19th-century African-American professional baseball team
Page Fence Giants
Information
League
Independent
Ballpark
Lawrence Park, Adrian, Michigan (1895–1896) County Fairgrounds, Adrian, Michigan (1898)
Established
1895
Disbanded
1898
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The Page Fence Giants were a professional Black-American baseball team based in Adrian, Michigan, from 1895 to 1898, performing as one of the nation's top teams in the Negro leagues. Named after the Page Woven Wire Fence Company in Adrian, they were sponsored by its founder, J. Wallace Page.
Formed in 1894, the team played its first game on April 9, 1895. Bud Fowler and Home Run Johnson organized the team, which was managed by Gus Parsons. Fowler chose players who did not drink and aimed for a group with high moral character. Five of the twelve players were college graduates. Fowler played second base, while Johnson manned shortstop. The team played in 112 towns that year against all levels of competition, going 118–36–2. They were 8–7 against clubs from the white Michigan State League (MSL). They lost games by scores of 11–7 and 16–2 against the Cincinnati Reds. The club lost Fowler and pitcher George Wilson to the white Adrian-based team Adrian Demons during the MSL season.
In 1896, Charlie Grant replaced Fowler at second. The Page Fence Giants beat the Cuban X-Giants in a 15-game series, 10 games to 5, to claim they were the top team in black baseball. The clinching game took place in Caro, Michigan, and regular shortstop Home Run Johnson was the winning pitcher that game. Overall they went 80–19 through August 1. In 1897, they went 125–12 with 82 consecutive wins. The 1898 tour was the club's last, as the next year many of the players went to the new Columbia Giants in Chicago.[1]
The outcome of many games were disputed by the Giants' management, due to many games worked by unfair umpires assigned to the games. One published win–loss record was 1895, 121–31; 1896, 143–25; 1897, 129–10; 1898, 107–10.[2]
In 1896, Charlie Grant replaced Fowler at second. The PageFenceGiants beat the Cuban X-Giants in a 15-game series, 10 games to 5, to claim they were...
help them start a team financed by the Page Woven Wire Fence Company, the PageFenceGiants. The PageFenceGiants went on to become a powerhouse team that...
left the PageFenceGiants after just one season, Grant replaced them in 1896. Grant and PageFence defeated White's new team, the Cuban X-Giants, ten games...
From 1894 to 1904, Fowler played and/or managed the PageFenceGiants, Cuban Giants, Smoky City Giants, All-American Black Tourists, and Kansas City Stars...
Michigan, on September 25, 1896, against the Cuban X Giants. After 1898, the PageFenceGiants were unable to continue playing, so Johnson and most of...
replaced Bud Fowler at second base on the barnstorming PageFenceGiants team, batting .404 as the Giants finished with a 118-36-2 record and played in 112...
Lincoln Giants shortly before they disbanded. During this Pre-PageFenceGiants era, he teamed up with Frank Maupins (later also of the PageFenceGiants) to...
the PageFenceGiants of the negro leagues. With the two franchises sharing management, the Adrian Reformers signed six players from the PageFence Giants...
Vandalia, Michigan, Van Dyke played for the PageFenceGiants in 1895. He later played for the Sam Folz Colored Giants of Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1899. Van Dyke...
the upper Ohio River. In 1895, he debuted at the age of 17 with the PageFenceGiants, where he played short stop, left field, then first base, then moved...
Illinois, Brooks played for the Chicago Unions in 1894, and for the PageFenceGiants the following season. He collapsed in the outfield during a game in...
leagues baseball team PageFenceGiants to play against the Owosso Colts, possibly as injury replacements. The PageFenceGiants were also based in Adrian...
on to the PageFenceGiants, which eventually brought him to Chicago when the team moved to Chicago and became the Chicago Columbia Giants in 1899. In...
attach bras to a rural fence. The fence gradually became a well known site as the number of bras grew to hundreds. The fence is located on a public road...
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