Cuban X-Giants
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The Cuban X-Giants were not Cuban, but were former Cuban Giants in large part. They begun to form a rival to that top black team in 1895. Former Giants manager Cos Govern piloted a team which included 2B Sol White and P George Stovey. In 1897 they beat the Giants 2 games to 1 in a series. With E.B. Lamar Jr. at the helm and Frank Grant joining in 1898 the club continued to establish themselves as the new powerhouse in the east. Grant and White left in 1900 and Bill Monroe joined at second base; both the Giants and X-Giants claimed to be the champions, a situation that was duplicated a year later. In 1903 the club boasted Rube Foster on the mound and a middle infield of Charlie Grant and Home Run Johnson. They played in the integrated Tri-State Independent League and then took 5 of 7 from the Philadelphia Giants for the title as top black team in the east. Foster won all 4 games in the series and also was 6 for 17 at the plate. Grant and Foster left for Philadelphia after the season and the X-Giants dropped the series the next year 2 games to 1, as Foster was 2-0 against his old teammates. In 1905 the X-Giants became the first black team to beat a Major League Baseball team, when they took 1 of 2 games from the Brooklyn Dodgers, outscoring them 8 to 3 in the process. Pop Lloyd played for the team in 1907, right before it folded for good.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- "The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues" by John Holway
- "The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues" by James Riley
- This article is from the Baseball Reference Bullpen. The original is available here. It is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
