1945 Clowns jersey. Photo credit: Online Sports
Replica 1846 Sea Lions jersey. Photo credit: Ebbets Field Flannels.
Replica Monarchs 1945 home jersey. Photo credit: Ebbets Field Flannels.
Toni’s Teams In the play, the Indianapolis Clowns represent an amalgamation of Toni’s many teams. Throughout her career, she played for multiple franchises in different leagues. A bit about each of the teams who were lucky enough to have Toni wear their jerseys. San Francisco Sea Lions
New Orleans Creoles
The San Francisco Sea Lions were one of six teams in the shortlived West Coast Baseball Association. By the time the league formed in 1946, the writing was on the wall for the integration of the major leagues and the slow demise of the Negro Leagues. After the league folded, the Sea Lions remained as a barnstorming team, playing around the country.
This semi-pro team was one of several teams in New Orleans for Black players that were created in response to the color line of the popular minor league team, the New Orleans Pelicans. Team owner Allen Page was noted for bringing the popular Toni Stone to the team and also creating the annual North-South All Star Game. While New Orleans never had a professional Negro League team, the Creoles and other New Orleans teams made a mark on baseball in the South.
Indianapolis Clowns The Clowns began as entertainers more than ball players in 1930. They were one of the first teams to incorporate humorous antics into their game play to add to the entertainment value for audiences. They have been called “Baseball’s Harlem Globetrotters.” The clowning did not detract from the quality of their game play once they moved into more serious baseball. In 1941, they won 125 games in the season, and in the early 1950s won three straight league championships. They were a team of firsts. The Clowns were the first home for a young shortstop, Hank Aaron, who was quickly hired by the Braves, where he became a Milwaukee and an MLB legend. The hiring of Toni as the first woman in the Negro Leagues after Aaron’s departure was followed by the hiring of two other women, Connie Morgan and Mamie “Peanuts” Johnson. In 1968, they were the first team to acquire a white player, Jim Cohen. The Clowns were the longest incorporated team, playing for 59 years before they folded in 1989.
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Kansas City Monarchs The Monarchs were formed in 1920 from a barnstorming team and was one of the Negro Leagues’ most famous and most successful franchises throughout its history. In 1930, team owner J.L. Wilkinson mortgaged everything he owned to buy a lighting system, introducing the first night games to baseball. Those night games helped the Monarchs and some other teams survive the tumult of the Great Depression. The Monarchs were one of the charter teams in the Negro American League in 1937 and became a powerhouse in that league as well. The Monarchs produced more future major leaguers than any other Negro League franchise, including Satchel Paige, Ernie Banks, and Jackie Robinson. First baseman and manager Buck O’Neill also became the first Black coach in the MLB. The Monarchs continued barnstorming tours even after the leagues dissolved, finally folding in the early 1960s.
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