1920 Montgomery Grey Sox

Overview

The Negro Southern League of 1920 was formed in early March. During the months of April through September the Grey Sox played a variety of NSL and non-NSL teams. For the Montgomery Grey Sox the season started on Friday, April 30, 1920, against the Birmingham All-Stars (Black Barons), with a three game series in Montgomery, which the Grey Sox took, two games to one. The Grey Sox's season ended on Monday, Sept. 13, 1920, in a game, again with the Birmingham Stars (Black Barons). The Grey Sox won that game.

From my research, the Montgomery Grey Sox played at least 70 games, against both NSL and independent teams. The Grey Sox had an overall record of 39-28-3 (.579 winning percentage). They played 64 NSL games, with a 36-25-3 record (.586 winning percentage). The non-NSL games played numbered 6 in which they had a 3-3 record (.500 winning percentage).

On September 27, Negro Southern League President F.M. Perdue awarded the Montgomery club the championship of the league. Source:The Daily Times (Chattanooga, TN), Tue, Sep 28, 1920.

In contrast, the Knoxville Giants played at total of 74 NSL games, with a 48-24-2 record (.662 winning percentage) and should have been declared champions.

The number of games may not be fully complete, as some newspaper reports are vague and research is ongoing. The Grey Sox may have played another 15 NSL games, but I don't have any sources to support that.

Teams of the 1920 Negro Southern League

The teams in the league were (external link to BBRef):

• Atlanta
• Birmingham
• Jacksonville
• Knoxville
• Montgomery
• Nashville
• New Orleans
• Pensacola

1920 Negro Southern League cities map

.

1920 Montgomery Grey Sox Players

• John Staples, president
• Henry Hannon, manager-lb-lf - BBRef Link / Seamheads Link
• Marion “Daddy” “Red” Cunningham, 1b-3b-manager by Aug. 11 - BBRef Link / Seamheads Link
• Anderson, p
• Brown, p;
• Clay Carpenter, cf - BBRef Link / Seamheads Link
• Cotton, p;
• Herman “Rounder” Cunningham, ss;
• (Walter “Newt”?) Joseph, p - Seamheads Link
• Mason, p
• Bob McCormick, 3b
• Hub McGavock, lf - BBRef Link / Seamheads Link
• George “Deacon” Meyers, p
• Miles, p
• Jimmy Moss, p-rf
• O’Neil, p
• Patton, cf
• Preston, c-rf-1b
• George “Tubby” Scales, 3b-rf - Seamheads Link
• Seals, 1b
• Stern, p
• Sam Streeter, lhp - BBRef Link / Seamheads Link
• Charles “Two-Sides” Wesley, 2b - BBRef Link / Seamheads Link
• Poindexter Williams, c-rf
• Young, p

1920 Montgomery Grey Sox - day by day

Date	Opponent	Location (City)	Park	Montgomery score	Opp score	Montgomery Result	NSL Game?	Notes	Score type	Source 1	Source 2
Fri, Apr 30, 1920	Birmingham All-Stars	Montgomery		7	2	W	Y		line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sat, May 1, 1920
Sat, May 1, 1920	Birmingham All-Stars	Montgomery		8	15	L	Y		line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sun, May 2, 1920
Sun, May 2, 1920	Birmingham All-Stars	Montgomery		6	3	W	Y		line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Mon, May 3, 1920
Thu, May 6, 1920	Pensacola Giants	Montgomery	South Side Park				Y	scheduled		The Montgomery Times (Montgomery, AL), Thu, May 6, 1920
Fri, May 7, 1920	Jacksonville	Montgomery	Washington Park				Y	scheduled
Sat, May 8, 1920	Jacksonville	Montgomery	Washington Park	4	2	W	Y		line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sun, May 9, 1920
Sun, May 9, 1920	Jacksonville	Montgomery	Washington Park				Y	scheduled
Mon, May 17, 1920	New Orleans	Montgomery		5	4	W	Y		line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Tue, May 18, 1920
Tue, May 18, 1920	New Orleans	Montgomery	South Side Park				Y	scheduled
Sun, May 23, 1920	Nashville	Montgomery	Washington Park	9	6	W	Y		line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Mon, May 24, 1920	The Montgomery Times (Montgomery, AL), Mon, May 24, 1920
Thu, May 27, 1920	Bessemer	Montgomery		2	1	W	N		line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Fri, May 28, 1920
Mon, May 31, 1920	New Orleans Stars	New Orleans		3	3	T	Y	Called after 14 innings due to darkness	score	'The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Tue, Jun 1, 1920
Thu, Jun 3, 1920	Pensacola	Pensacola					Y	scheduled		Pensacola News Journal (Pensacola, FL), Thu, Jun 3, 1920
Fri, Jun 4, 1920	Pensacola	Pensacola					Y	scheduled		Pensacola News Journal (Pensacola, FL), Thu, Jun 3, 1920
Sat, Jun 5, 1920	Pensacola	Pensacola					Y	scheduled		Pensacola News Journal (Pensacola, FL), Thu, Jun 3, 1920
Sun, Jun 6, 1920	Nashville	Montgomery	South Side Park				Y	scheduled
Mon, Jun 7, 1920	Birmingham	Birmingham	Rickwood Field	2	3	L	Y	17 inning game	box	The Birmingham News (Birmingham, AL), Tue, Jun 8, 1920
Tue, Jun 8, 1920	Birmingham	Birmingham					Y	scheduled
Wed, Jun 9, 1920	Birmingham	Birmingham		1	2	L	Y		box	The Birmingham News (Birmingham, AL), Thu, Jun 10, 1920
Sat, Jun 12, 1920	Jacksonville	Montgomery		2	1	W	Y	Double Header		The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sun, Jun 13, 1920
Sat, Jun 12, 1920	Jacksonville	Montgomery		3	1	W	Y	Double Header		The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sun, Jun 13, 1920
Mon, Jun 14, 1920	Nashville White Sox	Nashville	Athletic Park				Y	scheduled		The Tennessean (Nashville, TN), Sat, Jun 12, 1920
Tue, Jun 15, 1920	Nashville White Sox	Nashville	Athletic Park				Y	scheduled		The Tennessean (Nashville, TN), Sat, Jun 12, 1920
Wed, Jun 16, 1920	Nashville White Sox	Nashville	Athletic Park	3	0	W	Y			The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Thu, Jun 17, 1920
Thu, Jun 17, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Knoxville	Booker T. Washington Park	3	5	L	Y		line	The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Fri, Jun 18, 1920	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sat, Jun 19, 1920
Fri, Jun 18, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Knoxville	Booker T. Washington Park	5	2	W	Y		line	The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Sat, Jun 19, 1920	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sat, Jun 19, 1920
Sat, Jun 19, 1920	Asheville	Knoxville	Chilhowee Park	1	3	L	N		score	The Sunday Citizen (Asheville, NC), Sun, Jun 20, 1920	The Knoxville Sentinel (Knoxville, TN), Mon, Jun 21, 1920
Fri, Jun 25, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Montgomery	South Side	8	7	W	Y		line	The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Sun, Jun 27, 1920
Sat, Jun 26, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Montgomery	South Side	5	5	T	Y	12 inn.	line	The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Mon, Jun 28, 1920
Sun, Jun 27, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Montgomery		1	2	L	Y		line	The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Mon, Jun 28, 1920
Tue, Jun 29, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Knoxville	Booker T. Washington Park	1	4	L	Y		score	The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Wed, Jun 30, 1920
Wed, Jun 30, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Knoxville	Booker T. Washington Park	0	9	L	Y		line	The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Thu, Jul 1, 1920	The Knoxville Sentinel (Knoxville, TN), Thu, Jul 1, 1920
Thu, Jul 1, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Knoxville	Booker T. Washington Park	4	3	W	Y		line	The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Fri, Jul 2, 1920	The Knoxville Sentinel (Knoxville, TN), Fri, Jul 2, 1920
Fri, Jul 2, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Knoxville	Booker T. Washington Park				Y	game postponed due to wet ground		The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Sat, Jul 3, 1920
Sun, Jul 4, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Montgomery	South Side Park	7	0	W	Y		line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Mon, Jul 5, 1920
Mon, Jul 5, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Montgomery	South Side Park	6	2	W	Y		score	The Emancipator (Montgomery, AL), Sat, Jul 10, 1920
Mon, Jul 5, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Montgomery	South Side Park	9	4	W	Y		score	The Emancipator (Montgomery, AL), Sat, Jul 10, 1920
Tue, Jul 6, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Montgomery	South Side Park	6	5	W	Y		line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Wed, Jul 7, 1920
Fri, Jul 9, 1920	Birmingham All-Stars	Montgomery		7	4	W	Y		line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sat, Jul 10, 1920
Sat, Jul 10, 1920	Birmingham All-Stars	Montgomery	South Side Park				Y	scheduled		The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Wed, Jul 7, 1920
Sun, Jul 11, 1920	Birmingham All-Stars	Montgomery	South Side Park	0	1	L	Y		score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Mon, Jul 12, 1920
Mon, Jul 12, 1920	Pensacola	Montgomery		3	2	W	Y		score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Tue, Jul 13, 1920
Tue, Jul 13, 1920	Pensacola	Montgomery		5	4	W	Y		line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Wed, Jul 14, 1920
Wed, Jul 14, 1920	Pensacola	Montgomery		4	5	L	Y		score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Thu, Jul 15, 1920
Fri, Jul 16, 1920	New Orleans	Montgomery	South Side Park	5	3	W	Y	DH	score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sat, Jul 17, 1920
Fri, Jul 16, 1920	New Orleans	Montgomery	South Side Park	1	3	L	Y	DH	score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sat, Jul 17, 1920
Sat, Jul 17, 1920	New Orleans	Montgomery		6	5	W	Y	DH	score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sun, Jul 18, 1920
Sat, Jul 17, 1920	New Orleans	Montgomery		4	3	W	Y	DH	score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sun, Jul 18, 1920
Sun, Jul 18, 1920	New Orleans	Montgomery					Y	scheduled		The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Wed, Jul 14, 1920
Thu, Jul 22, 1920	Chicago Black Sox	Montgomery	South Side Park				N	scheduled
Sat, Jul 24, 1920	Nashville White Sox	Montgomery		4	1	W	Y		line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sun, Jul 25, 1920
Sun, Jul 25, 1920	Nashville White Sox	Montgomery					Y	scheduled		The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sun, Jul 25, 1920
Tue, Jul 27, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Atlanta		3	0	W	Y	DH	score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Thu, Jul 29, 1920
Tue, Jul 27, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Atlanta		7	1	W	Y	DH	score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Thu, Jul 29, 1920
Thu, Jul 29, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Knoxville	Booker T. Washington Park	5	3	W	Y		line	The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Fri, Jul 30, 1920
Fri, Jul 30, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Knoxville	Booker T. Washington Park	1	3	L	Y		line	The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Sat, Jul 31, 1920	The Chicago Defender (Chicago, IL), Mon, Aug 7, 1920
Sat, Jul 31, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Knoxville	Booker T. Washington Park	1	3	L	Y		line	The Chicago Defender (Chicago, IL), Mon, Aug 7, 1920	The Knoxville Sentinel (Knoxville, TN), Mon, Aug 2, 1920
Tue, Aug 3, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Atlanta	Ponce de Leon Park	1	2	L	Y	DH, 13 innings	score	The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, GA), Wed, Aug 4, 1920
Tue, Aug 3, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Atlanta	Ponce de Leon Park	0	9	L	Y	DH, forfeit	score	The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, GA), Wed, Aug 4, 1920
Wed, Aug 4, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Atlanta		5	1	W	Y		line	The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, GA), Wed, Aug 5, 1920
Fri, Aug 6, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Montgomery	South Side Park	1	4	L	Y		score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sat, Aug 7, 1920
Sat, Aug 7, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Montgomery		2	4	L	Y	DH	score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sun, Aug 8, 1920
Sat, Aug 7, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Montgomery		1	2	L	Y	DH	score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sun, Aug 8, 1920
Sun, Aug 8, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Montgomery		1	4	L	Y			The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, GA), Mon, Aug 9, 1920
Tue, Aug 10, 1920	New Orleans Ads	Montgomery		6	5	W	Y	DH, 11 innings	score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Wed, Aug 11, 1920
Tue, Aug 10, 1920	New Orleans Ads	Montgomery		5	0	W	Y	DH	score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Wed, Aug 11, 1920
Thu, Aug 12, 1920	Birmingham	Birmingham	Rickwood Field	2	1	W	Y	13 innings	box	The Birmingham News (Birmingham, AL), Fri, Aug 13, 1920
Fri, Aug 13, 1920	Birmingham	Birmingham	Rickwood Field	2	0	W	Y		box	The Birmingham News (Birmingham, AL), Sat, Aug 14, 1920
Sat, Aug 14, 1920	Birmingham	Birmingham	Rickwood Field	1	0	W	Y		line	The Birmingham News (Birmingham, AL), Sun, Aug 15, 1920
Sun, Aug 15, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Montgomery	South Side Park	2	1	W	Y		line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Mon, Aug 16, 1920
Mon, Aug 16, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Montgomery	South Side Park	4	1	W	Y		line	The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Tue, Aug 17, 1920
Fri, Aug 20, 1920	Birmingham All-Starts	Montgomery		4	2	W	Y	8 innings - rain	line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sat, Aug 21, 1920
Sat, Aug 21, 1920	Birmingham All-Starts	Montgomery	South Side Park	1	3	L	Y		line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sun, Aug 22, 1920
Mon, Aug 23, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Atlanta	Ponce de Leon Park	2	3	L	Y		line	The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, GA), Tue, Aug 24, 1920
Tue, Aug 24, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Atlanta		1	3	L	Y	DH, 7 innings	line	The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, GA), Wed, Aug 25, 1920
Tue, Aug 24, 1920	Atlanta Black Crackers	Atlanta		5	3	W	Y	DH, 7 innings	line	The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, GA), Wed, Aug 25, 1920
Wed, Aug 25, 1920	Anniston	Anniston		7	0	W	N	split team exhibition	score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Thu, Aug 26, 1920
Thu, Aug 26, 1920	Columbus	Columbus		2	0	W	N	split team exhibition	score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Thu, Aug 26, 1920
Mon, Aug 30, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Knoxville	Booker T. Washington Park	0	3	L	Y		line	The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Tue, Aug 31, 1920	The Knoxville Sentinel (Knoxville, TN), Tue, Aug 31, 1920
Tue, Aug 31, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Knoxville	Booker T. Washington Park	3	3	-	Y	push	score	The Knoxville Sentinel (Knoxville, TN), Wed, Sept. 1, 1920	The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Wed, Sept. 1, 1920
Wed, Sep 1, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Knoxville	Booker T. Washington Park	0	3	L	Y		line	The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Thu, Sept. 2, 1920	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Thu, Sept. 2, 1920
Thu, Sep 2, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Knoxville	Booker T. Washington Park	2	5	L	Y		line	The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Fri, Sept. 3, 1920	The Chicago Defender (Knoxville, TN), Sat, Sept. 11, 1920
Fri, Sep 3, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Knoxville	Booker T. Washington Park				Y	game postponed due to rain		The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN), Sat, Sept. 4, 1920
Sat, Sep 4, 1920	Birmingham Stars	Montgomery		2	2	T	Y		score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sun, Sep 5, 1920
Sun, Sep 5, 1920	Birmingham	Montgomery					Y
Mon, Sep 6, 1920	Birmingham	Birmingham	Rickwood Field				Y	scheduled DH		The Birmingham News (Birmingham, AL), Tue, Jul 27, 1920
Mon, Sep 6, 1920	Birmingham	Birmingham	Rickwood Field				Y	scheduled DH		The Birmingham News (Birmingham, AL), Tue, Jul 27, 1920
Fri, Sep 10, 1920	New Orleans	Montgomery		3	7	L	Y		score	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sat, Sep 11, 1920
Sat, Sep 11, 1920	New Orleans	Montgomery	South Side Park				Y	scheduled		The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sat, Sep 11, 1920
Sun, Sep 12, 1920	New Orleans	Montgomery	South Side Park				Y
Mon, Sep 13, 1920	Birmingham Stars	Montgomery		10	3	W	Y		line	The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Tue, Sep 14, 1920
Tue, Sep 14, 1920	Birmingham Stars	Montgomery					Y
Wed, Sep 15, 1920	Birmingham Stars	Montgomery					Y
Tue, Sep 21, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Birmingham	Rickwood Field				Y	scheduled		The Birmingham News (Birmingham, AL), Thu, Sep 16, 1920
Wed, Sep 22, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Birmingham	Rickwood Field				Y	scheduled		'The Birmingham News (Birmingham, AL), Thu, Sep 16, 1920
Thu, Sep 23, 1920	Knoxville Giants	Birmingham	Rickwood Field				Y	scheduled		The Birmingham News (Birmingham, AL), Thu, Sep 16, 1920
Sat, Sep 25, 1920	Chicago American Giants	Montgomery		6	4	L	N	5 inn. game called due to rain		The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Sun, Sep 26, 1920
Sun, Sep 26, 1920	Chicago American Giants	Montgomery		5	6	L	N			The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL), Mon, Sep 27, 1920

NSL Standings in the newspapers

• in The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA) - May 21, 1920
• in The Constitution (Atlanta, GA) - May 23, 1920
• in The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN) - June 2, 1920
• in The Knoxville Sentinel (Knoxville, TN) - June 24, 1920
• in The Montgomery Times (Montgomery, AL) - June 25, 1920
• in The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL) - June 25, 1920
• as of July 20 in The Pensacola Journal (Pensacola, FL) - August 9, 1920
• as of July 31 in The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL) - August 3, 1920
• as of July 31 in The Montgomery Times (Montgomery, AL) - August 3, 1920
• as of August 18 in The Constitution (Atlanta, GA) - August 23, 1920
• in The Constitution (Atlanta, GA) - September 4, 1920
• as of September 5 in The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, TN) - September 6, 1920
• in The Chicago Defender (Chicago, IL) - September 11, 1920

References / Resources

• various newspapers at Chronicling America (Library of Congress)
• various newspapers at GenealogyBank.com
• various newspapers at Newspapers.com
• Plott, William J. The Negro Southern League: A Baseball History, 1920-1951, McFarland, 2015
• Notes compiled by Plott, Johnson, Lester, Ashwill

Credit

This page was assembled and presented by Mark D. Aubrey.

Please see Copyright info.