Baseball

The Baltimore Elite Giants were a Negro League baseball team from 1920 to 1950. Founded in Nashville by Thomas T. Wilson, they moved to Baltimore in1938. Fans and players pronouncedthe team name as “ee-light.” Among its standout players was Ernest Burke, a Havre de Grace native born June 26, 1924. He was the youngest child of Clarence and Teresa Mitchell Burke of Perryville, Maryland. After the deaths of both parents during his early childhood, Ernest and his siblings were separated. By age nine or ten, Ernest had moved to Iberville, Canada, where he lived with a French-Canadian couple who had seen his strength and work ethic as a young boy performing odd jobs in Havre de Grace.

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At 18, Burke returned to Maryland to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps, becoming one of the first Black Marines. He served in the Pacific during World War II and earned a sharpshooter medal. While in the Marines, he played on a championship baseball team in Hawaii and was encouraged to join the Negro Leagues.

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In 1947, Burke joined the Baltimore Elite Giants as a walk-on pitcher and went 4-1 in 1948. He played alongside future MLB stars like Junior Gilliam and Joe Black. He later played in New York and Canada, posting strong records both at the plate and on the mound.

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After baseball, Burke worked in construction, later becoming a tennis instructor and motivational speaker. He remained dedicated to sharing the legacy of the Negro Leagues. Burke often said, “What I loved most is the hundreds of letters I have received from young people telling me how much they have appreciated learning about the Negro Leagues.” In 2021, a statue in his honor created by Austin Brantley was erected in Tydings Memorial Park.