BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY The Brooklyn Royal Giants were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Brooklyn, New York. They were one of the prominent independent teams prior to World War I before organized league play began.
League play
In 1906, the Brooklyn Royal Giants joined the International League of Colored Baseball Clubs in American and Cuba (ILBCAC). The league appears to have lasted a year or two and included the teams Philadelphia Giants, Cuban X-Giants, Cuban Stars, and the Cuban Giants of New York.
During the 1920s, under the ownership of Nat Strong, a white New York City booking agent, the team fell into somewhat of a decline, and did very poorly while in Eastern Colored League. The Giants played their home games while part of the Eastern Colored League at Dexter Park in Queens.
Final years and demise
The Giants returned to independent play in 1928 and rebuilt the roster, but the quality of the rebuilt team never matched that of the early years. By the mid-1930s, the quality was no better than that of a minor league team in the early 1940s the team had fallen to a semi-professional status. The team disbanded in 1942.
Significant players
- Smokey Joe Williams
- "Cannonball" Dick Redding
- Frank Wickware
- Charles "Chino" Smith
- John Henry "Pop" Lloyd
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