The Newark Little Giants were a professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

 in the late 1880s. They played in the Eastern League for one year until moving to the International League

International League

The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

 (considered a major league) in 1887.

Newark featured the first all African-American battery with George Stovey

George Stovey

George Washington Stovey is considered the best African-American baseball pitcher of the nineteenth century, but discrimination barred him from the majors and led him to move from team to team until he had no further opportunities to play in the minors...

, pitching a 2.46 ERA, and catcher Moses Fleetwood Walker

Moses Fleetwood Walker

Moses Fleetwood Walker [″Fleet″] was an American Major League Baseball player and author who is credited with being the first African American to play professional baseball.-Baseball career:...

(also first African-American to play in the majors), who had a .264 batting average.

The Little Giants went out of business in 1888. They returned to the minors in 1889 and won second place in the Atlantic Association. After taking third in 1890, Newark again went out of business, this time forever.