Cuban Giants
[12] S. K. Govern a native of St. Croix, Virgin Islands (formerly of the Manhattans) became the new team's field manager, while John Lang (a white businessman and former owner of the Orions) provided the financial backing.
The two men leveraged their personal connections to schedule games during the winter months in Cuba and the newly forming resort hub of St. Augustine, Florida.
[15] The team's future seasons would follow this cycle: from April to October the Giants would implement a "'stay-at-home' travel schedule, playing games in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania";[16] then they would head to Cuba for December and part of January, followed by Florida just in time for the "peak of the hotels' festive winter season.
By the time the Argyle closed for the season on October 1, 1885, the Cuban Giants had won six out of nine games played, losing two and tying one.
Lack of experience, weak attempts at running the bases, and the umpire's very partial decisions contributed to the defeat of the colored aggregation.
John Lang had decided not to finance the Cuban Giants for the 1886 season, and in April a number of them were signed to the Trenton Browns by Harry Simpson.
[22] Through this reorganization of his independent club, Simpson hoped to both renew Trenton's interest in professional baseball and "capitalize on the novelty of a black team playing at a high caliber.
Govern "signed players to one-year contracts, utilized the press to schedule games, and was even responsible for selling season tickets.
"[29] On May 28, 1886 the Cuban Giants played the St. Louis Browns of the American Association at the Chambersbourg Grounds in front of a "good-natured, wildly enthusiastic assemblage of over two thousand people.
Stovey struck out eleven batters in the only game he would play as a Cuban Giant: a 4–3 loss to the Bridgeport team of the Eastern League.
The Cuban Giants applied to take their spot, hoping that league membership would provide a steady slate of quality opponents as well as protection from player raids.
Despite the fact that the league already counted black stars like George Stovey, Fleet Walker, and Frank Grant among its ranks, race was a driving factor in barring the Cubes entry.
The Cuban Giants were reluctant to give up their profitable weekend bookings in Hoboken and New York, so this also played a part in the Eastern League's decision to reject their application.
In the summer of 1885, around the same time the Cuban Giants were being formed, Henry Flagler made the decision to build the Ponce de Leon Hotel in St. Augustine.
Flagler, a founder of Standard Oil, envisioned the hotel as a place where "he and his wealthy friends could find princely shelter from the harsh winters of the North.
Through this connection with Seavey, Thompson was able to incorporate the Cuban Giants and black baseball into the "integrated network of leisure activities"[39] offered by the hotel.
[40] An 1889 article from the St. Augustine Weekly News puts it this way: The colored employees of the Hotel Ponce de Leon will play a game today at the fort grounds with a picked nine from the Alcazar.
As both teams possess some of the best colored baseball talent in the United States [,] being largely composed of the famous Cuban Giants, the game is likely to be an interesting one.
[38] On one occasion, unable to schedule a game with a local club, the team played a squad made up of tennis players staying at the hotel.
[42] In 1889 while at the Ponce de Leon, Thompson put together an organization called the Progressive Association of the United States of America (PAUSA).
