
The Indianapolis ABCs was a Negro League baseball team that played both as an independent club and as a charter member of the first Negro National League (NNL). They claimed the western championship of Black baseball in 1915 and 1916, and finished second in the 1922 NNL. Among their best players were Hall of Famers Oscar Charleston and Ben Taylor.
In 1920, after a yearlong absence from baseball, the team’s manager C.I. Taylor reorganized the ABCs and entered the team in the NNL. The team finished in fourth place with a 39-35 record. The following season Oscar Charleston left for the St. Louis Giants, and the ABCs dropped to 35-38 and fifth place, despite a great season from Ben Taylor.
During the off season in 1922, C.I. Taylor died and his widow Olivia continued as the club’s owner, and Ben Taylor became the playing manager. He reacquired Charleston, who led a rejuvenated ABCs squad to a 46-33 record and second-place finish. The young catcher Biz Mackey enjoyed a breakout season in 1922, and with Taylor, Charleston and third baseman Henry Blackman played a strong offense.
Both Ben Taylor and Biz Mackey jumped to the Eastern Colored League for the 1923 season, but Charleston continued to hit and the ABCs finished 44-31 at fourth place. Charleston jumped east in 1924 to join the Harrisburg Giants. In 1924, the ABCs struggled to a 4-17 record before they were dropped by the league at mid-season.
Warner Jewell organized a new version of the ABCs for 1925, which finished a dismal 17-57 in the NNL; in 1926, they improved to 43-45, but folded at the season’s end.
Five years later, Candy Jim Taylor returned to Indianapolis and organized another new franchise called the ABCs, which played in the NNL’s last season in 1931, then joined the Negro Southern League for 1932. In 1933, Taylor brought the ABCs into Gus Greenlee’s new Negro National League, but low attendance led Taylor to move the club to Detroit shortly after opening day.
The name “Indianapolis ABCs” would also be used by a Negro American League team in 1938 and 1939.
