They were called the Yankees of Black Baseball and boasted their own Murderer's Row lineup that could best the Bronx Bombers: Josh Gibson, Judy Johnson, Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston and lightning hurling ace pitcher Satchel Paige.

Not unlike an local football team of some repute, the Crawfords were also founded by a renowned gambler and tavern owner -- Gus Greenlee -- a numbers runner who owned the Crawford Grill. Greenlee named the team in 1932 for his nightclub, but unlike Art Rooney's Steelers, he immediately built a successful franchise, raiding the roster of the nearby Homestead Grays and building a team that were the New Negro National League champions in 1935-36.

	File, Post-Gazette Boasting the likes of Oscar Charleston, Jimmie Crutchfield, Judy Johnson, Josh Gibson, James "Cool Papa" Bell and Satchel Paige, the 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords, seen here, is considered by many baseball experts to be among, if not, the finest team to ever play the game. Click photo for larger image. Return to index

The team had three players - each of which were considered among the best all-time at their positions: the Herculean Gibson, believed to be the only player to have hit a home run out of Yankee Stadium; the fleet Bell, a base-stealer so fast it was said he could flip a bedroom light switch and be under the covers before the light went off; and Paige, a charismatic fireballer with nasty curve and breaking pitches who according to the Baseball Hall of Fame, was the Negro League's greatest gate attraction.

Greenlee sold the team and the franchise moved to Toledo in 1939. A revived Crawfords team played in the United States League in 1945 and 1946, winning the title in 1946.

A Pennsylvania historical marker was dedicated in 1996 to memorialize Gibson at the former site of Ammons Field in Hill District where Gibson played as a member of the Pittsburgh Crawfords.

Recently the Pirates drew back the curtain on its new Highmark Legacy Square project inside the left-field entrance at PNC Park, where life-size bronze statues and interactive kiosks commemorate seven Pittsburgh Negro League greats, including Gibson, Paige, Bell, Charleston, Leonard as well as Grays first baseman Buck Leonard, and Grays pitcher Smokey Joe Williams.