Homestead Grays

References

Images

A formidable lineup

Homestead Grays

American baseball team

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

June 29, 2026

Quick Summary

A formidable lineup — A formidable lineup Members of the 1947 Homestead Grays (from left) Dan Wilson, Luis Márquez, Matt (“Lick”) Carlisle, Sam Bankhead, and Buck Leonard at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C.

The Homestead Grays were a prominent professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues from the 1930s to the 1940s. These leagues were established because African American players were excluded from Major League Baseball due to a color barrier, a form of racial segregation.123

The Negro National League (NNL) and the Negro American League (NAL) were two of the principal Negro leagues. The Homestead Grays, based in Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., were a dominant team, winning nine pennants between 1937 and 1945. Famous players from the Negro leagues include Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and Cool Papa Bell. The Negro leagues officially gained recognition from Major League Baseball in the 21st century, with their statistics being incorporated into MLB's record books.12

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

3 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

Cool Papa Bell
…American Giants (1942–43), and the Homestead Grays (1943–45). He was also player-manager of the Kansas City Monarchs (1948–50). In addition, Bell competed in the Mexican and California winter leagues and in Cuba and the Dominican Republic.
Read More
…American Giants (1942–43), and the Homestead Grays (1943–45). He was also player-manager of the Kansas City Monarchs (1948–50). In addition, Bell competed in the Mexican and California winter leagues and in Cuba and the Dominican Republic.
Read More

Josh Gibson
…in 1930 he joined the Homestead Grays, his first professional Negro league club. The powerful Gibson soon gained a reputation for slugging tape-measure home runs, and in 1932 he was lured back to the now-professional Crawfords by a relatively large paycheck. In 1937 he returned to the Grays, for whom…
Read More
…in 1930 he joined the Homestead Grays, his first professional Negro league club. The powerful Gibson soon gained a reputation for slugging tape-measure home runs, and in 1932 he was lured back to the now-professional Crawfords by a relatively large paycheck. In 1937 he returned to the Grays, for whom…
Read More

Buck Leonard
He signed with the Homestead Grays in 1934 and played 17 years with them, through the 1950 season.
Read More
He signed with the Homestead Grays in 1934 and played 17 years with them, through the 1950 season.
Read More

Negro league
The Negro National League and the Eastern Colored League
Posey, veteran manager of the Homestead Grays, a ball club based in Pittsburgh. The new league barely made it off the ground. By early June its Detroit team had dropped out, the schedule was curtailed, and salaries were slashed. The league did not last the summer.
Read More
Posey, veteran manager of the Homestead Grays, a ball club based in Pittsburgh. The new league barely made it off the ground. By early June its Detroit team had dropped out, the schedule was curtailed, and salaries were slashed. The league did not last the summer.
Read More