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Jacksonville Red Caps

Jacksonville · 1938–1942

The Red Caps took their name from the red caps worn by railway porters at Jacksonville's terminal, which is where the club's players and backers came from — the railways employed Black men in numbers and gave them the one thing a traveling club needs, which is passes.

Three recorded seasons at 32-69. The club moved to Cleveland for 1939 and 1940, calling itself the Cleveland Bears, returned to Jacksonville in 1941, and folded in 1942 as wartime travel restrictions and the draft made a southern club unworkable. Alonzo Mitchell managed throughout.

No Hall of Famer played here. Home was Durkee Field and Red Cap Stadium, which the club built. The recorded figures rest on the surviving box scores and cover a fraction of the games played.

Season by season

YearClub WLPct FinishResult Attendance
1938 Jacksonville Red Caps 1112 .478 5
1941 Jacksonville Red Caps 1427 .341 5
1942 Jacksonville Red Caps 730 .189 6
Total3 seasons 3269 .317 0 World Series

Notable players