Remembering the Royals: The pride of Brooklyn’s African-American baseball community
It became immediately apparent, roughly a century ago, in early September 1914, that the Brooklyn Royal Giants had virtually no chance against the Chicago American Giants.
The pride of Brooklyn’s African-American baseball community had played solid, at times dominant, ball all season long, establishing themselves as one of the finest all-black hardball aggregations in the East.
But the Royal Giants ended up being no match for the squad from the Windy City in what was billed as an informal “colored world series” for the title of best African-American team in the country. The American Giants, who were piloted by Andrew “Rube” Foster — perhaps the most influential figure in pre-integration black baseball — swept the Brooklynites in the series and cemented themselves as the kings of the blackball hill in 1914.