Major League Baseball started hosting an "All Star Game" in 1933, allowing fans to vote for their favorite players to participate in a game between the National League and American League.
The Negro Leagues decided to try the same thing the same year, calling their game the "East-West" game, as the teams would be divided among eastern city teams and "western" teams- meaning the "Midwest."
Each group's All Star game was held in Chicago that first year. However, the Major Leagues would move their game to other cities while the Negro Leagues kept their game in Chicago's Comiskey Park. The Negro Leagues teams could take advantage of the large black population in Chicago and the large stadium on the south side of town. Fans could vote on the all-star players through black newspaper polls.
