Chicago American Giants

This team was owned and managed from 1911-26 by the masterful Andrew "Rube" Foster, the inventor of "tricky" baseball, and inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

Along with the New York Lincoln Stars and the Indianapolis ABC's, the 1917 edition of the Chicago American Giants was one of the premiere teams during World War I. Legendary greats such as Bruec Petway, John Henry "Pop" Lloyd, Pete Hill, Frank Wickware, and "Cannonball" Dick Redding were on the squad.

SDN-009529, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society. Group portrait of Negro National League's Chicago American Giants, 1911.

The Giants won Negro National League titles in 1920, 1921 and 1922. Managed by "Gentlemen" Dave Malarcher, they beat the Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City in the Colored World Series in 1926 and 1927.

They dominated black professional baseball during the roaring twenties. On the roster in the ‘20s were Rube Foster’s brother, Willie, "Colonel" Jimmie Crutchfield and Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe. The Giants under Foster played in the 5,000 seat stadium at 39th and Wentworth that White Sox owner Charles Comiskey gave up when he built the Baseball Palace of the World in 1910