| 1943 Washington Homestead Grays | |
|---|---|
| League | Negro National League |
| Ballpark | Forbes Field, Griffith Stadium |
| City | Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C. |
| Record | 78–23–1 (.770) |
| League place | 1st |
| Managers | Candy Jim Taylor |
The 1943 Washington Homestead Grays baseball team represented the Washington Homestead Grays in the Negro National League (NNL) during the 1943 baseball season. After having managed the Grays to five pennants in seven seasons, manager Vic Harris elected to step away from managing to take a job with a plant that relegated him to part-time out-fielding. As such, Candy Jim Taylor, a manager for several teams since 1920, was hired to skipper the team. The team compiled a 78–23–1 (.770) record and won the NNL pennant for the sixth time in franchise history. They won the right to go to the 1943 Negro World Series and were tasked against the Birmingham Black Barons; the Grays won in seven games for their first World Series title.
The team played its home games at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh and Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C.[1]
The team's leading batters were:
The team's leading pitchers were Johnny Wright (18–3, 2.54 ERA, 94 strikeouts), Spoon Carter (14–2, 3.83 ERA, 44 strikeouts), Edsall Walker (9–4, 3.36 ERA), and Ray Brown (6–1, 4.10 ERA).[3]
Five of the Grays players were later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame: Cool Papa Bell; Ray Brown; Josh Gibson; Buck Leonard; and Jud Wilson.