Negro Southern League (1945–1951)


The second Negro Southern League was one of the several Negro baseball leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The NSL was organized as a minor league in 1945 and lasted until 1951.

League history

Nine team owners met in February 1945 in Nashville, Tennessee, to form a new minor league named after an old minor league.
The 1948 season received very little coverage in the press and is hard to piece together. Additionally, a new league, the Negro American Association, formed and lured away at least four of the stronger teams, including the Atlanta Black Crackers.
The league did not organize for the 1952 season due to attendance figures being expected to be too low to be profitable. The second Negro Southern League was dissolved after seven seasons.

Negro Southern League franchises

Most seasons were split in halves, with the winner of the first half of the season playing the winner of the second half of the season in a formal league play-off that decided the Pennant winner. For some years it is unclear if a split season was played and if the second half schedule was completed. In the below list, the first half winner is noted with a raised "1" and the second half winner is noted with a raised "2".