{{Short description|Negro league baseball team}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox baseball team |name = Cleveland Cubs |established = 1920 |disbanded = 1950 |city = Cleveland, Ohio |logo = |cap_logo = |league = {{plainlist| *Negro National League (1931) }} |nickname = |ballpark = {{plainlist| *Hardware Field (1931) }} |league_champ_type= League titles |league_champs = }} The '''Cleveland Cubs''' were a Negro league baseball team in the Negro National League, based in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1931.<ref name="Riley">{{Cite book | last=Holway | first=John | title=The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues | publisher=Hastings House Publishers | year=2001 | pages=272, 275 | isbn=0-8038-2007-0 }}</ref> In their only season, they finished in second place with a 23-22 record.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Cleveland Cubs Team History - Seamheads Negro Leagues Database |url=https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/organization.php?franchID=CCU |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=www.seamheads.com}}</ref> The rosters of the 1931 Cubs and the 1931 Nashville Elite Giants have some overlap as Tom Wilson was owner of both teams.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Negro League Owners |url=https://irp.cdn-website.com/33d0c3d0/files/uploaded/Negro%20League%20Owners%202019-10.pdf |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=www.cnlbr.org |page=6 |language=en}}</ref>
The Cubs had one Hall of Famer play for them: Satchel Paige pitched in 5 games for the Cubs, winning one and losing one, with a 2.13 ERA.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Satchel Paige - Seamheads Negro Leagues Database |url=https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?playerID=paige01sat&tab=pit&mult=Indiv&sort=Year_a&adv_sort=Year_a |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=www.seamheads.com}}</ref> The Cubs home ballpark was Hardware Field.<ref name=":0" />
== Foster Memorial Giants ==
An independent Cleveland Cubs team emerged in 1932 that also went by the name "Foster Memorial Giants."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Foster Memorial Giants / Cleveland Cubs Team History - Seamheads Negro Leagues Database |url=https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/organization.php?franchID=FCC |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=www.seamheads.com}}</ref> Originally named Rube Foster Memorial Giants and based in Chicago, the team moved to Cleveland (and the Southern League) as a result of success of Chicago American Giants in their home city.{{sfn | Aiello | 2006 | p=367}} They disappeared after playing to a 1–15 record.<ref name=":1" />
This incarnation of the Cubs also had one Hall of Famer play for them: Cristóbal Torriente played in 11 games hitting .244.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cristóbal Torriente - Seamheads Negro Leagues Database |url=https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?playerID=torri01cri&tab=bat&mult=Indiv&sort=Year_a&adv_sort=Year_a |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=www.seamheads.com}}</ref> This Cubs team had no designated home ballpark.<ref name=":1" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
== Sources == * {{cite journal | last=Aiello | first=Thomas | title=The Fading of the Greys: Black Baseball and Historical Memory in Little Rock | journal=The Arkansas Historical Quarterly | publisher=Arkansas Historical Association | volume=65 | issue=4 | year=2006 | issn=0004-1823 | eissn = 2327-1213 | jstor=40028091 | pages=360–384 | doi=10.2307/40028091 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/40028091 | access-date=2024-04-28| url-access=subscription }}
==External links== * [https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/organization.php?franchID=CCU Cleveland Cubs] franchise history at Seamheads.com
{{Negro National League (1920–1931)}} {{Negro League teams}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1931 establishments in Ohio Category:1931 disestablishments in Ohio Category:Baseball teams established in 1931 Category:Baseball teams disestablished in 1931 Category:1930s in Cleveland Category:Negro league baseball teams in Ohio Cubs Category:Defunct baseball teams in Ohio Category:African-American history in Cleveland