STUMP STORY OF THE DAY
The Baseball Record Books: Long Overdue Inclusions
The MLB added the statistics from the Negro League to the Baseball History Books after years of research and deliberations.
Meet Josh Gibson: MLB’s newest all-time leader in batting average, slugging percentage (a stat that measures the power of the hitter), and OPS (a stat that measures how often a player gets on base combined how he hits with power). The legendary Negro League Catcher played for the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords.
Gibson is one of over 2,300 players who were added to the history books after the independent Negro Leagues Statistical Review Committee spent the last four years compiling and researching the Negro League and their stats. The newly integrated database will include the Negro League along with American League, National League, and other Major Leagues from baseball history.
You may be wondering, what are the Negro Leagues, exactly? Before MLB was integrated in 1947, Black baseball athletes would compete in the Negro League. Often regarded as some of the most talented players in the US, the league ran for 28 years. Some of the greatest ever had been barred from big league competition simply because of the practice of segregation in the United States.
This process began in 2020 following MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s announcement that seven different Negro Leagues from 1920-1948 would be recognized as professional leagues. Essentially, these announcements and inclusions are an effort to right past wrongs.
Due to scattered schedules and missing information from the Negro Leagues, some statistics were not included. Simply put, some things could not be found or confirmed. the independent committee drew some lines in the sand and there were minimum qualifications that players, statistics, and data had to meet to be included. Overall, the committee tried to include as much data as possible throughout the years that Negro Leagues were considered professional.
John Thorn, official MLB historian and the chairman of the Negro Leagues Statistical Review Committee, had an extremely powerful quote regarding how to understand the new statistical database, “by realizing that stats are shorthand for stories, and that the story of the Negro Leagues is worthy of our study”.
This isn’t just a monumental day for the Negro Leagues, it’s a monumental day for baseball history. To understand the past, embrace it, and include it in our history is immensely important. It’s an incredible show of respect for the players who performed in the Negro Leagues despite the circumstances and obstacles that were presented to them.
There are three living players who played in the 1920-1948 Negro League era in Bill Greason, Ron Teasley, and Willie Mays, all of whom now have added statistics to their names and legacy. While it might not be about the numbers, this brings a massive piece of baseball historical records into the fold for future generations to try and break.
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