2026 SESSION
ENROLLED
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 123
Commending the Fredericksburg Frogs.
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 23, 2026
WHEREAS, from approximately 1919 to 1944, the Fredericksburg Frogs were one of the most popular amateur baseball teams in the Fredericksburg area, inspiring a greater love of the game throughout the community and creating countless opportunities for Black athletes prior to the racial integration of professional baseball; and
WHEREAS, after World War I, communities across the nation sought to reestablish amateur and minor-league sports leagues that had been put on hiatus during wartime; the Fredericksburg Frogs were most likely established at the start of baseball season in April 1919, with the first known mention of the team appearing in a newspaper article the following May; and
WHEREAS, the Fredericksburg Frogs rose to prominence beginning with the 1922 season, when they played a team from Alexandria in a three-game championship series, the result of which is unfortunately lost to history; and
WHEREAS, the Fredericksburg Frogs typically played local Black teams from Richmond, Quantico, Culpeper, Alexandria, Tappahannock, Bowling Green, and Washington, D.C.; the team once defeated the Homestead Grays, a Negro League baseball team, which had been compared favorably to the New York Yankees of the time; and
WHEREAS, as an amateur team, the members of the Fredericksburg Frogs were not paid, but former players fondly recalled how the team drew large, integrated crowds at local fields, and how they enjoyed the opportunity to travel, sometimes as far away as South Carolina and New York, to hone their athletic abilities and build a sense of fellowship with other Black communities; and
WHEREAS, the Fredericksburg Frogs were highly engaged in the Fredericksburg community and occasionally held fundraisers to support worthy causes; and