Hilldale Club
Hilldale won the Eastern Colored League pennant in each of its first three seasons, 1923, 1924 and 1925, and took the Negro World Series in 1925 against the Kansas City Monarchs after losing to them the year before. The recorded record across 15 seasons is 428-331, resting on the box scores that survive rather than a complete count of games played.
Ed Bolden founded and ran the club from Darby, outside Philadelphia, and was one of the organizers of the Eastern Colored League itself in 1923. Home was Hilldale Park, which the club owned.
Six Hall of Famers played here: Judy Johnson, Biz Mackey, Louis Santop, Martín Dihigo, Oscar Charleston and John Henry Lloyd. Frank Warfield managed the 1925 champions and went 160-85, the best record of anyone who managed the club. It folded in 1932, in the Depression, along with most of the league it had helped start.
Season by season
| Year | Club | W | L | Pct | Finish | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1918 | Hilldale Club | 8 | 4 | .667 | 2 | — | — |
| 1919 | Hilldale Club | 10 | 11 | .476 | 4 | — | — |
| 1920 | Hilldale Club | 9 | 9 | .500 | 3 | — | — |
| 1921 | Hilldale Club | 27 | 18 | .600 | 1 | — | — |
| 1922 | Hilldale Club | 20 | 27 | .426 | 8 | — | — |
| 1923 | Hilldale Club | 34 | 20 | .630 | 1 | Pennant | — |
| 1924 | Hilldale Club | 46 | 24 | .657 | 1 | Pennant | — |
| 1925 | Hilldale Club | 53 | 18 | .746 | 1 | World Series | — |
| 1926 | Hilldale Club | 52 | 32 | .619 | 1 | — | — |
| 1927 | Hilldale Club | 37 | 45 | .451 | 5 | — | — |
| 1928 | Hilldale Club | 35 | 28 | .556 | 1 | — | — |
| 1929 | Hilldale Club | 40 | 35 | .533 | 3 | — | — |
| 1930 | Hilldale Club | 8 | 30 | .211 | 6 | — | — |
| 1931 | Hilldale Club | 38 | 14 | .731 | 1 | — | — |
| 1932 | Hilldale Club | 11 | 16 | .407 | 5 | — | — |
| Total | 15 seasons | 428 | 331 | .564 | — | 1 World Series | — |
Notable players
Showing 60 of 84 players on file for the club, most prominent first.