Below are names of players listed on rosters of Negro League teams from Nashville, beginning with the Elite Giants 1928-1934; Black Vols, Cubs, Stars, and Standard Giants.
Nashville Elite Giants owner Tom Wilson entered a team in the highly successful (and integrated) California Winter League (1932-33, 1933-34, 1934-35, 1935-36). In many records these teams are known as “Wilson’s Elite Giants”; since these teams did not call Nashville “home” those players are not included.
There were several lesser known teams of Black players, too: Morocco Stars, New Era Stars, Nashville Cardinals, Nashville Royal Giants and Nashville Crawfords, and the L & N Railroad and DuPont sponsored teams, too. Player listings are difficult to acquire for these clubs.
It is no easy feat to determine which team is the correct one when a newspaper names a team “Stars” on one date, then reports them as “Giants” in the box score. It appears that even in reported conversations an interviewee states “Black Vols” when the correct team name should have been “Cubs”. Care has been made to keep separate notes on varying club names, but it should be understood that the listings below are not all-inclusive.
Research sources are listed below; often these vary in the year a player was on a team. Note that a separate reference to a player may have been located by one writer or researcher than another . With that in mind, all years found for any player are included on the roster of a team.
Duplication of names are possible; often player names did not include a first name, or misspellings occurred in scorecards or team records (such as “Wood” for “Hood”). Names include the year(s) spent with the ball club.
By clicking on an underlined name, a player’s biography may be posted at sabr.org (Society for American Baseball Research) as part of the organization’s Baseball Biography Project, an ongoing effort to research and write comprehensive biographical articles on people who played or managed in the major leagues, or otherwise made a significant contribution to the sport.
Special thanks to Rory Costello and Gregory H. Wolf, co-directors, for their willingness to allow biographies to be linked to this site. A bio has not been written or submitted on every player; should you wish to learn how you can participate in this project, send your inquiry here: [email protected].
Nashville Elite Giants
Name, Year(s) with club
Clarence Adkins, 1931
Allison, 1921, 1923
Anderson, 1926
William Anderson, 1927, 1930
Tank Austin, 1930
Russell Bailey, 1926
Sam Bankhead, 1932-1934
Barker, 1923
Bas(s)ham, 1921
Bell(e), 1926-1927
Cliff Bell, 1931
George “Jew Baby” Bennette, 1922
William “Kid” Billings, 1921
Charlie Blackwell, 1929
Willie Bobo, 1929-1930
Bright, 1932
Brown, 1927
Blackbottom Buford, 1927-1932
Joe Campbell, 1930
Richard Cannon, 1931-1932
Carney, 1921
Carpenter, 1921
Clay Carpenter, 1926-1927
Alfred Carter, 1934
Red Charleston, 1927, 1929-1932
Daltie “Bullet” Cooper, 1921-1922
Coley, 1931
George “Hippo” Collins, 1927
Sugg Cornelius, 1929
Comer “Hannibal” Cox, 1930-1931
(Will?) Crowder, 1921
Cummings, 1926
Homer Curry, 1933
Ray Dandridge, 1933
Dandy, 1923
Fred Daniels, 1928
J Davis, 1921
Walter Davis, 1934
W Dixon, 1921
Andrew Drake, 1930
Dudley, 1923
Tommy Dukes, 1932-1934
Jack Dunn, 1933
Edwards, 1923
Jesse Edwards, 1928-1931
R. Edwards, 1926
Mack Eggleston, 1934
James Ellis, 1921-1922, 1926
Louis English, 1930
Evitt, 1929
(John) Finner, 1927
Jimmy Ford, 1934
Foster, 1921
Fox, 1930
Geer, 1922
“Frenchy” Gibson, 1921
Willie Gisentaner, 1933
Grady, 1921
Gratton, 1921
Lawence “Cannonball” Graves, 1921
Noel Graves, 1922
Gray, 1929
Gray, 1931
Green, 1922-1923
Vernon “Baby” Green, 1921
Greer, 1921
G. Griffin, 1921
Robert Griffith, 1934
Grover, 1922
Groves, 1921-1922
Earl Gurley, 1928
Jim Gurley, 1922
Hall, 1922
Hall, 1927
Haney, 1923
Paul Hardy, 1934
Harney, 1929
Harris, 1922-1923
Kid Harvey (Lit Harvell, Harney), 1929
Lenon Henderson, 1930-1932
H. Long Henderson, 1932
“Slim” Henderson, 1931
Stokes Hendrix, 1934
Joe Hewitt, 1929-1930, 1932
Hicks, 1923
Hillis, 1926
Hogan, 1922
Robert “Frog” Holsey, 1932
Will Holt, 1922
Hosea, 1932
Hovely, 1932
C. Hubert, 1931
Sammy Hughes, 1932-1934
Jack Jackson, 1929
Jasper, 1928
Jasper, 1931
“Big” Jasper, 1926
Claude “Hooks” Johnson, 1931
Jones, 1923
Jones, 1926
Jones, 1931
Jordan, 1921
Lamont, 1932
Milford “Rick” Laurent, 1927
Milton Laurent, 1932
Lester, 1932
Clarence Lewis, 1934
Lloyd, 1921
William “Kid” Lowe, 1922, 1930-1931
Louie, 1932
Granville Lyons, 1931-1932, 1934
Malloy, 1921-1923
Marable, 1921-1922
Marsh, 1932
B. McCauley, 1930
McIntyre, 1923
H. McMillan, 1923
William McNeil (McNeal), 1926
Means, 1921
Geechie Meredith, 1930
Miller, 1923
Charlie Miller, 1932
Dempsey “Dimp” Miller, 1930-1931
Percy Miller, 1933-1934
S. “Parson” Miller, 1922
Mitchell, 1923
W. Mitchell, 1926
Money, 1922
Roy “Square” Moore, 1922
Moorer, 1921
Al Morris, 1927-1930
Andrew Morris, 1922
William Nash, 1932
(Wild Bill?) Nesbitt, 1921
Nichols, 1926
Eddie Noel, 1921-1922, 1926, 1929
“Bughouse” Norman, 1922
Amos Otis, 1921
Albert “Dumpy” Owens, 1930-1931
Owensby, 1931
Eddie Pace, 1930
Parker, 1923
Tom Parker, 1934
Roy Parnell, 1934
Pennington, 1929
Pennock, 1927
Charlie Petway, 1931-1932
“Hooty” Phillips, 1921-1922, 1926-1927
Piller, 1931
Poole, 1922
Andy Porter, 1932-1934
Posey, 1932
Powers, 1926
Pruett, 1927
Ridley, 1923
Jack Ridley (Risley?), 1926-1933
Roberts, 1921
Robertson, 1934
Ronsell, 1931
Jimpsey Rousell, 1929, 1931
(Sammy?) Routt, 1927
Rowe, 1932
Russell, 1926
Russell, 1929
Branch Russell, 1928, 1931
Scott, 1934
Percy Segula (Wilson?), 1922
Sharp, 1926
Shelton, 1923
Singlong (Sing Long, Singalong), 1929
Smiley, 1928
Smith, 1921
Jake Smith, 1932-1933
Robert Smith, 1932
Felton Snow, 1933-1934
Willie Spearman, 1927, 1929
Spratt, 1922
Stanton, 1923
Norman “Turkey” Stearnes (Hall of Fame, 2000), 1921
Felton Stratton, 1928-1933
Leroy Stratton, 1921, 1923, 1927, 1932
Roosevelt “Speed” Bill Tate, 1932
Candy Jim Taylor, 1933-1934
Terry, 1928
Thomas, 1923
Dave Thomas, 1928
E. Thomas, 1926
Toplin (Topman?), 1923, 1926
Clarence “Harvey” T(h)realkill, 1929, 1931
Ware, 1927
Weston, 1923
Wade, 1921
Jesse “Hoss” Walker, 1931-1934
Wallace, 1921
Joe Ware, 1921
Washington, 1929
Jim West, 1930, 1933-1934
Westmoreland, 1926
Weston, 1930
White, 1927
Clarence “Red” White, 1926, 1929-1930
Joe Wiggins, 1930-1932
Wigware, 1930
E. Williams, 1932
Henry Williams, 1933
Jim “Bullet” Williams, 1929, 1932
M. Williams, 1932
Nish Williams, 1928-1934
Norm Williams, 1930
Poindexter Williams, 1930, 1933
Williams, 1932
Jim Willis, 1928-1934
Wilson, 1921
Percy Wilson, 1922
Burnis Wright, 1931-1934
Henry “Red” Wright, 1928-1934
Howard Wright, 1933
L. Wright, 1932
Wynne, 1922
Young, 1922, 1926
Nashville Black Vols
Name, Year(s) with club
Bender, 1936
Black Bottom Buford, 1936
Brown, 1945
Leon “Boogie Wolf” Childress, 1945
Jim Gilliam, 1945
Grimes, 1945
Gray, 1936
“Smokey Joe” Hall, 1945
J. Jackson, 1936
Johnson, 1936
Johnson, 1945
Jones, 1936
Henry Kimbro, 1936
Early King, 1945
Red Longley, 1936
Love (Lowe?), 1936
Granville Lyons, 1936, 1945
Frank McAllister, 1936
Patton, 1945
Bill “Pa” Perkins, 1945
Richardson, 1945
Frank Russell, 1945
Stokes, 1936
Thriekill, 1936
Jess “Hoss” Walker, 1936
Doc Wingo, 1945
Johnnie Williams, 1936
Woodrow, 1936
Harvey Young, 1945
“Slow Time” Young, 1936
Nashville Cubs
Name, Year(s) with club
Roy Acklin (Aiken), 1946
Wilbur “Yank” Adkisson (Atkinson), 1946-1947
“Buster” Allen, 1947
James Armistead, 1946
Armstrong, 1946
Otha Bailey, 1949
Norman Banks, 1946
Black, 1947
James Bransford, 1949
Derrick Brooks, 1949
Joe Brooks, 1949
Kelly Brooks, 1948
Alfred “Bomber” “Farmer” Brown, 1946-1949
Jack Bruton, 1949
Burnett, 1946
Calhoun, 1949
Claiborn Cartwright, 1946
Cervantes, 1948
Chyslom, 1949
Curtis Clark, 1948
Melvin “Slick” Coleman, 1948
Luther “Sleepy” Col(y)vin, 1946-1947
Eugene Craig, 1949
James Craig, 1949
James Daly, 1946
Clarence “Spike” Davis, 1946-1948
Gabriel Davis, 1947
Edward “Lefty” Derrick, 1946-1949
Scottie Drake (Duke?), 1949
Edmundson, 1946
Nathaniel Edwards, 1946
Carl Emerson, 1946
Ferras, 1946
Foster, 1947
Roscoe Germany, 1946
Gibson, 1946
Gilby, 1946
Bill “Double Duty” Greason, 1947
Hatten, 1949
Arthur Hefner, 1946
Henton, 1946
Archie Hinton, 1946
Clayton Holt, 1949
Herman Howard, 1947
Floyd Jackson, 1946
“Bullett” Johnson, 1946
James Jones, 1947
Brennan King, 1947
Early King, 1946-1947
Gerry Kizer, 1949
James Knight, 1946
Lanier, 1946
Wesley (Frank) Logan, 1947
Manning, 1948
Clinton “Butch” McCord, 1947-1948
McKenzie, 1949
Fred Miller, 1947
Sack Morgan, 1948
Richard “Cowboy” Murray, 1946, 1949
Naples (Napier), 1949
Nelson, 1949
James Nelson, 1949
Bill (John?) Newberry, 1946
William Norwood, 1949
Judge “Dusty” Owens, 1947
Nathaniel Owens, 1946-1948
Parker, 1949
Bill Patterson, 1947-1948
Rugus “Junior” Patton, 1949
Potter, 1949
Pugh, 1949
Johnnie Richardson, 1947
Frazier “P-80” Robertson, 1946, 1948
Harold Robinson, 1948
Russell, 1946
Russell, 1949
Frank Russell, 1946-1948
John Russell, 1946
William Scott, 1946-1948
Seagraves, 1948
Serves, 1948
Stratten, 1946
Roy Swanson, 1946-1948
Hosea Thomas, 1949
“Horse” Thompson, 1948-1949
Jess “Hoss” Walker, 1948
Williams, 1946
Bob Williams, 1948
E Williams, 1948
Stew Williams, 1948
R Young, 1948
Jim Zapp, 1946-1949
Nashville Stars
Name, Year(s) with club
Robert Abernathy, 1949
W. Abernathy, 1949
Wilbur “Yank” Adkisson, 1949-1951
Black, 1950
William “Soo” Bridgeforth, 1949
Burns, 1949
Cartwright, 1949
Wesley “Doc” Dennis, 1949-1951
Evans, 1950
Heffner, 1950
Marvay, 1950
Orlando “Chico” O’Farrill, 1950
Rouse, 1950
Frank Russell, 1950-1951
Kelly Searcy, 1950-1951
Frank A. “Hoss” Thompson, 1950
E. Williams, 1950
Jim “Zipper” Zapp, 1949-1951
*Sources: Baseball-reference.com, Negro Southern League by William Plott, Only the Ball Was White by Robert A. Peterson, Center for Negro League Research, SABR Biography Project, California Winter League – America’s First Integrated Professional Baseball League by William F. McNeil
