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RetroSeasons
RetroSeasons recaps past sports seasons through stories, photos, videos, and stats from every team, league, and stadium in history. Coverage includes the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL, as well as vintage media from defunct teams and leagues.
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Recap
The Harrisburg Giants were a U.S. professional Negro league baseball team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They joined the Eastern Colored League (ECL) for the 1924 season with Hall of Fame center fielder Oscar Charleston as playing manager. The Giants became known primarily for their hitting; along with Charleston, outfielder/first baseman Heavy Johnson, winner of the batting triple crown for the 1923 Kansas City Monarchs, was signed away from the rival Negro National League. Speedy outfielder Fats Jenkins, a well-known professional basketball player and member of the New York Rens, also played for Harrisburg throughout its tenure in the ECL.
Harrisburg finished in the middle of the pack in its first season, winning 26 and losing 28 for a fifth-place spot (out of eight teams). In 1925, however, the Giants picked up the pace, challenging defending champion Hilldale before falling just short with a 37-19 record. 1926 saw the Giants add shortstop/third baseman John Beckwith from the Baltimore Black Sox, and finish second again, this time behind the Bacharach Giants.
In 1927 the Harrisburg Giants fell to fourth, with a 41-32 record. The club dropped out of the ECL the following year to play an independent schedule, whereupon most of its best players signed with other teams.
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