1886-1886 (1 season)
Memphis Eclipses Team History
All-time franchise record
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Memphis Eclipses
Franchise Overview 1886-1886 (1 season)
One of the original teams in the Southern League of Colored Baseballists, the first attempt at a professional Negro organization in 1886. The leagues appears to have collapsed in early July
The Charleston South Caroline News & Courier reported April 8, 1887 that it had received a circular outlining that "A call has been issued for the captains of all colored base ball clubs of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina,
Alabama and Tennessee that have a fair record and desire to enter the Southern League of Colored Base Ballist" the basic plan for the league, which was being organized with a "board of twelve directors representing a capital of nearly
The short-lived Southern League of Colored Base Ballists became the first formal black league in 1886. The first game took place on June 16th but the league disbanded in August. The league was represented by nines hailing from Atlanta, Charleston, Jacksonville, Memphis, New Orleans and Savannah.
Southern League city newspapers the following year made no mention of a Negro league, but the New Orleans Times Picayune of April 25, 1887, reported that Pointter was playing with Binghamton and that the well known Negro star Bud Fowler was on the same club. Pointter was among a number of good players on the Eclipse club, which appears to have been the best in the league.