final score had little to do with the quality of play according to a correspondent with the Sporting Life:Had it not been for Johnny Ryan, who officiated as umpire, the Athletics would have stood a good chance of being defeated by nine colored players, or the Cuban Giants as they are called. Lack of experience, weak attempts at running the bases, and the umpire's very partial decisions contributed to the defeat of the colored aggregation. The Giants may, or may not, have played in Cuba their first year, but they did make it to Florida; and as they made their way back north that first spring they "played a series of games in every large city from St. Augustine to Philadelphia" winning forty straight, according to an article in the New York Age. That first road trip ended in Trenton, New Jersey. At the time, Trenton was without a representative in organized baseball: the Trenton Club of the Eastern League had recently relocated to Jersey City. John Lang had decided not to finance the Cuban Giants for the 1886 season, and in April a number of them were signed to the Trenton Browns by Harry Simpson. Through this reorganization of his independent club, Simpson hoped to both renew Trenton's interest in professional baseball and "capitalize on the novelty of a black team playing at a high caliber." His plan paid off almost immediately when his new club beat the Jersey Blues of Hoboken 8–7 at the Chambersbourg Grounds on May 3, 1886. Simpson's ownership of the team, however, would be short-lived: their success caught the eye of Walter I. Cook. Later in May, Cook (along with his partner John M. Bright) assumed control of the team with Govern acting as manager. Cook came from a wealthy family and was generous to the team with his money, especially when it came to illness or injuries. Cook was so well-liked that Govern and the players arranged a benefit game for him in which they played for free. According to Heaphy, it was Cook who first established salaries for the players; Sol White describes what the players could expect each week: At that time salaries were according to position. Mr. Cook gave pitchers and catchers, $18.00 per week and expenses; infielders, $15.00 per week and expenses; outfielders, $12.00 per week and expenses. Although Cook financed the team, S. K. Govern (and club secretary