Pollock brought with him from Miami the Ethiopian Clowns and based them in Cincinnati.
[1] However, some NAL and NNL officials, including Cum Posey, believed Saperstein's new league was not meant to advance Negro baseball, but to be used for Saperstein's own benefit.
After the first season, Pollock shifted the Clowns over to the more stable NAL.
The NML lasted one season with very little media coverage before collapsing.
The Chicago Brown Bombers claimed the Negro Major League title in the media with a purported record of 26–6 for a .813 win percentage.