Negro American League#Pennant winners

:Annual final standings: 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948

• Birmingham Black Barons (1937–1938; 1940–1962)
• Chicago American Giants (1937–1952)
• Cincinnati Tigers (1937)
• Detroit Stars (III) (1937)
• Indianapolis Athletics (1937)
• Kansas City Monarchs (1937–1962)
• Memphis Red Sox (1937–1959)
• St. Louis Stars (II) (1937)
• Atlanta Black Crackers (1938) / Indianapolis ABCs (IV) (1939)
• Jacksonville Red Caps (1938; 1941–1942) / Cleveland Bears (1939–1940)
• Indianapolis ABCs (III) (1938) / St. Louis Stars (III) (1939) / St. Louis–New Orleans Stars (1940–1941)
• Toledo Crawfords (1939) / Toledo–Indianapolis Crawfords (1940)
• Cincinnati–Cleveland Buckeyes (1942) / Cleveland Buckeyes (1943–1948; 1950) / Louisville Buckeyes (1949)
• Cincinnati Clowns (1943) / Cincinnati–Indianapolis Clowns (1944–1945) / Indianapolis Clowns (1946–1954)
• Baltimore Elite Giants (1949–1951) from the Negro National League
• Houston Eagles (formerly Newark Eagles) (1949–1950) / New Orleans Eagles (1951) from the Negro National League
• New York Cubans (1949–1950) from the Negro National League
• Philadelphia Stars (1949–1952) from the Negro National League
• Detroit Stars (1954–1957; 1959) / Detroit Clowns (1958) / Detroit–New Orleans Stars (1960)
• Louisville Clippers (1954)
• Raleigh Tigers (1959–1962)
• New Orleans Crescent Stars (1957)
• Mobile Havana Cuban Giants (1957)
• Newark Indians (1959)

Major league to 1948; minor league from 1949.

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bar:CHI # Chicago American Giants

bar:KCM # Kansas City Monarchs

bar:MEM # Memphis Red Sox

bar:BIR # Birmingham Black Barons

bar:CIN # Cincinnati Tigers

bar:DET # Detroit Stars (III)

bar:INA # Indianapolis Athletics

bar:STL # St. Louis Stars (II)

bar:ATL # Atlanta Black Crackers / Indianapolis ABCs (IV)

bar:NOS # Indianapolis ABCs (III) / St. Louis Stars (III) / St. Louis–New Orleans Stars

bar:JAC # Jacksonville Red Caps / Cleveland Bears

bar:CRA # Toledo Crawfords / Toledo–Indianapolis Crawfords

bar:BUC # Cincinnati-Cleveland Buckeyes / Cleveland Buckeyes

bar:CLO # Cincinnati Clowns / Cincinnati–Indianapolis Clowns / Indianapolis Clowns

bar:BAL # Baltimore Elite Giants

bar:NYC # New York Cubans

bar:PHI # Philadelphia Stars

bar:HNO # Houston Eagles / New Orleans Eagles

bar:DNO # Detroit Stars (IV) / Detroit Clowns / Detroit Stars (IV) / Detroit-New Orleans Stars

bar:LOU # Louisville Clippers

bar:NOC # New Orleans Crescent Stars

bar:MOB # Mobile Havana Cuban Giants

bar:NEW # Newark Indians

bar:RAL # Raleigh Tigers

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1. Note on dates: A team's bar begins with the season that team played its first game, and ends with the season after that team played its last game. For example, the Indianapolis ABCs played their first game in 1938 and played their last game in 1939. Therefore, their bar goes from 1938 to 1940.

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bar:RAL from:1959 till:1963 color:skyblue text:"Raleigh Tigers"

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• 1937: Formation of NAL consisting of 8 teams — Birmingham Black Barons, Chicago American Giants, Cincinnati Tigers, Detroit Stars (III), Indianapolis Athletics, Kansas City Monarchs, Memphis Red Sox and St. Louis Stars (II).
• 1938: Dropped Cincinnati Tigers, Detroit Stars (III), Indianapolis Athletics and St. Louis Stars (II); Added Atlanta Black Crackers, Indianapolis ABCs (II) and Jacksonville Red Caps.
• 1939: Dropped Birmingham Black Barons; Added Toledo Crawfords.
• 1940: Dropped Indianapolis ABCs (IV); Re-added Birmingham Black Barons.
• 1941: Dropped Indianapolis Crawfords.
• 1942: Dropped St. Louis–New Orleans Stars (merged with New York Black Yankees); Added Cincinnati-Cleveland Buckeyes.
• 1943: Dropped Jacksonville Red Caps; Added Cincinnati Clowns.
• 1948: Standings and statistics were lightly reported in print starting around 1948.
• 1951: Indianapolis Clowns relocate to Buffalo, New York but retain the Indianapolis Clowns name.{{cite news |last1=Graham |first1=Tim |title=Class Clowns The Indianapolis Clowns Have A Rich Place In Buffalo Baseball History; For Example, Hank Aaron Was "Discovered" At Offermann Stadium |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/class-clowns-the-indianapolis-clowns-have-a-rich-place-in-buffalo-baseball-history-for-example/article_baf48f01-8c72-5330-aa71-6c9918eaedb9.html |work=The Buffalo News |date=22 September 2004}}

From 1939 through 1942 and 1944 through 1947, the team in first place at the end of the season was declared the Pennant winner. Due to the unorthodox nature of the schedule (and little incentive to enforce it), some teams frequently played many more games than others did in any given season. For example, the 1937 season featured Kansas City being first place with a 52–19–1 record (.732). However, they still competed in a Championship Series, albeit against the third place team in the Chicago American Giants (36–24–1), who played fewer games than the 2nd place Cincinnati Tigers (35–18–1) but had one more win.{{cite web| url = https://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1937_ALC.shtml| title = 1937 NAL Championship Series - Kansas City Monarchs over Chicago American Giants (5-1-1) {{!}} Baseball-Reference.com}}

This led to some disputed championships and two teams claiming the title. Generally, the team with the best winning percentage (with some minimum number of games played) was awarded the Pennant, but other times it was the team with the most victories. The "games behind" method of recording standings was uncommon in most black leagues. From 1942 until 1948, the pennant winner (as determined by record or by postseason series victory) went on to the Negro World Series.

{{legend|#d0e7ff|Pennant awarded by victory in the Championship Series}}

• 1949 Baltimore Elite Giants
• 1950 Indianapolis Clowns
• 1951 Indianapolis Clowns
• 1952 Indianapolis Clowns
• 1953 Kansas City Monarchs
• 1954 Indianapolis Clowns
• 1955 Birmingham Black Barons (first half); Detroit Stars (second half)†
• 1956 Detroit Stars
• 1957 Kansas City Monarchs

† – Pennant was decided via a split-season schedule with the winner of the first half of the season playing the winner of the second half of the season.

On numerous occasions, the NAL split the season into two halves. The winner of the first half played the winner of the second half for the league Pennant. As mentioned above, disputes also occurred in the split season finishes. Five times a League Championship Series was played, with varying games needed to win the Series; the 1938 series ended prematurely because of problems with finding a suitable venue for the rest of the series.

;Legend

• {{note label|TieGame|T|T}} One game finished in a tied game.

{{main|Negro World Series}}

For the duration of the league, a Negro World Series took place seven times, from 1942 through 1948. The NAL Pennant winner met the champion of the rival Negro National League. Five out of the seven years, the Negro American League team (below in bold) succumbed.

• 1942 – Kansas City Monarchs beat Washington Homestead Grays, 4 games to 0 games
• 1943 – Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 3 games
• 1944 – Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 1 game
• 1945 – Cleveland Buckeyes beat Washington Homestead Grays, 4 games to 0 games
• 1946 – Newark Eagles beat Kansas City Monarchs, 4 games to 3 games
• 1947 – New York Cubans beat Cleveland Buckeyes, 4 games to 1 game
• 1948 – Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 1 game

{{Reflist}}

• {{Citation |last=Holway |first=John B. |year=2001 |title=The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues: The Other Half of Baseball History |publisher=Hastings House |publication-place=Fern Park, FL | isbn =0-8038-2007-0}}

{{Negro American League}}

{{Negro League teams|Majorleague}}

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Category:Negro baseball leagues

Category:Defunct baseball leagues in the United States

Category:African-American sports history

Category:Sports leagues established in 1937

Category:1937 establishments in the United States

Category:Defunct professional sports leagues in the United States