#Shortstops: Trophy Case

Effa Manley was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006, along with 16 other Negro League legends. She remains the first and only woman in the Hall of Fame and was a pioneering civil rights advocate.

Best known as the co-owner and business manager of the Newark Eagles, a Negro League team she ran with her husband Abe from 1936 until 1948, Effa was a trailblazer both on and off the field. She sold the club as the Negro National League folded, following Major League Baseball’s re-integration and the movement of top Black players to the majors.

Before the Eagles settled in Newark, however, they spent 1935 as the Brooklyn Eagles, playing at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, N.Y. Though that regular season failed to draw large enough crowds (sparking their move to Newark), the offseason proved far more eventful.

Following her first season, Manley was concerned that her players would have no work during the winter, so she arranged for them to compete in the Puerto Rican Winter League. That winter, about half of her Brooklyn Eagles along with several other Negro Leaguers traveled to Puerto Rico. Manley allowed the players to wear Eagles jerseys and use her equipment, so they competed as the Brooklyn Eagles. Vic Harris, then manager of the Homestead Grays, joined the team and received credit as their manager.

Meanwhile, the 1936 Cincinnati Reds became the first Major League team to host Spring Training in Puerto Rico. At that point they had been known to test baseball’s color line, and the Reds pushed boundaries again that spring. At the time, MLB teams were not supposed to compete against Negro League teams, and white players were not to face American Black players in the Puerto Rican winter leagues. These restrictions sought to reinforce the perceived superiority of white players.

The Reds played anyway, losing their series to the Brooklyn Eagles. The outcome validated what Manley and many others already believed: Negro League players were just as talented as, if not better than, their MLB counterparts. The Eagles went on to win the Puerto Rican Winter League championship following a 7-1 victory over the Almendares, a Cuban team, and were awarded a trophy sponsored by Bacardi Rum.

The Brooklyn Eagles’ success and popularity among Puerto Rican fans led to a return invitation the following year, providing more offseason opportunities for Negro League players.

Manley eventually donated the Bacardi Trophy to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Today, it’s proudly displayed in Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball.

Jaeden Casasnovas is the 2025 licensing, sales and marketing intern in the Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Leadership Development