Cleveland Buckeyes

{{Infobox baseball team

|name = Cleveland Buckeyes

|established = {{baseball year|1942}}

|disbanded = {{baseball year|1950}}

|city = Cleveland, Ohio

|logo = ClevelandBuckeyesLogo.png

|cap_logo =

|league =

Negro American League

|nickname =

Cincinnati–Cleveland Buckeyes (1942)
Cleveland Buckeyes (1943-1948)
Louisville Buckeyes (1949)
Cleveland Buckeyes (1950)

|ballpark =

Crosley Field (1942)
League Park (1942-1948, 1950)
Parkway Field (1949)

|league_champ_type= League titles

|league_champs = {{hlist|1945 | 1947}}

|series = Negro World Series

|series_champs = 1945

}}

The Cleveland Buckeyes were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1942 to 1950 in the Negro American League. The Buckeyes played in two Negro World Series, defeating the Washington Homestead Grays in 1945, and losing to the New York Cubans in 1947. They were based in Cincinnati for their first season and Louisville for their second-to-last season.

Founding

{{For-text|a list of annual win-loss records|List of Cleveland Buckeyes seasons}}

The Buckeyes were established in 1942 as the Buckeyes Baseball Club,{{cite news |title=BUCKEYES GET FRANCHISE IN THE NEGRO AMERICAN LEAGUE|work = The Cleveland Call & Post | date = January 3, 1942}} established initially in Cincinnati, Ohio (Ohio being the Buckeye State), scheduling seven league games in Cincinnati and nine in Cleveland, plus another five in Meadville, Pennsylvania.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/nlb/team.cgi?id=e9d57483|title=1942 Cincinnati/Cleveland Buckeyes|publisher=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=2014-01-21}}{{cite news |title=Negro American League First Half Schedule (May 10: Cincy-Cleve @ Memphis, 2 games)|work = The Cleveland Call & Post | date = March 14, 1942}} The following season, owner Ernest White of Erie made Cleveland the team's home city, where they played their games at League Park.{{cite web|url=https://www.clevelandmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=586CA122EB394032BD4AA3B686FF03D9&nm=Editorial&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=1578600D80804596A222593669321019&tier=4&id=92D9E44CE17C41D6A70731914BA4644C|title=The Forgotten Championship|last=O'Karma |first=Dave|date=May 2006|work=Cleveland Magazine|access-date=2009-10-03}}

Glory years

While in Cleveland, the team achieved great success, including winning a pair of Negro American League championships (1945, 1947) and a Negro League World Series title in 1945.{{cite web|url=http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=CB5|title=Encyclopedia of Cleveland History|publisher=Case Western Reserve University|access-date=2009-10-03}}

Decline and demise

In 1949 the team moved again, to Louisville, Kentucky, but it was to no avail and the Louisville Buckeyes returned to Cleveland for the first two months of the 1950 season before disbanding.{{cite web | title = Cleveland Buckeyes | url = http://www.nlbpa.com/cleveland_buckeyes.html | publisher = Negro League Baseball Players Association | access-date = 2009-05-29 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090521061233/http://www.nlbpa.com/cleveland_buckeyes.html | archive-date = 2009-05-21 | url-status = dead }}

Players

Home fields

The Buckeyes played their inaugural season's home games at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.{{cite book |title=Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebration of Major League and Negro League Ballparks |last=Lowry |first=Philip J. |year=2006 |publisher=Walker Publishing Company, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=0-8027-1562-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/greencathedralsu0000lowr_u1c9/page/65 65] |url=https://archive.org/details/greencathedralsu0000lowr_u1c9/page/65 }} After one season, they moved upstate to Cleveland and played at League Park until their demise,{{cite book |title=Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebration of Major League and Negro League Ballparks |last=Lowry |first=Philip J. |year=2006 |publisher=Walker Publishing Company, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=0-8027-1562-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/greencathedralsu0000lowr_u1c9/page/71 71] |url=https://archive.org/details/greencathedralsu0000lowr_u1c9/page/71 }} except for 1949 when they played at Parkway Field in Louisville, Kentucky.{{cite book |title=Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebration of Major League and Negro League Ballparks |last=Lowry |first=Philip J. |year=2006 |publisher=Walker Publishing Company, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=0-8027-1562-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/greencathedralsu0000lowr_u1c9/page/123 123] |url=https://archive.org/details/greencathedralsu0000lowr_u1c9/page/123 }}

MLB throwback jerseys

On May 20, 2006, in Cleveland, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Indians honored the Negro league teams by wearing the uniforms of the Homestead Grays and the Cleveland Buckeyes, respectively, during an inter-league game, as well as displaying the names on the scoreboard. The Pirates won the game 9–6.

On April 25, 2015, in Detroit, the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers wore the uniforms of the Cleveland Buckeyes and Detroit Stars, respectively.{{Cite web | url=http://www.foxsports.com/ohio/story/cleveland-indians-detroit-tigers-mlb-042515 |title = Indians wear Buckeyes uniforms in annual Negro Leagues Tribute Game|date = 2015-04-25}} Players' names were not displayed on the jerseys. Detroit won the game 4–1.{{Cite web | url=http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/gametracker/recap/MLB_20150425_CLE@DET |title = Cleveland Indians vs. Detroit Tigers Results, Stats, and Recap - April 25, 2015 Gametracker}}

On May 7, 2017, in Kansas City, the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals wore the uniforms of the Cleveland Buckeyes and Kansas City Monarchs, respectively. Players' names were not displayed on the jerseys. Cleveland won the game 1–0.

References

Category:African-American history in Cleveland

Category:Negro league baseball teams in Ohio

Category:Defunct baseball teams in Ohio

Category:Baseball teams disestablished in 1950

Category:Baseball teams established in 1942

Category:Baseball teams in Cleveland