The Pittsburgh Crawfords came into being in the 1920s.  They were named after the Crawford Bath House on Crawford Avenue in Pittsburgh’s black area.  They were a local amateur team and their leaders were Harold Tinker, Johnny Moore, and the Harris brothers.  Josh Gibson started his career with the 1928 team.  The Crawfords became professional in 1930, after Gus Greenlee, a local numbers king, took over the ownership.  Greenlee’s goal was to surpass the Homestead Grays as Pittsburgh’s best team, and he would succeed for a time.  After playing strong independent schedules during 1930 and 1931, the Crawfords joined the East-West League in 1932.  Known records show a 32-26 record for that season.

Greenlee was the main force in starting the second Negro national League in 1933 and Pittsburgh went 20-8 during the first half schedule, just one game behind the Chicago American Giants.  The second half schedule was not completed, but Chicago claimed the NNL pennant.  Months later, President Greenlee awarded the flag to the Crawfords.  In 1934 they went 29-17 for third place.  Greenlee continued to raid Cum Posey’s Grays and in 1935 put together arguably the greatest black team in history.  Five future Hall of Famers anchored it.  They were James “Cool Papa” Bell, Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson, Judy Johnson, and Satchel Paige.  The Crawfords went 39-15 and defeated the New York Cubans four games to three in the playoff for the title.

The 1936 team was 36-24, again the best in the NNL.  1937 found most of the Crawford stars leaving to play for dictator Rafael Trujillo’s team in what is now the Dominican Republic.  Coupled with other business failures in Greenlee’s enterprises, the team did poorly in 1937 and 1938.  Following 1938, the team left Pittsburgh for Toledo, OH, and in 1940 moved to Indianapolis.  Greenlee resurrected the Crawfords for the USL League in the mid ‘40s.

The Crawfords were only in existence for a brief time, but their star shined brightly.  They played at Greenlee Field, built for $100,000 in 1932.  Outfielder Jimmy Crutchfield and pitcher Sam Streeter were other outstanding stars lured to the Crawfords during their glory years.