Editing Negro league baseball (section)

===Frank Leland===
[[Image:ChiUnionGiants 1905.jpg|right|thumb|350px|[[Leland Giants|Chicago Union Giants]] in 1905]]
Also in 1888, [[Frank Leland]] got some of Chicago's black businessmen to sponsor the black amateur [[Union Base Ball Club]]. Through Chicago's city government, Leland obtained a permit and lease to play at the [[South Side Park]], a 5,000-seat facility. Eventually, his team went pro and became the [[Chicago Unions]].{{sfn|Holway|2001|p=474}}

After his stint with the Gorhams, Bud Fowler caught on with a team out of [[Findlay, Ohio]]. While his team was playing in [[Adrian, Michigan]], Fowler was persuaded by two white local businessmen, [[L. W. Hoch]] and [[Rolla Taylor]] to help them start a team financed by the Page Woven Wire Fence Company, the [[Page Fence Giants]]. The Page Fence Giants went on to become a powerhouse team that had no home field. Barnstorming through the Midwest, they would play all comers. Their success became the prototype for black baseball for years to come.

After the 1898 season, the Page Fence Giants were forced to fold because of finances. [[Alvin H. Garrett]], a black businessman in Chicago, and [[John W. Patterson]], the [[left fielder]] for the Page Fence Giants, reformed the team under the name the [[Columbia Giants]]. In 1901, the Giants folded because of a lack of a place to play. Leland bought the Giants in 1905 and merged it with his Unions (despite the fact that not a single Giant player ended up on the roster), and named them the [[Leland Giants]].{{sfn|Holway|2001|p=474}}