United States League


The United States League, alternately called the United States Baseball League, was one of the several Negro baseball leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The USL was organized as a minor league in 1945 by Branch Rickey to serve as a platform to scout black players.

League history

In 1945, Branch Rickey was anticipating the integration of black players into Major League Baseball. Rickey, along with Gus Greenlee who was the owner of the original Pittsburgh Crawfords, created the USL as a method to scout black players specifically to break the color line. It is unclear if the league actually played the 1945 season or if it was only used as a pretense for integration. Rickey signed Jackie Robinson, who never played in the USL, in October of that year. The 1946 season lasted only a few weeks before the league folded. Robinson went on the break the Major League color line in 1947 with Rickey's Brooklyn Dodgers.

League franchises

The new league began play in 1945 with at least six teams. Conflicting sources list the Boston Blues as fielding a team in 1945, others list only 1946. No standings or accounts have been found for the 1945 season. The Pittsburgh Crawfords, Philadelphia Hilldales and St. Louis Stars assumed the nicknames of successful defunct teams and have no relation to those teams. The league reportedly folded mid-season in 1946.