They were barbers, porters, doctors. They were members of their community. And on the baseball diamond, they were the Fredericksburg Frogs.
From 1919 through the early 1930s, this all-Black, all-local team played on fields across the Fredericksburg, Virginia region, earning a reputation as “the world’s hoppinest team.” Because of their amateur, sandlot status, and because of the time in which they played, the story of the Frogs had largely faded from public memory.
Uncovering the Frogs was part of a much wider effort our team has been leading with the Fredericksburg Nationals since 2019 to document the full history of baseball in the region. That work has included exploring the sport’s local roots, stretching from Native American games along the Rappahannock River to modern club baseball. The Frogs’ story became one of the most meaningful discoveries within this multiyear project.
Working with the Fredericksburg Nationals, the Fredericksburg Area Museum, and Germanna Community College, our Cultural Resources team explored historic newspapers, oral histories, and old maps. They also employed GIS technology to overlay historic records and locate ballfields that no longer exist. Through this work, we identified the names of 68 players who took the field for the Frogs.
This research on the Frogs folded into a 400-page compendium report on Fredericksburg baseball history. That report then helped inspire a nearly 150-foot-long exhibit behind the batter’s eye in the Nationals ballpark, weaving the Frogs into the broader story of baseball in Fredericksburg and making their history accessible to thousands of fans.
As a result of this research, the Fredericksburg Nationals introduced a new alternate identity and uniform paying tribute to the Frogs, featuring pinstripes, yellow lettering, and a crowned frog on the logo. For five home games in 2025, the team played as the Frogs, reviving a forgotten part of local history. The promotion was so successful that the team is playing an additional six games as the Frogs in 2026.
Our work with the Nationals has been done pro bono to support public outreach, promote the history of the sport, and enrich the Fredericksburg community.
Preserving stories like this strengthens community identity and honors the memory of those who shaped it. The Frogs were a baseball team, but they were also neighbors, professionals, and athletes who made their mark on Fredericksburg. We’re honored to help preserve their memory.
