Diunte: Documents reveal the accounting behind Negro League baseball
From SABR member Nick Diunte at Baseball Happenings on January 20, 2015, with mention of SABR member Jim Stinson:
Negro League teams barnstormed the country not only in search of the next game to play, but the next paycheck as well. Clubs would routinely play multiple games per day to maximize their earning potential while the sun was still shining. Recently, due to the finds of collector and memorabilia dealer Jim Stinson, individual game ledgers have surfaced showing how each club split the gate at games.
In one document dated July 18, 1950, the carefully calculated accounting for a game between the Birmingham Black Barons and the Baltimore Elite Giants showed not only the attendance, but the divisions for taxes, the league’s percentage, as well as what was paid to both the home club and visitors. The visiting Elite Giants split $164.29, which amounted to approximately $10 per man, furthering their impetus to play as often as possible. Baseball fans might recognize the signature of the Elite Giants representative Joe Black, who won the 1952 Rookie of the Year Award with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Read the full article here: http://www.baseballhappenings.net/2015/01/documents-reveal-accounting-behind.html
Originally published: January 21, 2015. Last Updated: January 21, 2015.