List of Negro league baseball champions
Year Lg Champion Games Lg Runner-up
1922 NNL1 Chicago American Giants 3-2 East Bacharach Giants of New York
1924 NNL1 Kansas City Monarchs 5-4-1 ECL Hilldale Club
1925 ECL Hilldale Club 5-1 NNL1 Kansas City Monarchs
1926 NNL1 Chicago American Giants 5-4-2 ECL Bacharach Giants
1927 NNL1 Chicago American Giants 5-3-1 ECL Bacharach Giants
1920–1931 : First endeavor of organized league play
With the emergence of the hard-fisted leadership of former pitcher Rube Foster , playing a formal scheduled season between other black teams became reality . Foster , known for his business acumen , recognized that attendance was just high enough so that a reasonable profit can be derived from gate receipts to sustain the travel and commitment required to maintain a league schedule . This led to the formation of a handful of official Negro leagues , and later to a planned end-of-season World Series . Western-region champions Eastern-region champions Year Lg Champion Games Runner-up Ref Year Lg Champion Games Runner-up Ref 1920 NNL1 Chicago American Giants 1920 — Brooklyn Royal GiantsHilldale Club 1–1–2 ( tie ) 1921 NNL1 Chicago American Giants 1921 — Bacharach GiantsHilldale Club 2–2 ( tie ) 1922 NNL1 CHICAGO AMERICAN GIANTS 1922 — Bacharach Giants of New York § 1923 NNL1 Kansas City Monarchs 1923 ECL Hilldale Club 1924 NNL1 KANSAS CITY MONARCHS 1924 ECL Hilldale Club 1925 NNL1 Kansas City Monarchs 5–3 St. Louis Stars 1925 ECL HILLDALE CLUB 1926 NNL1 CHICAGO AMERICAN GIANTS 5–4 Kansas City Monarchs 1926 ECL Bacharach Giants 1927 NNL1 CHICAGO AMERICAN GIANTS 4–0 Birmingham Black Barons 1927 ECL Bacharach Giants 1928 NNL1 St. Louis Stars 5–4 Chicago American Giants 1928 — Bacharach Giants § 1929 NNL1 Kansas City Monarchs 1929 ANL Baltimore Black Sox 1930 NNL1 St. Louis Stars 4–3 Detroit Stars 1930 — Homestead Grays 6–4 New York Lincoln Giants 1931 NNL1 St. Louis Stars 1931 — Hilldale Daisies § Team in CAPITAL LETTERS went on to win that season 's World Series Team went on to lose that season 's World Series — First half champion — Second half champion — Both first and second half champion § — Unofficial champion derived from estimates of the known won-loss records ; no team claimed or was awarded a championship in these years due mainly to the organized schedule being abandoned for financial reasons and the team listed is only a generalization 1921 — Southern Colored Champion : Nashville Elite Giants 4 games to 0 over Montgomery Grey Sox . World champions Main article : Negro World Series Beginning in 1924 , the championships during this period were formal , pre-arranged post-season challenges agreed to by the respective leagues . The 1922 championship was an informal post-season challenge issued by the individual teams .
This List of Negro league baseball champions includes champions of black baseball prior to the organization of any traditional Negro league and goes through to the collapse of segregated baseball after Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color line in 1946. Champions include self-declared, regional and (later) league champions, but is limited to top-tier teams and major Negro leagues. The champions listed after 1948 through the 1950s are listed for posterity, but the quality of play had deteriorated so far as to only incidentally be covered by contemporary media or historians.