In honor of Black History Month, this week’s #santacruzthen post flashes back to 1907 to take a look at Santa Cruz’s historic African-American baseball team.
Before there were derby girls and minor league basketball players in Santa Cruz, there was the Santa Cruz Colored Giants, an all African-American baseball team.
Pictured here is one of those Giants, Lou Venable. Venable was one of the first men to join the Santa Cruz Colored Giants in 1907. He was also the proud owner of the popular lunch spot on Pacific Avenue, The Squeeze Inn.
DID YOU KNOW? The Giants actually beat the North Santa Cruz team in the spring of 1907. As the Santa Cruz Surf recalls...
“Bats were crossed by the North Santa Cruz nine, Earl Owens captain, and the colored nine, mainly made up of the shoe polishers about town, with Jack Harris as captain. They put up a good game, the colored team winning out by a score of 8 to 5.”
Learn more about the Santa Cruz Colored Giants at Good Times Santa Cruz here.
Timewarp with us on Instagram to see more MAH archival photos held up against Santa Cruz today.