Member timeline

Major league to 1948; minor league from 1949.

• 1937: Formation of NAL consisting of 8 teams — Birmingham Black Barons, Chicago American Giants, Cincinnati Tigers, Detroit Stars (III), Indianapolis Athletics, Kansas City Monarchs, Memphis Red Sox and St. Louis Stars (II).
• 1938: Dropped Cincinnati Tigers, Detroit Stars (III), Indianapolis Athletics and St. Louis Stars (II); Added Atlanta Black Crackers, Indianapolis ABCs (II) and Jacksonville Red Caps.
• 1939: Dropped Birmingham Black Barons; Added Toledo Crawfords.
• 1940: Dropped Indianapolis ABCs (IV); Re-added Birmingham Black Barons.
• 1941: Dropped Indianapolis Crawfords.
• 1942: Dropped St. Louis–New Orleans Stars (merged with New York Black Yankees); Added Cincinnati-Cleveland Buckeyes.
• 1943: Dropped Jacksonville Red Caps; Added Cincinnati Clowns.
• 1948: Standings and statistics were lightly reported in print starting around 1948.
• 1951: Indianapolis Clowns relocate to Buffalo, New York but retain the Indianapolis Clowns name.^[1]

Pennant winners

From 1939 through 1942 and 1944 through 1947, the team in first place at the end of the season was declared the Pennant winner. Due to the unorthodox nature of the schedule (and little incentive to enforce it), some teams frequently played many more games than others did in any given season. For example, the 1937 season featured Kansas City being first place with a 52–19–1 record (.732). However, they still competed in a Championship Series, albeit against the third place team in the Chicago American Giants (36–24–1), who played less games than the 2nd place Cincinnati Tigers (35–18–1) but had one more win.^[2]

This led to some disputed championships and two teams claiming the title. Generally, the team with the best winning percentage (with some minimum number of games played) was awarded the Pennant, but other times it was the team with the most victories. The "games behind" method of recording standings was uncommon in most black leagues. From 1942 until 1948, the pennant winner (as determined by record or by postseason series victory) went on to the Negro World Series.

League play-offs

On numerous occasions, the NAL split the season into two halves. The winner of the first half played the winner of the second half for the league Pennant. As mentioned above, disputes also occurred in the split season finishes. Five times a League Championship Series was played, with varying games needed to win the Series; the 1938 series ended prematurely because of problems with finding a suitable venue for the rest of the series.

Legend

• ^T One game finished in a tied game.

Negro World Series

For the duration of the league, a Negro World Series took place seven times, from 1942 through 1948. The NAL Pennant winner met the champion of the rival Negro National League. Five out of the seven years, the Negro American League team (below in bold) succumbed.

• 1942 – Kansas City Monarchs beat Washington Homestead Grays, 4 games to 0 games
• 1943 – Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 3 games
• 1944 – Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 1 game
• 1945 – Cleveland Buckeyes beat Washington Homestead Grays, 4 games to 0 games
• 1946 – Newark Eagles beat Kansas City Monarchs, 4 games to 3 games
• 1947 – New York Cubans beat Cleveland Buckeyes, 4 games to 1 game
• 1948 – Washington Homestead Grays beat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 1 game