Cuban "X" Giants

Cuban "X" Giants
An independent pre-league team
1897-1907

Colored Champion 1899
Eastern Champions 1897-1903
Eastern CoChampions 1900-1902

Originally comprised of defecting Cuban Giants players, this team became one of the most powerful independent black teams around the turn of the century. They won the 1903 Colored World’s Championship, beating the Philadelphia Giants five games to two.

The legendary Andrew "Rube" Foster, the inventor of "tricky" baseball, pitched four of the five victories. Other stars included John Henry "Pop" Lloyd, Dan McClellan (who pitched the first perfect game for a black team in 1903), and Grant "Home Run" Johnson. In the 1930s, the versatile Martin Dihigo led a winter barnstorming team by this name.