Seven States Get Their Major League Call-Up

Future Hall of Famer Willard Brown hit a home run for the Kansas City Monarchs in the first major league game played in the state of Kansas on July 27, 1937. The Monarchs defeated the Chicago American Giants, 9-8, at Griffith Field in Manhattan. Future research likely will uncover additional Negro League games in the seven states now deemed major league. (SABR-Rucker Archive)

 

This is what is known about the July 17, 1938, 15-inning Negro American Leagues game that pitted the Kansas City Monarchs and the Chicago American Giants in Grafton, North Dakota: The Monarchs won 1–0.1

Knowing these details: the date, location, and the final score, qualifies the contest as a major league game and—for the moment—as North Dakota’s first.2

Thanks to a December 2020 announcement by Major League Baseball commissioner Robert Manfred Jr., the game that day in Grafton is recognized as major league and (for now) carries the distinction of being the first major league game played in North Dakota. Manfred, in his announcement, stated that Major League Baseball was officially recognizing the Negro Leagues as deserving of the designation of “major.”3

Recognition of the Negro Leagues as major league caliber was long overdue, according to Larry Lester, co-founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

I’ve always recognized Negro League players as major league quality. I didn’t need an official governing body to tell me that. I’m happy they did. They finally recognized that Black men played the game also.4

MLB’s decision to elevate the Negro Leagues doesn’t erase decades of institutional racism in American society, and in Major League Baseball, in particular, Lester said, but it is a step toward correcting an injustice. It also was a major step in setting the historical record straight.5,6

Part of setting the record straight is acknowledging that seven states, including North Dakota, have joined the ranks of states that have hosted major league baseball games: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. In addition to those seven states, eight other states had their first MLB games supplanted by Negro League contests.

Working their way back starting with the 1948 season, Retrosheet researchers, scouring thousands of contemporary sources like newspapers, have released their findings through the 1935 season as of January 2026. (The 1949 season was added in the summer of 2024.) This leaves 15 seasons to research, review, and release lists of qualifying games for each. Several games from 1920 to 1934 have been verified as regular-season games. The entire review likely will take until 2028 or longer to complete.7

Here are the newly designated major league games—ones that currently hold status as their first—in the seven states.

NORTH DAKOTA

• Confirmed First Major League Game: July 17, 1938
• Teams: Chicago American Giants, Kansas City Monarchs
• Result: Monarchs 1, Giants 0
• Location: Grafton, North Dakota

Turns out the American Giants-Monarchs contest in Grafton, North Dakota is one of a handful of already verified Negro League games played in North Dakota that now have major league status.

One week after the contest in Grafton, the Giants and Monarchs played in Bismarck, North Dakota, where future Hall of Famer Hilton Smith’s three-home-run day was the highlight of the July 24, 1938, twin-bill. Smith, who also pitched in the opening game of the doubleheader, hit home runs in both contests—and his three dingers were part of a nine-homer day for the two teams before an estimated crowd of 1,200 at Bismarck’s Municipal Ballpark. “Round-trip blows were almost as plentiful as base hits for the two teams,” according to an account from the Bismarck Tribune.8

The reason for the prevalence of activity among Negro League teams in the northern, rural state may be attributed to North Dakota’s history of hosting barnstorming teams of Black, or mostly Black teams, during the previous two decades. These teams were generally well-received and games were usually well-attended, meaning the team could expect sufficient advance money, gate receipts—or both—to make the venture financially viable. In addition, teams might expect to face less racial discrimination in the North as opposed to the Southern United States.9

Baseball historian and North Dakota resident Terry Bohn welcomed the news that his state had a new claim for major league fame. He theorized that North Dakota was more attractive to Negro League teams than other nearby states because of the experiences players had previously while competing for local teams.10 Numerous Black standouts, like John Donaldson, Buck O’Neil, and Satchel Paige, suited up for teams that played in North Dakota. According to Bohn, “It’s likely that these prominent Black players told teammates and team owners about their experiences in ND.”11

WEST VIRGINIA

• Confirmed First Major League Game: May 28, 1935
• Teams: Newark Dodgers, Nashville Elite Giants
• Result: Elite Giants 6, Dodgers 4
• Location: RMI Park in Beckley, West Virginia

At the beginning of 2025 the honor of being the first major league game played in West Virginia was a contest between the Philadelphia Stars and the Homestead Grays on July 22, 1937. Hall of Famer Buck Leonard went 3 for 3 with two RBI and a stolen base to lead the Grays to a 9–7 victory.12

But that game is no longer the first. Updated research now points to a game at the same ballpark, but played two years earlier, as the first major league game in West Virginia. The Newark Dodgers (which would merge with the Brooklyn Eagles the following season and become known as the legendary Newark Eagles) pushed across one run in the top of the first thanks to two free passes and a single. Their slim lead held up until the bottom of the fourth. The Elite Giants took advantage of a walk and an error combined with a double and a triple by right fielder Zollie Wright to score three runs.

Two more runs came across the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning to stretch the Elite Giants lead to 5–1. Zollie Wright once again provided the key hit—this time a double. The Dodgers closed the gap to one run in the top of the eighth inning as they made the most of two singles, to go along with a walk, an error and a hit-by-pitch to score three runs.

The Elite Giants got an insurance run back in the bottom of the eighth complements of a walk, a wild pitch and a single. The Dodgers went down in order in the ninth to give the Elite Giants a 5–3 victory. Both starting pitchers went the distance in the 1 hour 55 minute game. Bob Griffith got the win, while Alonza Bailey suffered the loss.

Future Hall of Famer Ray Dandridge was the starting third baseman for Newark. He went 0–4, but reached on the error in the three-run Dodger eighth inning.13

KANSAS

• Confirmed First Major League Game: July 27, 1937
• Teams: Chicago American Giants, Kansas City Monarchs
• Result: Monarchs 9, Giants 8
• Location: Griffith Field in Manhattan, Kansas

A scheduling conflict resulted in a major league game played in Kansas on Tuesday, July 27, 1937. The home field for the Kansas City Monarchs in Missouri was not available so arrangements were made for the fourth game of a series against the Chicago American Giants to be played at Griffith Field in Manhattan.14

The spectators who attended what is currently the first major league game in the state witnessed an exciting contest. The Morning Chronicle reported that,

A crowd of 2,000 fans jammed Griffith field last night to watch the Kansas City Monarchs beat the Chicago American Giants 9 to 8 in a Negro American League game featured by both hard hitting and tight pitching.15

The crowd also didn’t likely realize that they were watching two future Baseball Hall of Famers. Kansas City left-fielder and 2006 inductee Willard Brown, one of the first Black players in MLB, hit a home run and also tripled to lead the 12-hit Monarch attack.16 And in the final year of his career, 1996 inductee Bill Foster, the much-younger half-brother of Negro League legend Rube Foster, surrendered six earned runs over 8.1 innings to take the loss.17

ARKANSAS

• Confirmed First Major League Game: May 16, 1938
• Teams: Indianapolis ABCs, Memphis Red Sox
• Result: Red Sox 14, ABCs 9
• Location: Marianna, Arkansas

Much like the Negro League game that currently holds the distinction of being the first major league game in North Dakota, little is known about the first confirmed major league contest in Arkansas. Marianna, with a population of about 4,400, holds the distinction of hosting the earliest major league game in Arkansas—a 14–9 victory by the Memphis Red Sox over the Indianapolis ABCs on May 16, 1938.18,19

The game in Marianna meets the three criteria for Retrosheet to include it in its database.20 Known is the date, location, and final score.

Arkansas was a familiar destination for Negro League teams. Hot Springs hosted spring training for teams like the Homestead Grays and the Kansas City Monarchs.21 Travelers Field in Little Rock was the site of 106 exhibition and regular-season games from 1938–1948.22 Prior to that, the Little Rock Grays achieved major league status when they joined the Negro Southern League in 1932, which means a game in Little Rock in 1932 will likely supplant the game in Marianna as the first in the state.23

OKLAHOMA

• Confirmed First Major League Game: June 7, 1938
• Teams: Atlanta Black Crackers, Kansas City Monarchs
• Result: Monarchs 3, Black Crackers 1
• Location: Holland Field in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

After the Kansas City Monarchs swept a doubleheader from the Atlanta Black Crackers in Kansas City, Missouri, on Sunday, June 5, 1938, the two teams traveled to Oklahoma City to continue their series two days later.24

The June 7 game would be the first confirmed major league game played in Oklahoma, but not the first time the Monarchs had visited Holland Field in Oklahoma City. In 1933, the Monarchs played an October exhibition game against the Dizzy Dean All Stars, with the Monarchs prevailing 3–0 (Dizzy Dean didn’t play).25 Four years later, also in October, the Monarchs crushed a team of Major League All Stars, including Hall of Famers Johnny Mize and Bob Feller, by a score of 10–0.26

The Monarchs continued their winning ways in the game on June 7 with a 3–1 victory over the Black Crackers. The brief game story highlighted the exploits of Oklahoma City native Wilber Rogan. A future Hall of Fame pitcher, Rogan didn’t pitch in that game for the Monarchs, but collected a single and a double, and scored two of their three runs.27

MISSISSIPPI

• Confirmed First Major League Game: June 8, 1938
• Teams: Birmingham Black Barons, Memphis Red Sox
• Result: Red Sox 5, Black Barons 1
• Location: Clarksdale, Mississippi

Other than the final score, little is known beyond those who pitched and caught in what is currently documented as the first major league game in Mississippi. The winning battery mates in the June 8, 1938, contest between the Memphis Red Sox and the Birmingham Black Barons were Willie Jefferson and Larry Brown for the Red Sox. Cliff Blackmon took the loss for the Black Barons, while Harry Barnes caught.28

The most popular venue for Negro League games in Mississippi was Sportsmans Park in Greenville. From 1939 to 1948, 15 regular-season games were held at Sportmans along with eight exhibition games.29

The earliest regular-season game with a full box score is a game played on May 15, 1947, in Greenville between the Memphis Red Sox and the Chicago American Giants. Cuban star Pedro Formental, batting fourth for Memphis, blasted a two-run home run over the right field fence in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings. Chicago pushed a run across in the top of the 10th for the 8–7 victory.30

Illustrative of the challenges facing Negro League teams in the South, the story in the the Delta Democrat-Times the day before the game included the following sentence, “A special section of the stands will be reserved for white people.”31

LOUISIANA

• Confirmed First Major League Game: June 14, 1938
• Teams: Chicago American Giants, Memphis Red Sox
• Result: Red Sox 3, Giants 1
• Location: Casino Park in Monroe, Louisiana

The distinction of hosting the first documented major league game played in Louisiana belongs to Casino Park in Monroe.32 The Memphis Red Sox and the Chicago American Giants competed on June 14, 1938. The game preview story in the Monroe newspaper highlighted many of the probable “outstanding negro stars” from the two “Strong Negro Nines” who would face off against each other. Among those listed in the story were “Turkey” Stearns [sic] and “Double Duty” Radcliffe.33

The newspaper game story highlighted the pitching match-up between the “submarine hurler of the Red Sox” (Clifford Allen) against Chicago’s “burly right-hander” (Leland Davis). Memphis won 3–1 with all four runs scored in the game by the two teams being unearned due to multiple errors.34 There is no box score to verify whether Future Hall of Famer “Turkey” Stearnes or Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe played that day.

While Casino Park currently holds the designation of being the site for the first major league game in the state, the ballpark that hosted the most Negro League games in Louisiana was Pelican Stadium in New Orleans. It hosted over 100 regular-season, exhibition, All-Star, and championship games from 1939–1948.35 This, despite the fact that the ballpark was the home field of the St. Louis-New Orleans Stars for only two seasons (1940–41).36 In addition to the annual East-West Classic, the Negro Leagues also periodically played North-South All-Star games, usually at the end of the regular season, with Pelican Stadium serving as host site for the majority.37,38

*****

MLB’s decision to elevate the Negro Leagues also had an impact on the baseball history of other states. Three states—Georgia, Florida, and Texas, all of which have their own MLB franchises—hosted regular-season Negro League games that predate their first MLB franchise games. Two states—North Carolina and Nebraska—held what were previously known as their first major league games in 2016 and 2019, respectively, when they each hosted MLB specialty games. However, those states can now trace their first major league games to regular-season contests played by Negro League teams decades before. Three other states—Alabama, Iowa, and Tennessee—have hosted MLB specialty games since 2020, which would have been their first major league games had it not been for Manfred’s Negro Leagues announcement.39

Here are summaries of those states and their designated major league status, beginning with the three that had games that predate their current franchises’ debuts:

GEORGIA

• Previous First Game: April 12, 1966
• New First Major League Game: July 8, 1937
• Teams: Cincinnati Tigers, Atlanta Black Crackers
• Result: Tigers 5, Black Crackers 2
• Location: Ponce de Leon Park in Atlanta, Georgia

A 13th-inning home run by Willie Stargell gave the Pittsburgh Pirates a 3–2 victory over the Atlanta Braves ruining their Georgia debut. In their coverage of the first home game played by the Atlanta Braves in 1966, the Atlanta Constitution proclaimed, “major-league baseball had officially arrived in Dixie.”40 Fifty-four years later, MLB’s elevation of the Negro Leagues has made that statement moot.

The first major league game played in Georgia did take place in Atlanta, but not at Atlanta Stadium (later known as Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium). Instead it was a match between the Cincinnati Tigers and the Atlanta Black Crackers at Ponce de Leon Park in 1937. The Tigers were led by their popular catcher Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe. He caught Jesse Houston’s two-run complete game, and collected three hits in a 5–2 win over the home team.41

FLORIDA

• Previous First Game: April 5, 1993
• New First Major League Game: July 13, 1937
• Teams: Cincinnati Tigers, Jacksonville Red Caps
• Result: Red Caps 7, Tigers 3
• Location: Red Cap Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida

“It was a very historical game, no question about it,” Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda said.42 He was describing the Florida Marlins’ game against the Dodgers on April 5, 1993 (the Marlins won 6–3). It was indeed historical as the first game played by the new expansion Marlins, and for years it was the first major league game in the state of Florida.

MLB’s announcement in 2020 altered the historical record for the state of Florida. Red Cap Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, hosted 14 Negro League games in 1937. Eleven of those contests are classified as exhibition games. However, a three-game series between the Jacksonville Red Caps and the visiting Cincinnati Tigers on July 13–15 are considered regular season games.

The same Cincinnati team that played in the first major league game in Georgia five days earlier, now has the distinction of playing in the first major league game in Florida. The details of the July 13, 1937, game are sparse. The game was tied 3–3 going into the eighth inning. The hometown Red Caps scored four runs in the bottom of the inning to secure a 7–3 victory.43

TEXAS

• Previous First Game: April 10, 1962
• New First Major League Game: June 20, 1940
• Teams: St. Louis-New Orleans Stars, Memphis Red Sox
• Result: Stars 10, Red Sox 8
• Location: Buffalo Stadium in Houston, Texas

The Houston Colt 45’s won their first home game in 1962—by a score of 11–2 over the Chicago Cubs—bringing “big league baseball to the great Southwest.” Before Bobby Shantz hurled a complete game victory over a Cubs line-up that featured four future Hall of Famers—Lou Brock, Billy Williams, Ernie Banks, and Ron Santo—a game in 1940 now carries the distinction of being the first in Texas.44

The game at Buffalo Stadium in Houston was played on Thursday, June 20, between the St. Louis-New Orleans Stars and the Memphis Red Sox. It was a night game with the Stars winning 10–8 in nine innings.45 That is the extent of what is currently known about the first major league game in Texas.

The local press seemed uninterested in covering the results of the game, and perhaps the fans at the game were also not fully engaged. It turns out that the game was being held at the same time that Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis was fighting Arturo Godoy of Chile. A preview of the baseball game in the Houston Chronicle assured fans that, “a blow-by-blow account of the Joe Louis-Arturo Godoy fight will be broadcast over the loudspeaker.”46

The sports sections in the Houston papers the next day gave detailed accounts of Joe Louis’ eighth round technical knockout to retain his heavyweight title. The baseball game was not covered.47

*****

Now for summaries of the two states that saw their specialty games give way to Negro League contests played decades earlier:

NORTH CAROLINA

• Previous First Game: July 3, 2016
• New First Major League Game: May 25, 1948

Called the “Fort Bragg Game,” the July 3, 2016, contest between the Atlanta Braves and the Miami Marlins was the first regular season event of any sport played on an active military base.48 The game was also tabbed as a major league first for the state of North Carolina.49 Following MLB’s announcement, a May 25, 1948, contest between the Homestead Grays and the Philadelphia Stars, played at Talbert Park in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, now holds the distinction of being the first major league game to be played in the state. In that contest, Lefty Bell went nine innings for the Grays in Homestead’s 9–3 victory over the Stars, both members of the Negro National League. Wilmer Fields collected four runs batted in for the winners.50

NEBRASKA

• Previous First Game: June 13, 2019
• New First Major League Game: August 25, 1948

The Kansas City Royals’ 7–3 victory over the Detroit Tigers in June 2019 before a sellout crowd of 25,454 at Omaha’s TD Ameritrade Park carried a level of distinction as Nebraska’s first major league baseball game. Eighteen months later, MLB’s announcement meant a 1948 contest in Oxford, Nebraska, or one played in Lincoln, Nebraska a decade earlier, holds the distinction. In the Oxford game, a full house of spectators in this community of 1,141 witnessed a 20–5 Kansas City Monarchs’ victory over the Memphis Red Sox. The earlier contest in Lincoln pitted the Monarchs against the Chicago American Giants at Landis Field on July 27, 1939. Nearly 1,000 fans saw the Monarchs win 3–2 by scoring two runs on a bad-hop, bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth. (The 1939 game is currently listed as “exhibition,” but it may be upgraded to “regular-season” based upon additional research.)

*****

Finally, these are the summaries of the three states that have hosted their first MLB games (all specialty games) since Manfred’s Negro Leagues announcement in 2020.

IOWA

Manfred’s announcement that MLB was recognizing the Negro Leagues as major league came in between the announcement that two American League teams would play where the movie Field of Dreams had been filmed in Iowa and the game’s first pitch. The August 12, 2021, matchup pitted the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox, two historic franchises with the White Sox prominently featured in the film. John Thorn, MLB’s official historian, pointed out that Iowa had a rich major league history long before the Yankees and White Sox came to town.53

Although no teams recognized as major league by MLB had franchises in Iowa, barnstorming was a major component of Negro League operations. At least 30 games between Negro League teams that counted in the standings were played in the Iowa communities of Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Fort Dodge, and Sioux City from 1937 to 1948. The first apparently came in Des Moines on May 27, 1937—following three previous attempts that were rained out—between the Cincinnati Tigers and the Birmingham Black Barons. Birmingham used a five-run outburst in the top of the fifth to go ahead in its 8–4 win.54

 

Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, is the oldest professional baseball park in the United States. It hosted major league games played by the Birmingham Black Barons beginning in 1924.

 

ALABAMA

The oldest professional baseball park in the United States—Rickwood Field in Birmingham—added another chapter to its rich history when it hosted a Major League specialty game on June 20, 2024, between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Giants were selected as one of the participating teams in order to honor Willie Mays, who played for the Birmingham Black Barons at Rickwood Field in 1948.55

Mays was honored posthumously at the game, having died just two days before his Giants lost 6–5 to the Cardinals.56 The Black Barons’ games at Rickwood in 1948—Mays’ first season in professional ball—is currently the last season that the Negro Leagues are recognized as major league. The first major league game at Rickwood Field (and the first in Alabama) dates to 1924. A crowd of 10,600, the second largest to ever see a Negro League game at Rickwood Field at the time, poured into the ballpark to witness the successful debut of the Black Barons as a member of the Negro National League. The Cuban Stars took an early 2–0 lead in the top of the third inning. The Black Barons answered back immediately in the bottom of the frame with a five-run outburst on five singles and a dropped fly ball. Both teams scored an additional run to make the final 6–3, Black Barons.57

TENNESSEE

Murray Cook, field and stadium consultant for Major League Baseball, was handed another major challenge. Cook had overseen turning a cornfield in Iowa and an abandoned golf course at Fort Bragg into venues that met MLB standards. His task in 2025 was to transform Bristol Motor Speedway into a professional baseball diamond.58 The MLB Speedway Classic began on August 2, 2025, but due to a heavy rainstorm, it ended with a 4–2 Atlanta Braves victory over the Cincinnati Reds on August, 3.59

The distinction of being the first major league game in Tennessee currently belongs to a game held almost 100 years earlier on August 29. The contest was the first of a five-game series between the Birmingham Black Barons and the Memphis Red Sox. (Only the first game of the series has been included in the Retrosheet database of confirmed games.) Black Barons hurler Sam Crawford pitched a complete game shutout to win the game 2–0.60

The August 1925 contest, currently the first in the state, likely will give way to games played by the Memphis Red Sox in Tennessee in 1924—the year the team joined the Negro National League—when research is complete.61 The 1924 Red Sox team has the distinction of playing their home games in one of the few African-American-owned and operated ballparks in the country.62 Lewis Athletic Park was built in 1923 by Memphis Red Sox owner R.S. Lewis.63

Ongoing research by MLB’s statistical partners—Agate Type Research (formerly the Seamheads Negro Leagues group), Retrosheet and the Elias Sports Bureau—likely will uncover additional games in the seven states now deemed major league. This research also likely will designate earlier games in each state as their first. Researchers estimate that the 1920–1948 Negro Leagues records are about 75% complete.64

While the current research of the seven Negro Leagues deemed major league is ongoing, additional Negro teams may be elevated to major league status. Following up on the work of a task force that recommended the recognition of the seven Negro Leagues as major leagues, SABR’s Special Negro Leagues and Teams Committee has determined that 43 independent Black baseball teams from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were also of major-league caliber. In addition, the committee re-evaluated the final years of the Negro American League and concluded that their 1949 and 1950 seasons should be acknowledged as major leagues.65

Major League Baseball has yet to officially recognize the two additional seasons or the 43 independent teams covering 173 team-seasons from 1889 to 1936. If MLB does adopt those recommendations, the history of the first major league game played in a number of states could change, even beyond the states covered in this article. 

JOHN SHOREY is a professor emeritus of history from Iowa Western Community College where he taught an elective course on Baseball and American Culture for 20 years. He has written articles and book chapters on a variety of baseball topics for various publications, including being a regular contributor to Baseball Digest. He has presented his research at the Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture along with other baseball conferences.

KEVIN WARNEKE, who earned his doctoral degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is a fundraiser based in Omaha, Nebraska. He is a frequent contributor to Baseball Digest magazine and co-wrote The Call to the Hall, which tells the story of when baseball’s highest honor came to 31 legends of the game. He has presented multiple times at the Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture.

 

Notes

1. https://www.retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/ballparks/GRA04ngl.html, accessed on January 13, 2025.

2. Tom Thress, email correspondence to author, December 5, 2024.

3. “MLB officially designates the Negro Leagues as ‘Major League,’” MLB.com, December 16, 2020, https://mlb.com/press-release/press-release-mlb-officially-designates-the-negro-leagues-as-major-league.

4. Kevin Warneke and John Shorey, “This Small Nebraska Town Hosted Negro League Clubs and Possibly an Official Major League Baseball Game,” Flatwater Free Press, https://flatwaterfreepress.org/this-small-nebraska-town-hosted-negro-league-clubs-and-possibly-an-official-major-league-baseball-game, accessed January 10, 2025.

5. Warneke and Shorey.

6. A note on the confusing capitalization: Major League Baseball, when capitalized, identifies the current corporate entity that is made up of the 30 teams in the American and National Leagues. The major leagues, lowercase, is a descriptor of baseball’s top level of play, which Major League Baseball announced in 2020 included the Negro Leagues. Note also that MLB, in its press release, capitalizes major league in all uses.

7. Tom Thress, email correspondence to author, December 22, 2024.

8. “Colored Clubs Divide 2 Games Here Sunday,” Bismarck Tribune, July 25, 1938, 6.

9. Terry Bohn, “Rube Foster’s Canadian Farm Teams,” The National Pastime: Baseball in the Land of 10,000 Lakes (Phoenix, AZ: Society for American Baseball Research, 2024), 43–60.

10. Terry Bohn, email correspondence with author, December 8, 2024.

11. Terry Bohn, email correspondence with author, December 8, 2024.

12. “Homestead Wins from All-Stars,” Raleigh Register, July 23, 1937, 8.

13. https://retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/boxesetc/1935/B05280NSH1935.htm, accessed February 10, 2026.

14. “Negro Teams Here,” (Kansas) Morning Chronicle, July 24, 1937, 3.

15. “2,000 See The Monarchs Win,” Morning Chronicle, July 28, 1937, 5.

16. “2,000 See The Monarchs Win.”

17. https://retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/boxesetc/1937/B07270KCM1937.htm, accessed on January 3, 2025.

18. https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/arkansas/marianna, accessed on January 4, 2025.

19. https://retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/boxesetc/1938/B05160MEM1938.htm, accessed on January 4, 2025.

20. Tom Thress, email correspondence to author, December 4, 2024.

21. “Remembering the Negro Leagues in Arkansas,” MiLB.com, February 27, 2023, https://www.milb.com/news/remembering-the-negro-leagues-in-arkansas, accessed on January 5, 2025.

22. https://www.retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/ballparks/LRK02ngl.html, accessed on January 6, 2025.

23. “Remembering the Negro Leagues in Arkansas.”

24. “Monarchs Conquer Atlantans Twice, Play Here Tuesday,” Daily Oklahoman, June 6, 1938, 11.

25. https://retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/boxesetc/1933/B10110ASD1933.htm, accessed on January 3, 2025.

26. https://retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/boxesetc/1937/B10110MLS1937.htm, accessed on January 3, 2025.

27. “Kansas City Wins Off Atlanta, 3–1,” Daily Oklahoman, June 8, 1938, 12.

28. https://retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/boxesetc/1938/B06080MEM1938.htm, accessed December 20, 2024.

29. https://www.retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/ballparks/GRE01ngl.html, accessed December 20, 2024.

30. “Chicago Negro Team Scores in 10th to Beat Memphis 8 to 7,” Delta Democrat-Times (Mississippi), May 16, 1947, 5.

31. “Memphis, Chicago Negro Teams Play in City Thursday,” Delta Democrat-Times, May 14, 1947, 5.

32. When all of the Negro League seasons are fully researched there’s a good chance that Casino Park in Monroe will retain its status as hosting the first major league game in the state, but the date will probably switch to a game in 1932. The Monroe Monarchs joined the Negro Southern League in 1932, which is the one season that MLB has given major league status to that league. See Thomas Aiello, “The Composition of Kings: The Monroe Monarchs and the Negro Southern League, 1932,” Baseball Research Journal, Volume 35 (Society for American Baseball Research, 2006), accessed on January 6, 2025.

33. “Strong Negro Nines to Meet,” (Louisiana) News-Star, June 13, 1938, 6.

34. “Memphis Team Beats Chicago,” News-Star, June 15, 1938, 11.

35. https://www.retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/ballparks/NOL01ngl.html, accessed December 20, 2024.

36. https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/organization.php?franchID=SNH&tab=seasons&lgID=All&sort=W_a, accessed on December 22, 2024.

37. https://www.retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/NgLgAllStarGames.html, accessed December 20, 2024.

38. https://www.retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/NorthSouth.html, accessed on December 20, 2024.

39. John Shorey and Kevin Warneke, “Rickwood Field Adds to Its Legacy as the Major Leagues Return to Alabama,” Baseball Research Journal, Volume 53, No. 1, (Society for American Baseball Research, Spring 2024), 5–6.

40. Jesse Outlar, “They’re Here…and the Season’s on,” Atlanta Constitution, April 13, 1966, 39.

41. https://retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/boxesetc/1937/B07080ATN1937.htm, accessed February 13, 2026.

42. Bob Rubin, “Dodgers Excited, Too,” Miami Herald, April 6, 1993, 159.

43. https://retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/boxesetc/1937/B07130JAX1937.htm, accessed February 13, 2026.

44. Harry Gage, “Wee Bobby Big Man in Eyes Of Cubs’ Pilot,” Houston Chronicle, April 11, 1962, 65.

45. https://retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/boxesetc/1940/B06200MEM1940.htm, accessed February 13, 2026.

46. “Negro Teams to Play In Stadium Thursday,” Houston Chronicle, June 18, 1940, 20.

47. Jack Cuddy, “Louis Stops Godoy in Eighth to Keep Heavyweight Title,” Houston Post, June 21, 1940, 13.

48. John Schlegel, “Stars and Spikes: July 3 Game at Fort Bragg!,” March 8, 2016, MLB.com, https://www.mlb.com/news/braves-marlins-play-fort-bragg-game-on-july-3-c166636990, accessed October 30, 2023.

49. Arthur Weinstein, “Braves, Marlins Make History in Game at Fort Bragg Military Base,” The Sporting News, July 3, 2016.

50. “Homestead Grays (HOM) 9 Philadelphia Stars (PH5) 3,” Retrosheet, https://www.retrosheet.org/NegroLeagues/boxesetc/1948/B05250H0M1948.htm, accessed February 6, 2024.

51. Warneke and Shorey, Flatwater Free Press.

52. John Shorey and Kevin Warneke, “Major League Baseball in Iowa,” The National Pastime, Volume 51 (Society for American Baseball Research, 2023): 63.

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