page_title: St. Louis Stars (baseball)
section_title: St. Louis Giants
hierarchical_section_title: St. Louis Stars (baseball) / St. Louis Giants
caption_attribution_description: English: Identified at the Hall of Fame website as the New York Giants; clearly an error as the uniforms show "St. Louis". Title St. Louis Giants Team photograph, 1916 Accession Number BL-1649-72 Abstract A black-and-white team photograph of the 1916 St. Louis Giants. The players are posed in two rows, one standing and one sitting, on the field of an unidentified stadium. The players are identified both beneath the image and on the reverse (not shown) as follows. Back row, left to right, Bill Gatewood, P; [Bill] Drake, P; [Ted] Kimbro; Tully [Tullie] McAdoo, 1B; Sam Bennett, C, OF; [Lee] Wade. Front row, left to right, McKinley [Bunny] Downs, LF; Frank Warfield, 2B; Dan Kennard, C; Chas. [Charles] Mills Mgr.; Bobby [Dick] Wallace, Capt., SS; Jimmy [Jimmie] Lyons, OF; [Charlie] Blackwell, OF. The additional image caption on the reverse reads, "Bennett is said to have given pointers to Tris Speaker. Warfield is one of 3-4 best 2B in black history. Downs later killed a woman, I don't know all the details. Gatewood, an emery ball pitcher, killed a man in batting practice."
context_page_description: The St. Louis Stars, originally the St. Louis Giants, were a Negro league baseball team that competed independently from as early as 1906 to 1919, and then joined the Negro National League for the duration of their existence. After the 1921 season, the Giants were sold by African-American promoter Charlie Mills to Dick Kent and Dr. Sam Sheppard, who built a new park and renamed the club the Stars. As the Stars, they eventually built one of the great dynasties in Negro league history, winning three pennants in four years from 1928 to 1931.
context_section_description: In 1906, Charles A. Mills, an African-American bank messenger and baseball fan who wanted to upgrade the team, approached Conrad Kuebler, a white man who owned a ballpark, and convinced him to invest in the team. He then persuaded the Leland Giants to visit St. Louis to play against his team. Mills discovered that the Leland Giants' star third baseman, Dick Wallace wanted a change of scenery, and persuaded him to join the St. Louis Giants as the team's playing manager. Wallace stayed with the team for most of its existence and assembled a core of veterans, including Ben Taylor, shortstop Joe Hewitt, first baseman Tullie McAdoo, catcher/outfielder Sam Bennett, pitchers Bill Drake and Bill Gatewood, and outfielders Jimmie Lyons and Charles Blackwell. Though they were a good club, winning the St. Louis City League championship in 1912 and 1913, they couldn't break the grip of the Chicago American Giants and, later, the Indianapolis ABCs on the unofficial western championship of black baseball.
caption: 1916 team photo.
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