1948 Negro League Postseason

The 1948 season was the final season for the Negro National League and, hence, the Negro League World Series. The NNL and Homestead Grays went out as champions.

Interestingly, the 1948 season also appears to have been the only season in Negro League history which saw playoffs in two different Negro Leagues which then culminated in a Negro League World Series matchup.

With the integration of the previously white major leagues in 1947, the attention of much of the African-American press shifted from the Negro Leagues to the newly integrated American and National Leagues. This is perhaps most evident in the coverage of the Negro League World Series. To date, a newspaper box score has only been found for one of the five games of the 1948 Negro League World Series, Homestead's Game One victory in Kansas City. Oddly, we have found better newspaper coverage for both the NAL and NNL playoffs.

Here is what we know so far about the 1948 Negro League playoffs.

1948 NAL Championship Series: Birmingham Black Barons (BIR) def. Kansas City Monarchs (KCM), 4-3-1

1948 NNL Championship Series: Homestead Grays (HOM) def. Baltimore Elite Giants (BLG), 3-1(*)

1948 Negro League World Series: Homestead Grays (NNL) def. Birmingham Black Barons (NAL), 4 games to 1

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