Richmond Giants

Though their existence was short, several Negro league stars played for the Giants, including Bill Holland, Connie Day, Will McMurray and Hall of Famer Oscar Charleston.

Taylor and Thomas Bowser broke out, which ultimately caused the club to split into two different factions, with each respective owner forming their own team.

After the 1917 season, Jewell pledged his ABCs would commit themselves to a barnstorming existence for the 1918, opting to play only road games rather than battle two more talented and better-funded teams for a spot on the either of Indianapolis' premier diamonds.

[1] While Jewell's club couldn't find a home field, the exact opposite issue faced baseball organizers in Richmond, Indiana in 1918.

Due to attendance issues and a dramatic player shortage caused by World War I, the Central League cancelled the 1918 season, leaving no team to play in the stadium that was barely a year old.

[2] Largely playing opposition from larger cities such Indianapolis, Muncie, Anderson, Dayton, and Springfield, the Giants posted a 10-5-2 (.647) record on the season.

The day after beating the Mints and running their season record to 6-1, the local newspaper, the Palladium-Item, wrote that "with Charleston, Lynch, and Jones batting every pitcher all over the field the colored boys seem capable of taking on some of the bigger semi-pro teams in the state with the brand of ball the colored [sic] put up along with their amusing pranks, the club seems to have come to stay.

The Giants, buoyed by 1918 standouts Holland, Day, McMurray, Lynch, Francis, Elzie McReynolds, and William Webster, returned to Richmond the next season.

Connie Day, Otis Francis, and Oscar Charleston were signed by the Indianapolis ABCs, Will Jones by the Chicago Giants, Bill Holland by the Detroit Stars, while Arthur Coleman and Will Webster both appeared with the Dayton Marcos.