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Pittsburgh Crawfords Photo Gallery
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1932-’35 Pittsburgh Crawfords: One of the Greatest Teams Ever!
While researching my recent post about Satchel Paige, I discovered that the Pittsburgh Crawford from 1932-1935 were the class of the Negro Leagues. The ‘32 and ‘35 Crawfords may have been two of the best teams ever assembled. Check out this roster:
Hall-of-Famers included player-manager Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson, Judy Johnson, Cool Papa Bell, and Satchel Paige; plus such stand-outs ball players as Sam Bankhead, Leroy Matlock, Rap Dixon, Ted Page, Jud Wilson, Jimmy Crutchfield, and Ted “Double-Duty” Radcliffe.
In the beautiful featured photo above, we see in the top row Satchel Paige, 3rd from left; Josh Gibson, 4th from left; Oscar Charleston, far right; Judy Johnson, front row, second from left.
If you’re like me, you probably didn’t know much more about the Crawfords. So here’s a few words about this great Negro League team.
The Pittsburgh Crawfords were named after the Crawford Grill, a club in the Hill District of Pittsburgh owned by Gus Greenlee. It became one of black Pittsburgh’s favorite night spots. Black stars like Lena Horne and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson were some of the entertainers that the club regularly featured.
Greenlee bought the team in 1931 and immediately signed the top Negro League star, Satchel Paige. The next year, 1932, Greenlee hired Oscar Charleston as player-manager, and added stars Josh Gibson, Judy Johnson, and Cool Papa Bell. Thanks to Greenlee, the now-stacked Crawfords immediately established themselves as the best black team in the country.
In 1933, Greenlee founded a new Negro National League, with the Crawfords as charter members. They played at Greenlee Field, one of the few parks built and owned by a Negro League team. The league was structured with a first-half winner and a second-half winner. The two teams played at the end of the season for the Negro National League pennant. The Crawfords narrowly lost the first-half title to the Chicago American Giants and the pennant that year was never officially decided.
The next season, 1934, the Crawfords were near the top of the overall standings, but won neither half, even though they had the best overall record. In 1935 Paige skipped most of the season. Even without their ace pitcher, the Crawfords finally lived up to their promise, taking the first-half title with a 26–6 record, then defeating the New York Cubans in a close seven-game series for their only undisputed Negro National League pennant. Many baseball historians consider this 1935 edition of the Crawfords to be the greatest Negro league team of all time.
Gary Livacari
Photo Credits: All from Google search
Information: Excerpts edited from the Pittsburgh Crawfords Wikipedia page.
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