Philadelphia Pythians

Philadelphia Pythians
Information
League
  • Independent (1865–1871)
LocationPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Ballpark
Established1865
Disbanded1871

The Philadelphia Pythians (also Pythian Base Ball Club, Pythian Baseball Club, or the "Pyths")[1] was one of the earliest Negro league baseball clubs, founded in 1865.[2][3] African-American leaders Jacob C. White Jr. and Octavius V. Catto established the team. The Pythians were composed of primarily business and middle class professionals from the surrounding areas of Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City. Just two years after the Civil War ended, in 1867, the Pennsylvania State Convention of Baseball, located in Harrisburg, denied the "Pythian Base Ball Club" out of Philadelphia.[4] The team dissolved after Catto's death in 1871 and a new team formed under the Pythian name in the National Colored Base Ball League in 1887. The new team's first season went 4–1.[5][6] Due to financial troubles it folded after only one season.[7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Holway, John (2001). The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues: The Other Half of Baseball History. Fern Park, Florida: Hastings House Publishers. ISBN 0-8038-2007-0.
  3. ^ "Negro League Baseball Historical Timeline" (PDF). Center for Negro League Baseball Research. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  4. ^ Lewis, Jason (2011-07-06). "Black History: First Black Major League Baseball Player". LA Sentinel. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
  5. ^ Grigsby, Daryl Russell (2017-05-08). Celebrating Ourselves: African-Americans and the Promise of Baseball. Dog Ear Publishing. ISBN 9781608447985.
  6. ^ Heaphy, Leslie A. (2003-01-01). The Negro Leagues, 1869-1960. McFarland. ISBN 9780786413805.
  7. ^ Casway, Jerrold (2007). "Octavius Catto and the Pythians of Philadelphia". Pennsylvania Legacies. 7 (1): 5–9. JSTOR 27765073.