Brooklyn Royal Giants

The Brooklyn Royal Giants were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1905 by John Wilson Connor (1875–1926),^{[2][Note 1]} owner of the Brooklyn Royal Cafe, the team initially played against white semi-pro teams.^[3] They were one of the prominent independent teams prior to World War I before organized league play began.

Brooklyn Royal Giants
Information
League	Independent (1904–06, 1909–22, 1928–42) National Association (1907–08) Eastern Colored League (1923–27)
Location	Brooklyn, New York
Ballpark	Saratoga Park (1906) Washington Park (1906-07, 1912)[1] Meyerrose Park (1908-11) Ridgewood Park (1912-14, 1916-17) Dexter Park (1923-31, 1936-37)
Established	1905
Disbanded	1942

League play

For a list of annual win-loss records, see List of Brooklyn Royal Giants seasons.

1919 Brooklyn Royal Giants team photo

In 1907, the Brooklyn Royal Giants joined the National Association of Colored Baseball Clubs of the United States and Cuba.^[4] The league lasted three seasons and included the teams Philadelphia Giants, Cuban X-Giants, Cuban Stars of Havana, and the Cuban Giants of New York.

During the 1920s, under the ownership of Nat Strong, a white New York City booking agent, the team fell into somewhat of a decline, and did very poorly while in the Eastern Colored League. The Giants played their home games while part of the Eastern Colored League at Dexter Park in Queens.

Final years and demise

The Giants played a pair of games against teams featuring Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.^[5] On October 11, 1926, the Giants took on a squad featuring Babe Ruth in Bradley Beach, New Jersey. The Giants won this game 3-1. Following this, in 1928, the Giants played a combined team of the Bustin' Babes (Ruth's barnstorming squad) and the Larrupin' Lous (Gehrig's barnstorming squad) in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The Giants returned to independent play in 1928 and rebuilt the roster, but the quality of the rebuilt team never matched that of the early years. By the mid-1930s, the quality was no better than that of a minor league team, and in the early 1940s it had fallen to a semi-professional status. The team disbanded in 1942.

Significant players

For a more comprehensive list, see Brooklyn Royal Giants all-time roster.

• Smokey Joe Williams – elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
• John Henry "Pop" Lloyd – elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Louis Santop – elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
• "Cannonball" Dick Redding
• Frank Wickware
• Charles "Chino" Smith