The Indianapolis ABC's:
History of a Premier Team in the Negro Leagues Paul Debono
The Indianapolis
ABCs were formed at the turn of the century, playing
company teams around the city; they soon played other,
including some white, teams in Indiana. When the Negro
National League was formed in 1920, Indianapolis was a
charter member. But player raids by the Eastern Colored
League, formed in 1923, hurt the ABCs and by the
Depression the team was fading. The team was briefly
resurrected as a Negro league team in the late 1930s,
but was otherwise relegated to the semiprofessional
ranks until its demise in the 1940s. Through
contemporary newspaper accounts, extensive research and
interviews with the few former ABC players still living,
this is the story of the Indianapolis team and the rise
of Negro league baseball. The work includes a roster of
ABC players, with short biographies of the most
prominent.
