Newark Eagles
Information
League
LocationNewark, New Jersey
Ballpark
Established1933 (est. 1936 through merger)
Disbanded1950
Nickname(s)
  • Newark Dodgers* (1933–1935)
  • Brooklyn Eagles* (1935)
  • *merged 1935
  • Newark Eagles (1936–1948)
  • Houston Eagles (1949–1950)
  • New Orleans Eagles (1951)
League titles1946
Negro World Series championships1946

The Newark Eagles were a professional Negro league baseball team which played in the Negro National League from 1936 to 1948. They were owned by Abe and Effa Manley.[4]

History

Formation

The Newark Eagles were formed in 1936 when the Newark Dodgers, established in 1933, merged with the Brooklyn Eagles, established in 1935. Abe Manley and his wife Effa Manley, owners and founders of the Brooklyn Eagles, purchased the Newark Dodgers franchise and combined the teams' assets and player rosters.[5] Charles Tyler, the previous owner of the Dodgers, signed the team over in exchange for cancellation of an approximately $500 debt that Tyler owed Abe Manley.[6]

Team management was left to Effa, making the Eagles the third professional baseball team owned and operated by a woman. The first such team was the St. Louis Cardinals, which was owned by Helene Hathaway Britton from 1911 to 1917, and the second such team was the Indianapolis ABCs who were owned by Olivia Taylor from 1922 to 1926.[7] The Eagles shared Ruppert Stadium with the minor league Newark Bears.

The Eagles were to (black) Newark what the Dodgers were to Brooklyn.

— Eagles star Max Manning

Decline and demise

After the close of the 1948 season, in the aftermath of Jackie Robinson's successful integration of Major League Baseball a year earlier, the Negro National League contracted and merged into the Negro American League. The Eagles were sold and moved to Houston, Texas for the 1949 season,[5] where they became known as the Houston Eagles, part of the NAL's western division. Two years later they again relocated, this time to New Orleans. The New Orleans Eagles lasted one year before folding after the 1951 season.[8]: 5 

Negro World Series champions

Under Effa Manley's guidance, the 1946 team won the Negro World Series, upsetting the Kansas City Monarchs in a 7-game series.[5]

Players

For a more comprehensive list, see Newark Eagles all-time roster.

Baseball Hall of Famers

Newark Eagles Hall of Famers
Inductee Position Tenure Inducted
Ray Dandridge 3B 1934–1938
1942, 1944		 1987
Leon Day P 1937–1939
1941–1943, 1946		 1995
Larry Doby CF 1942–1944
1945–1947		 1998
Monte Irvin LF 1938–1942
1945–1948		 1973
Biz Mackey C 1939–1942
1945–1947		 2006
Mule Suttles 1B 1936–1940
1942–1944)		 2006
Willie Wells SS 1937–1939 1997
Effa Manley Owner 1935–1948 2006

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ "1934 Newark Dodgers". Negro Leagues Data Base. Seamheads.com. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  2. ^ "1935 Newark Dodgers". Negro Leagues Data Base. Seamheads.com. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Ebbets Field". RetroSeasons.com. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  4. ^ Overmyer, James (1998), Queen of the Negro Leagues: Effa Manley and the Newark Eagles, Scarecrow Press
  5. ^ a b c "Negro Leagues Baseball eMuseum: Team Profiles: Newark Eagles". www.coe.ksu.edu.
  6. ^ Newman, Roberta J.; Rosen, Joel Nathan (2014). Black Baseball, Black Business: Race Enterprise and the Fate of the Segregated Dollar. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781626742253. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  7. ^ "Forgotten Heroes: Charles Isham "C.I." Taylor" (PDF). Center for Negro League Baseball Research. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  8. ^ "Negro American League Standings (1937-1962)" (PDF). Center for Negro League Baseball Research. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
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