Homestead Grays
The Homestead Grays were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States.
The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and remained in continuous operation for 38 seasons. The team was originally based in Homestead, Pennsylvania, adjacent to Pittsburgh. By the 1920s, with increasing popularity in the Pittsburgh region, the team retained the name "Homestead" but crossed the Monongahela River to play all home games in Pittsburgh, at the Pittsburgh Pirates' home Forbes Field and the Pittsburgh Crawfords' home Greenlee Field.
From 1940 until 1942, the Grays played half of their home games in Washington, D.C., while remaining in Pittsburgh for all other home stands. As attendance at their games in the nation's capital grew, by 1943, the Grays were playing more than two-thirds of their home games in Washington.
Franchise history
The Grays grew out of an earlier industrial team. In 1900, a group of African-American players had joined together to form the Germantown Blue Ribbons, an industrial league team. For ten years, the Blue Ribbons fielded a team every season and played some of the best sandlot teams in the area. In 1910, the managers of the team retired. The players reorganized the team and named themselves the Murdock Grays. In 1912, they became the Homestead Grays, the name they retained for the remainder of the franchise's history.American Negro League
The Grays did join the American Negro League in 1929, but that league lasted only one season. The team operated independently again until 1932, when Posey organized the ill-fated East-West League; that league also collapsed before completing its first and only season.Negro National League
Posey entered his Grays in the Negro National League in 1935. With the near-collapse of the Pittsburgh Crawfords, Josh Gibson returned to the Grays in 1937, combining with slugger Buck Leonard to power the Grays to nine consecutive Negro National League Championships and three Negro League World Series titles. Vic Harris managed the Grays during their years in league play, between 1935 and 1948, and piloted Homestead to eight pennants. He guided his team to six consecutive pennants from 1937 through 1942; in 1945 and 1948, and led the 1948 team to the Negro League World Series championship. The 1943 and 1944 NLWS titles came under Candy Jim Taylor.Art Rooney
founder and owner Art Rooney related in a 1981 interview that he "from time to time" had "helped financially support the Negro League team, the Homestead Grays, and... was a better baseball fan than football fan."Post-Negro league play
Following the collapse of the Negro National League after the 1948 season, the Grays struggled to continue as an independent club, and ultimately disbanded in May 1951.Home fields
From the late 1930s through the 1940s, the Grays played their home games at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, during this same period the club adopted the Washington, D.C. area as its "home away from home" and scheduled many of its "home" games at D.C.'s Griffith Stadium, the home park of the Washington Senators. During these games, they were alternatively known as the Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays.[Baseball Hall of Fame] inductees
These Homestead Grays alumni have been inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and MuseumLegacy
On July 11, 2002, the Homestead High-Level Bridge which connects Pittsburgh to Homestead over the Monongahela River at Homestead was renamed the Homestead Grays Bridge in honor of the team.Washington Nationals
When the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, "Grays" was one of the three finalists for the relocated team's new name, reflecting Washington's baseball history.The Nationals′ home field, Nationals Park, includes numerous references to the Grays:
- The "Ring of Honor" on the facade behind home plate lists the names of Cool Papa Bell, Ray Brown, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Cum Posey, Jud Wilson, and players from the Nationals, Expos, original Washington Senators of 1901–1960, and expansion Washington Senators of 1961–1971. The Ring honors players who are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and had played "significant years" for at least one of the teams or "anyone who has made a significant contribution to the game of baseball in Washington, D.C." All six Grays players were among the original 18 inductees to the Ring of Honor when it was unveiled on August 10, 2010.
- The multi-sport Washington Hall of Stars display in the outfield features Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard.
- A statue of Josh Gibson stands near the center field gate.
MLB throwback jerseys
;Pirates
- May 20, 2006, in Cleveland, the Pirates and Cleveland Indians wore the uniforms of the Grays and the Cleveland Buckeyes.
- August 11, 2006, in Pittsburgh, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates wore uniforms of the St. Louis Stars and Grays.
- June 26, 2009, in Pittsburgh, the Pirates and the Kansas City Royals wore uniforms of the Homestead Grays and the Kansas City Monarchs.
- July 23, 2011, in Pittsburgh, the Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals wore uniforms of the Homestead Grays and the St. Louis Stars.
- June 9, 2012, in Pittsburgh, the Pirates and the Kansas City Royals wore uniforms of the Homestead Grays and the Kansas City Monarchs.
- September 9, 2016, in Pittsburgh, the Pirates wore the Grays uniform against the Cincinnati Reds
- June 16, 2017, in Pittsburgh, the Pirates wore the Grays uniform against the Chicago Cubs
- June 2, 2006, in Milwaukee, the Washington Nationals and the Milwaukee Brewers wore uniforms of the Grays and Milwaukee Bears, during the first annual Negro Leagues Tribute Night in Milwaukee.
- August 11, 2006, in Washington, the New York Mets and Nationals wore uniforms of the New York Cubans and the Grays.
- August 3, 2007, The Nationals and Cardinals wore uniforms of the Grays and Stars.
- July 28, 2012, in Milwaukee, the Nationals and the Milwaukee Brewers wore uniforms of the Grays and the Milwaukee Bears.
- August 24, 2013, in Kansas City, the Nationals and the Kansas City Royals wore uniforms of the Grays and the Kansas City Monarchs.
- June 25, 2016, in Milwaukee, the Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers wore the uniforms of the Grays and Milwaukee Bears.
- May 3, 2008, in Washington, the Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates both wore the uniform of the Grays.
- June 1, 2013, both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Nationals wore Grays uniforms. In Pittsburgh, the Pirates played the Cincinnati Reds, who wore uniforms of the Cincinnati Tigers; and in Atlanta, the Nationals played the Atlanta Braves, who wore uniforms of the Atlanta Black Crackers.