Brooklyn Royal Giants
The Royal Giants won eastern championships in 1908 and 1909 and played 22 seasons in all, at a recorded 250-291. That figure covers a fraction of the games: the club spent most of its life barnstorming as an independent, and joined the Eastern Colored League only in 1923.
John Connor, who owned a Brooklyn café, founded the club in 1905 and sold it in 1913 to Nat Strong, a white booking agent who controlled which Black clubs could play in which eastern parks. Strong ran it as a traveling attraction rather than a competitive side, which is the reason its later record looks the way it does.
Four Hall of Famers appear on its rosters, among them John Henry Lloyd and Louis Santop. The club folded in 1927, and the booking system that Strong built was one of the things Rube Foster had founded his league to break.
Season by season
| Year | Club | W | L | Pct | Finish | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1905 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 0 | 12 | .000 | 4 | — | — |
| 1906 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 15 | 13 | .536 | 3 | — | — |
| 1907 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 12 | 14 | .462 | 3 | — | — |
| 1908 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 19 | 10 | .655 | 1 | Pennant | — |
| 1909 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 9 | 3 | .750 | 1 | Pennant | — |
| 1910 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 9 | 4 | .692 | 1 | — | — |
| 1911 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 12 | 10 | .545 | 3 | — | — |
| 1912 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 10 | 15 | .400 | 3 | — | — |
| 1913 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 13 | 11 | .542 | 2 | — | — |
| 1914 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 14 | 19 | .424 | 3 | — | — |
| 1916 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 16 | 10 | .615 | 3 | — | — |
| 1917 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 13 | 15 | .464 | 4 | — | — |
| 1918 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 12 | 13 | .480 | 4 | — | — |
| 1919 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 4 | 13 | .235 | 5 | — | — |
| 1920 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 13 | 7 | .650 | 1 | — | — |
| 1921 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 5 | 8 | .385 | 6 | — | — |
| 1922 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 6 | 4 | .600 | 3 | — | — |
| 1923 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 17 | 18 | .486 | 3 | — | — |
| 1924 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 15 | 25 | .375 | 6 | — | — |
| 1925 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 14 | 20 | .412 | 5 | — | — |
| 1926 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 11 | 24 | .314 | 7 | — | — |
| 1927 | Brooklyn Royal Giants | 11 | 23 | .324 | 7 | — | — |
| Total | 22 seasons | 250 | 291 | .462 | — | 0 World Series | — |