Giants among men

The Eastern Colored League is formally established 101 years ago today as the second major Negro League organization, setting in motion what will be a golden, albeit brief, era of major league baseball in Harrisburg, Pa., which joins the ECL in 1924.

Fats Jenkins, left, and Oscar Charleston

For four years, the Harrisburg Giants field some of the premier talent – Black or White – in all of baseball.

The best of the Harrisburg Giants is center fielder Oscar Charleston, the future Hall of Famer who along with Rap Dixon and Fats Jenkins give the Giants one of the game's all-time best outfields from 1924-27 before the ECL folds in 1928.

Ben Taylor, who plays first base for Harrisburg in 1925, eventually joins Charleston the Hall of Fame in 2006 — 40 years after Charleston’s induction.

Dixon and Jenkins, along with Giants infielder John Beckwith, also receive strong consideration for the Hall of Fame in 2006.

Today also marks the fourth anniversary of Major League Baseball recognizing the Eastern Colored League and six other Negro Leagues as full-fledged major leagues in their own right and incorporates those teams – along with their stats– into the MLB record books.