NLB
The CLEVELAND BUCKEYES, the last of a number of Cleveland teams that played in the professional Negro baseball leagues, also were the best, playing in 2 Negro World Series and winning in 1945.
Most of Cleveland's black professional baseball teams prior to the Buckeyes lasted a year or less, and the teams finished near the bottom of the standings. The Cleveland Tate Stars finished last in the Negro National League in 1922, as did the Cleveland Browns of 1924, the Cleveland Elites of 1926, and the Cleveland Hornets of 1927.
The Cleveland Buckeyes were organized by Ernest Wright, a hotel and nightclub owner in Erie, PA, with Wilbur Hayes, a local sports promoter, serving as executive manager. Formed at the end of 1941, the Buckeyes spent 1942 as the Cleveland-Cincinnati Buckeyes. The team began playing in 1943 as the Cleveland Buckeyes and had a number of all-star players during the 1940s.
Peterson, Robert W. Only the Ball was White (1970).