National Colored Base Ball League

The league was organized by Walter S. Brown, a newspaperman with the Cleveland Gazette.{{cite book |last1=Heaphy |first1=Leslie A. |title=The Negro leagues, 1869-1960 |date=2003 |publisher=McFarland & Company |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=9780786413805 |page=24 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Ar01UYDl7UC |access-date=10 December 2021}} Brown served as the league president and secretary, he was also the owner of the Pittsburgh club.{{cite web |last1=Malloy |first1=Jerry |title=The Pittsburgh Keystones and the 1887 Colored League |url=https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-pittsburgh-keystones-and-the-1887-colored-league/ |website=Society for American Baseball Research |access-date=10 January 2022}}{{free access}} On March 14 and 15, 1887, after a series of meetings throughout the winter, team representatives met at the Douglass Institute in Baltimore to finalize the schedule. Acknowledging the experimental nature of the new league, the various delegates kept the schedule short leaving "plenty of open dates between championship games, so as to permit the clubs to take advantage of every opportunity for exhibition games."{{cite news |title=The Colored League |url=https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/51400/rec/12 |access-date=10 January 2022 |work=The Sporting Life |volume=8 |issue=24 |date=23 March 1887 |location=Philadelphia, PA |page=4}}{{free access}} "Player salaries were to range from $10 to $75 per month; each club was to hire a local umpire; visiting teams were guaranteed $50 plus half the gate receipts, and were to receive $25 from the home team in case of rainout." They adopted the Reach brand baseball, and in return the company would supply the league with two gold medals: one for highest batting average and the other for highest fielding percentage at the end of the season.

The league consisted of eight teams: The Baltimore Lord Baltimores, Boston Resolutes, Louisville Falls Citys, New York Gorhams, Philadelphia Pythians, Pittsburgh Keystones, Washington Capital Citys, and Cincinnati Browns.{{cite news |title=The Official List |url=https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/51443/rec/1 |access-date=10 December 2021 |work=The Sporting Life |volume=8 |issue=17 |date=February 2, 1887 |location=Philadelphia, PA |page=3}}{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Walter S. |title=The Colored League |url=https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/51406/rec/1 |access-date=10 December 2021 |work=The Sporting Life |volume=8 |issue=18 |date=February 9, 1887 |location=Philadelphia, PA |page=1}} Neither Washington nor Cincinnati would play a game as they "failed to put up their bonds" at the beginning of the season.{{cite web |last1=Mars |first1=Ken |title=The 1887 National Colored League Resource Guide |url=https://sabr.org/latest/mars-resource-guide-1887-national-colored-league/ |website=Society for American Baseball Research |access-date=7 December 2021 |date=August 15, 2017}} The Cuban Giants declined Brown's invitation to join the league as they were unwilling to sacrifice more lucrative Sunday bookings in Brooklyn.

On opening day, May 5, 1887, the Lord Baltimores beat the Pythians 15–12.{{cite news |title=The Colored League |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90195104/lords-first-game/ |access-date=7 December 2021 |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=May 6, 1887 |location=Baltimore, Maryland |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{free access}}

The league quickly experienced financial problems. Due to the passage of the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, railways revoked the reduced "group rates" normally enjoyed by traveling baseball teams. Fares fluctuated wildly and could double or triple overnight, wreaking havoc on the budgets of baseball teams throughout the country (even those in the American Association and the National League). A storm from the west, coupled with the rate hikes, led to disaster for the traveling Boston Resolutes on their way to Louisville. The storm caused the Resolutes to cancel several exhibition games they had planned along the way to help them pay for their trip. They missed their first scheduled game with the Louisville Falls City, and barely arrived for the second on May 7. Despite all the turmoil, the Resolutes beat the Falls City 10–3.{{cite news |title=The Boston Resolutes Make Mince-Meat of the Falls City Club |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91991273/boston-louisville/ |access-date=6 January 2022 |work=The Courier-Journal |volume=LXXII |issue=6703 |date=8 May 1887 |location=Louisville, Kentucky |page=11 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{free access}} Unfortunately, the revenue from the sparsely attended game was not enough to cover the cost of the trip to their next game in Pittsburgh, as a result the Resolutes were stranded in Louisville.{{cite news |title=Almost Stranded |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90200383/almost-stranded/ |access-date=6 January 2022 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |volume=CXVI |date=11 May 1887 |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{free access}} The Philadelphia Pythians withdrew from the league after their May 16 game with the Gorhams failed to take in enough money to pay for the use of the Athletics ball park.{{cite news |title=The Colored League a Failure |url=https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/51679/rec/18 |access-date=10 January 2022 |work=The Sporting Life |volume=9 |issue=8 |date=1 June 1887 |location=Philadelphia, PA |page=9}}{{free access}} By May 28, the league had folded.{{cite news |title=The Colored League Dies |url=https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/51679/rec/18 |access-date=10 January 2022 |work=The Sporting Life |volume=9 |issue=8 |date=1 June 1887 |location=Philadelphia, PA |page=1}}{{free access}}

• Sol White
• Frank Grant{{cite web |last1=Goldstein |first1=Richard |title=Belated Recognition: The 17 Inductees |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/27/sports/27capsules.ready.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=10 January 2022 |date=27 July 2006}}
• Oscar Jackson
• Andrew Jackson
• Robert Jackson
• William Malone
• John Nelson
• William Selden
• Windsor Terrill
• John Vactor
• Weldy Walker
• Arthur Thomas
• James W. Wilson{{cite web |last1=Ashwill |first1=Gary |title=The First Professional Baseball Player from Africa |url=https://agatetype.typepad.com/agate_type/2017/06/the-first-professional-baseball-player-from-africa.html |website=Agate Type |access-date=10 December 2021 |date=June 13, 2017}}

• Negro league baseball

{{Reflist}}

{{Negro League teams|Minorleague}}

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Category:Negro baseball leagues

Colored

Colored

Category:1887 in baseball

Category:Sports leagues established in 1887

Category:Organizations disestablished in 1887