History

The Negro Leagues

Seven leagues, 1920–1948, recognized by Major League Baseball as major leagues. Browse their seasons, standings, and leaders.

The record here is what researchers reconstructed from newspaper box scores — treat every total as a floor, not a measure. Read the story of the surviving record or see the data scope.
Negro National League (I) NNL
1920–1931
Years
26
Clubs
94
Team-Seasons

Founded by Rube Foster in 1920, the first stable Black professional league, anchored by his Chicago American Giants and the St. Louis Stars.

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Eastern Colored League ECL
1923–1928
Years
11
Clubs
42
Team-Seasons

The eastern rival to the Negro National League, home of Hilldale and the Bacharach Giants; its champions met the NNL's in the first Colored World Series.

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American Negro League ANL
1929
Years
6
Clubs
6
Team-Seasons

A one-season successor to the Eastern Colored League after its 1928 collapse.

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East-West League EWL
1932
Years
8
Clubs
8
Team-Seasons

Cum Posey's Depression-era league, which folded before finishing its only season.

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Negro Southern League NSL
1932
Years
11
Clubs
11
Team-Seasons

A long-running minor circuit whose 1932 season — with many displaced stars — is counted as major league play.

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Negro National League (II) NN2
1933–1948
Years
23
Clubs
106
Team-Seasons

Rebuilt by Gus Greenlee in 1933; the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords defined its era.

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Negro American League NAL
1937–1948
Years
22
Clubs
77
Team-Seasons

The midwestern and southern circuit whose Kansas City Monarchs sent Jackie Robinson into organized baseball.

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Before the leagues

Organized Black baseball long predates 1920 — independent clubs, eastern and western circuits, and barnstorming teams whose surviving records sit outside the recognized league seasons shown here. The Surviving Record tells that story, and the Seamheads Negro Leagues Database continues to reconstruct it.