One of Dayton’s “Gems”

It was once quoted "I see great things in baseball. It's our game - the American game”. Walt Whitman is the author of this quote and its date can be traced to back to sometime during the fight for the abolition of slavery. The American Civil War was fought from 1861–1865, during a time where the future of America could not be foretold. When they were not on the battlefield, soldiers often took part of a recreational sport on a different kind of field. People of all backgrounds participated and enjoyed the game. No matter what race, religion, etc. In 1967, the American Basketball Association was founded. The sport which had gained the popular nickname “Americans favorite pass time”, was recognized as a professional sport in 1869. A year prior in 1868, The ABA (American Basketball Association) voted that any team that included “one or more” African American players would be banned from the National League. In response to this Andrew “Ruby” Foster (owner of the negro team the Chicago Giants) contacted Booker T. Washington and they together formed the NNL (National Negro League. The league originally consisted of 8 Negro teams which were drafted from other, smaller leagues. The NNL consisted originally of the St. Louis Giants, the Detroit Stars, the Chicago American Giants, the Indianapolis ABCs, the Kansas City Monarchs, the Cuban Stars, the Chicago Giants and the Dayton Marcos. The Marcos survived an entire season in the league, facing legends like Satchel Paige, before being dropped. Little is known of the Marcos outside of Dayton, but their history is one worth remembering. To the league they were known as the Dayton Marcos. To Daytonians, their local professional Negro baseball team were respected as the “Gem City Sluggers”...

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...ace in Dayton’s history.

Works Cited

Archdeacon, Tom. “Negro Leaguer Loved the Game.” Cox Media Group Ohio, 2011. Web. 16 Mar, 2012

Baker, Jr, Wayne F. “Gem City Sluggers.” Impact Weekly Newpaper. 10 Feb, 2000. Pages 7-12

Negro League Dot Com. “Negro League Baseball (Time Line of Events In Professional Black Baseball).” P. Mills, Publisher, 2003. Web. 16 Mar, 2012.

Presar, Steven. “The Dayon Marcos Prfessional Baseball Team.” American Prfessional Football Association. 2003. Web, 16 Mar 2012 < http://www.daytontriangles.com/9marcos.html >

Ribowsky, Mark. “Complete history of Negro Leagues. Birchlane Publication Group.

1995. Pages 85,100, 108, 113.