Chicago Unions
The Chicago Unions were a professional, black baseball team that played in the late 19th century, prior to the formation of the Negro leagues.
Founding
Organized as the Unions in 1887, the club was led by Abe Jones and by W.S. Peters. In 1899 they lost a series for the western championship to the Columbia Giants, also based in Chicago.The Unions, along with the Cuban Giants, are the only Negro teams to survive the political and economic crisis that eventually lead to the Panic of 1893. Every other significant Negro team which operated prior to the Panic ultimately ceased to exist.
Merge
During and 1902, Frank Leland created the Chicago Union Giants by hiring many players from the Chicago Unions and Columbia Giants. The Union Giants "were recognized as the top team in the West, but lost a challenge playoff to the Algona Brownies in 1903 for the western championship". The Union Giants were renamed Leland Giants in.Franchise continuum
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bar:UNI # Chicago Unions
bar:AMG # Chicago American Giants
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- Note on dates: A team's bar begins with the season that team played its first game, and ends with the season after that team played its last game. For example, the Cleveland Tate Stars played their first game in 1922 and played their last game in 1923. Therefore, their bar goes from 1922 to 1924.
bar:UNI from:1910 till:1921 color:gold text:"Chicago Giants" $Right2
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bar:COL from:1910 till:1952 color:gold text:"Leland Giants / Chicago American Giants" $Right2
| The Chicago Unions and the Chicago Columbia Giants merged for the 1901 season creating the Chicago Union Giants, who later changed their name to the Leland Giants. The Leland Giants then split into two teams for the 1910 season creating the Chicago Giants and the new Leland Giants, who later changed their name to the Chicago American Giants. |