Hilldale Club

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Hilldale Athletic Club
Hilldale uniform.png HilldaleCapLogo.png
Team logoCap insignia
Information
League
Location Darby, Pennsylvania
Ballpark
Established 1910
Disbanded 1932
Nickname(s)
  • Darby Daisies (1929–1932)
League titles
Negro World Series championships 1925

The Hilldale Athletic Club (informally known as Darby Daisies) were an American professional Negro league baseball team based in Darby, Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia.

Contents

Established as a boys team in 1910, the Hilldales were developed by their early manager, then owner Ed Bolden to be one of the powerhouse Negro league baseball teams. They won the first three Eastern Colored League pennants beginning in 1923 and in 1925 won the second Colored World Series. Hall of Fame player Judy Johnson was a Hilldale regular for most its professional era with 12 seasons in 15 years (1918–1932). Pitcher Phil Cockrell played for Hilldale throughout those years. Oscar Charleston, Biz Mackey, Louis Santop, Chaney White, and Jesse "Nip" Winters were also important Hilldale players in the 1920s.

History

The Hilldale Club in 1921 1921 Hilldale Club.jpg
The Hilldale Club in 1921

Ed Bolden founded the team in 1910 as an amateur athletic club for local young men. Devere Thompson was the first manager but Bolden took over as manager himself before the end of the first season. [1] The club incorporated November 1916, as Hilldale Baseball and Exhibition Company, and began to hire some established players. [2] Spot Poles and Bill Pettus led the 1917 team to a 23-15-1 record. [3]

Hilldale and the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants played as eastern "Associates" of the western Negro National League in 1920 and 1921. In the latter season they held a four game series in September with the winner to face the NNL champion Chicago American Giants. After both teams won two games, the American Giants traveled east to play one series each. Chicago defeated the Bacharach Giants 2-1-1 but Hilldale beat Chicago 3-2-1. [4]

Hilldale was a charter member of the Eastern Colored League in 1923 and won the first-place pennants in 1923, 1924, and 1925.

Game 1, 1924 Colored World Series at Philadelphia Ball Park Hilldale vs Kansas City Monarchs 19241003 PHILA.jpg
Game 1, 1924 Colored World Series at Philadelphia Ball Park Hilldale vs Kansas City Monarchs

They lost the inaugural, 1924 Colored World Series to the Kansas City Monarchs five games to four (with one tie). Next season they won a rematch with the Monarchs five games to one. The 1925 club featured star catcher and cleanup hitter Biz Mackey, third baseman Judy Johnson, and outfielder Clint Thomas. Player-manager Frank Warfield's pitching staff was led by left-handed ace Nip Winters and spitballer Phil Cockrell. Hilldale dropped to third in 1926 and fifth in 1927. [1]

Frustrated by the league's lack of organization, Bolden withdrew his club from the ECL prior to the 1928 season. When the American Negro League was organized in 1929, Hilldale joined, but the league lasted only one season. Bolden was subsequently forced out of club management, and Hilldale corporation member Lloyd Thompson assumed control of the club in 1930. He had been the a 14-year-old infielder on the original boys team twenty years earlier, when his older brother had been the manager. [5] After a single season, the team was purchased by John Drew, who ran the club until its final collapse in 1932. [6]

During the Great Depression, Black urban unemployment hit as high as 50%. This negatively impacted attendance in the Negro leagues in the 1930s. Drew disbanded the ballclub in July 1932 after the combined attendance of two subsequent Saturday afternoon games at Hilldale Park totaled 295. [6]

Names

The Negro National League was formed in 1920. An official League business-card from that year lists the club as one of two "Associated Members" and identifies the club as "Hilldale, Darby, Pa." Unlike other teams listed with both location and team-name, no nickname is identified with Hilldale. [7] (Hilldale was the club name, Darby the locale.)

While various nicknames were informally applied to the club, including "Darby Daisies" and "Clan Darbie", the team was most commonly known simply as Hilldale or the Hilldales.

Logos and uniforms

Hilldale did not have an official team logo as professional and collegiate teams have today. It was not common practice for teams to have such standardized team symbols in the 1910s and 1920s. They wore red and white. Their jerseys in the 1920s had "Hilldale" across the front in the style shown above as the "team logo". The club wore a red cap with a white plain-block capital H as seen above. [8]

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) created a series of team logos in the 1990s for the well-known Negro league teams so that the NLBM could license such logos and collect royalties for their use on merchandise. Such revenue helps sustain the museum. Hilldale was one such team for which a contemporary logo was created. It is seen on NLBM-licensed Hilldale Giants merchandise and while it supports the educational efforts of the museum, it is not a historical logo. [9]

Championships

Eastern Colored League Pennants

Colored World Series Championships

Players

Hall of Famers

These Hall of Fame players were Hilldale team members during the listed seasons. Santop also played post-season with the team in 1917 and 1919, as Charleston did in 1926. [10]

Hilldale Club Hall of Famers
InducteePositionTenureInducted
Oscar Charleston CF 1928–1929 (captain)1976
Martin Dihigo P/2B 1929–19311977
Pop Lloyd SS 1923 (captain)1977
Judy Johnson 3B 1921–1929
1931–1932 (captain)		1975
Biz Mackey C 1923–19312006
Louis Santop C 1918, 1920–19262006

No-hitters

Historical marker

On October 14, 2006, a Pennsylvania Historical marker was dedicated at the site of Hilldale's ballpark at McDade Boulevard and Cedar Streets in Yeadon. The ceremony was attended by Philadelphia Phillies hitting coach Milt Thompson, former Phillies player Garry Maddox, and Gene Dias, Phillies director of community relations. Also attending were the four living members of the Negro league Philadelphia Stars, Bill Cash, Mahlon Duckett, Stanley Glenn, and Harold Gould, along with Ray Mackey, great grandnephew of former Hilldale and Stars player Biz Mackey. [11]

The marker is titled, "The Hilldale Athletic Club (The Darby Daisies)" and the text reads,

This baseball team, whose home was here at Hilldale Park, won the Eastern Colored League championship three times and the 1925 Negro League World Series. Darby fielded Negro League teams from 1910 to 1932. Notable players included baseball hall of fame members Pop Lloyd, Judy Johnson, Martin Dihigo, Joe Williams, Oscar Charleston, Ben Taylor, Biz Mackey, and Louis Santop. Owner Ed Bolden helped form the Eastern Colored League. [12]

The year 2010 marked the centenary of the club's founding. The Darby Historical Commission constructed a Walk of Fame alongside the site of the Historical Marker. The Walk of Fame honors former-Hilldale owners Bolden and Drew, as well as team batboy and contemporary area-resident Ed Bacon. [13]

Archive

The African American Museum in Philadelphia maintains the "William Cash/Lloyd Thompson Collection" of Philadelphia Stars and Hilldale scorebooks, photographs, and correspondence. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in 1920 that are sometimes termed "Negro Major Leagues".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Colored League</span> Negro League Baseball

The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs, more commonly known as the Eastern Colored League (ECL), was one of the several Negro leagues, which operated during the time organized baseball was segregated.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judy Johnson</span> American baseball player, manager, and scout

William Julius "Judy" Johnson was an American professional third baseman and manager whose career in Negro league baseball spanned 17 seasons, from 1921 to 1937. Slight of build, Johnson never developed as a power threat but achieved his greatest success as a contact hitter and an intuitive defenseman. Johnson is regarded as one of the greatest third basemen of the Negro leagues. In 1975, he was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame after being nominated by the Negro Leagues Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biz Mackey</span> American Negro League Baseball player (1897–1965)

James Raleigh "Biz" Mackey was an American catcher and manager in Negro league baseball. He played for the Indianapolis ABCs (1920–1922), New York Lincoln Giants (1920), Hilldale Daisies (1923–1931), Philadelphia Royal Giants (1925), Philadelphia Stars (1933–1935), Washington / Baltimore Elite Giants (1936–1939), and Newark Dodgers/Eagles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Santop</span> Baseball player

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The 1924 Colored World Series was a best-of-nine match-up between the Negro National League champion Kansas City Monarchs and the Eastern Colored League champion Hilldale. In a ten-game series, the Monarchs narrowly defeated Hilldale 5 games to 4, with one tie game. It was the first World Series between the respective champions of the NNL and ECL. It was the second year of existence for the ECL, but no agreement could be reached in 1923 for a postseason series, owing primarily to unresolved disputes between the leagues. Five members of the Baseball Hall of Fame participated in the series: Biz Mackey, Judy Johnson, and Louis Santop played for Hilldale, while Bullet Rogan and José Méndez played for the Monarchs. In addition, Monarchs owner J. L. Wilkinson was also inducted into the Hall.

Hilldale Park was a ballpark in Darby, Pennsylvania at the northeast corner of Chester and Cedar Avenues. It was the home field of the Hilldale Club professional baseball team which played in the Negro leagues between 1910 and 1932. The ballpark opened in 1914. It had a well-manicured field with a large tree in center-field, whose branches overlooked the field and were considered in play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Cockrell</span> Baseball player

Phillip "Fish" Cockrell, born Philip Cockrell Williams, was a baseball player in the Negro leagues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Bolden</span>

Edward Bolden was an American baseball executive and owner in the Negro leagues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Stephens</span> Baseball player

Paul Eugene "Country Jake" Stephens was an American baseball player known for his slight stature, speed, and defense at the shortstop position. He played in the Negro leagues for 4 teams (1921–1937).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Johnson (baseball)</span> Baseball player

George Washington "Dibo" Johnson was an American baseball outfielder in the Negro leagues.

The 1925 Colored World Series was the second edition of the championship series in Negro league baseball. The series featured a rematch between the Hilldale Club of Darby, Pennsylvania, champion of the Eastern Colored League (ECL), and the Kansas City Monarchs, champion of the Negro National League (NNL) and winner of the previous year's match in the first Colored World Series. In 1925, Hilldale won the best-of-nine series, five games to one.

The 1925 Hilldale Club baseball team represented the Hilldale Club in the Eastern Colored League (ECL) during the 1925 baseball season. The team compiled a 53–18–1 (.743) record, won the ECL pennant, and defeated the Kansas City Monarchs in the 1925 Colored World Series. Frank Warfield was Hilldale's player-manager. The team played its home games at Hilldale Park in Darby, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb.

The 1923 Hilldale Club baseball team represented the Hilldale Club in the Eastern Colored League (ECL) during the 1923 baseball season. The team compiled a 40–21–1 (.653) record and won the ECL pennant. John Henry Lloyd was Hilldale's player-manager. The team played its home games at Hilldale Park in Darby, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb.

The 1921 Hilldale Club baseball team represented the Hilldale Club as an independent during the 1921 baseball season. The team compiled a 28–18–1 (.606) record and was recognized as the champion of the Eastern independent teams. Bill Francis was Hilldale's player-manager. The team played its home games at Hilldale Park in Darby, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb.

References

  1. 1 2 Heaphy, Leslie A. (2003). The Negro Leagues, 1869-1960. McFarland & Company. pp. 33, 61. ISBN   0-7864-1380-8.
  2. ↑ Lanctot 1994, 25.
  3. ↑ Riley, James A. (1994). The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. New York: Carroll & Graf.
  4. ↑ Holway, John; Lloyd Johnson; Rachel Borst; Buck O'Neil (2001). The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues. New York: Hastings House. ISBN   0-8038-2007-0.
  5. ↑ Lanctot, Neil (1994). Fair Dealing and Clean Playing: the Hilldale Club and the development of black professional baseball, 1910-1932. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p.  16. ISBN   0-89950-988-6.
  6. 1 2 Lanctot, Neil (2004). Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution . Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN   978-0-8122-2027-8.
  7. ↑ Chadwick, Bruce (1992). When the Game Was Black and White: The Illustrated History of Baseball's Negro Leagues. Abbeville Press. ISBN   1-55859-372-1.
  8. ↑ Jones, Bill (2008-07-24). "Negro Leagues 1-BJ". Bill Jones. Retrieved 2009-02-25.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. ↑ "Licensing". Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. 2004. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
  10. ↑ Lanctot 1994, Appendix C
  11. ↑ Santoliquito, Joseph (2006-10-14). "Phillies honor Darby Hilldales' legend: Organization pays tribute to 1925 Negro League champs". MLB.com . Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  12. ↑ "The Hilldale Athletic Club (The Darby Daisies)". Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. 2006-10-14. Archived from the original on May 12, 2005. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  13. ↑ Hunt, Donald (2008-05-09). "Hilldale baseball team celebrates centennial". Philadelphia Tribune. pp. 2–C. Archived from the original on February 20, 2012. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  14. ↑ Strauss, Robert (2009-04-03). "Baseball all around; Our Phab Phils are back, and you can get into the game at museums, murals and more". Philadelphia Inquirer . Retrieved 2009-04-06.[ dead link ]

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