Philadelphia Giants

The Philadelphia Giants were run and managed by Sol White, who went 83-48 across six seasons and wrote the first history of Black baseball while he was doing it — his Official Base Ball Guide of 1907 is the main surviving account of the game before the leagues were organized. The club won the eastern championship in 1907.

The recorded record is 97-86 across nine seasons, which covers far fewer games than the club played: it operated before organized Negro league play, when results were reported irregularly and box scores often not at all.

Six Hall of Famers played here: White, Rube Foster, who pitched for the club before founding the Negro National League, John Henry Lloyd, Pete Hill, Louis Santop and Frank Grant. Foster and Lloyd on one roster is as strong a pairing as Black baseball had in those years. Home games were played at Columbia Park and the Baker Bowl when the white clubs were away.