Negro Baseball League Suddenly Being Honored For The First Time
The Negro Baseball League is finally being honored. Back in the 1800’s professional baseball had a color line and Black Americans were excluded. But in 1920, the first Negro professional league was born and for the next 30 years, seven other major leagues existed.
Some of the most famous names include Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Cool Papa Bell, Rube Foster, Charlie “Chino” Smith, and Turkey Stearnes. Also, other big-named MLB Hall-of-Famers, who originally started in the Negro Leagues, include Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Ernie Banks, Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Larry Doby, and Minnie Miñosa.
The Negro Baseball League Changing Current Records
MLB finally incorporated Negro Baseball League stats with MLB records and some of the records have been broken. According to OPB.org, Josh Gibson became the MLB career leader in batting average at .372, passing Ty Cobb’s .367. More than 2,300 players were incorporated in the new statistics. Gibson’s .466 in one season became the season’s highest and he also leads in slugging percentage and OPS (on-base plus slugging), passing the great Babe Ruth.
With all of these totals, some may now consider Gibson the GOAT! My GOAT, Barry Bonds, dropped to 5th in slugging percentage. Bonds’ OPS record of 1.421 in 2004 fell to third behind two of Josh Gibson’s seasons. It’s hard to balance all the stats because of the lack of box scores, but many were obtained from newspapers and the black communities. According to cbssports.com, Gibson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
Negro Baseball League History
It’s great to learn about these names and their importance to baseball. Many people heard of Josh Gibson, but to now see his records, can we put him as the Best ever? It’s good to see that those guys could play baseball too, and they are being credited in the history of America’s pastime. According to bleedcubbieblue.com, 75% of the records available have been included. Baseball history is US history and MLB acknowledging the Negro leagues shows that they got it right! It brings baseball together no matter the race and shows that it has always been a fun, great, competitive sport, a game that kids can learn and play anytime.
And now you can go and study the new leaders and names and learn what they’ve accomplished and their contribution to the sport of baseball. It would have been great to see these guys all play together in the same league, but it’s great to see them being recognized. I would pay to see a home run derby between Josh Gibson, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Babe Ruth, Sammy Sosa, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Albert Pujols, A-Rod, and Ken Griffey Jr.
It feels good to see these players getting the recognition they deserve. And for the families of those players who are deceased, it gives me chill bumps to know that the legacy of their loved one is finally being recognized.
