Negro Leagues stats added to MLB

[Vandal]

Major League Baseball’s embrace of the Negro Leagues is now recognized in the record book, resulting in new-look leaderboards fronted in several prominent places by Hall of Famer Josh Gibson and an overdue appreciation of many other Black stars.

Following the 2020 announcement that seven different Negro Leagues from 1920-1948 would be recognized as Major Leagues, MLB announced Wednesday that it has followed the recommendations of the independent Negro League Statistical Review Committee in absorbing the available Negro Leagues numbers into the official historical record.

"We are proud that the official historical record now includes the players of the Negro Leagues," Commissioner Rob Manfred said. "This initiative is focused on ensuring that future generations of fans have access to the statistics and milestones of all those who made the Negro Leagues possible. Their accomplishments on the field will be a gateway to broader learning about this triumph in American history and the path that led to Jackie Robinson’s 1947 Dodger debut."

Gibson, the legendary catcher and power hitter who played for the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords, is now MLB’s all-time leader in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS and holds the all-time single-season records in each of those categories. Gibson is one of more than 2,300 Negro Leagues players -- including three living players who played in the 1920-1948 era in Bill Greason, Ron Teasley and Hall of Famer Willie Mays -- included in a newly integrated database at MLB.com that combines the Negro Leagues numbers with the existing data from the American League, National League and other Major Leagues from history.

https://www.mlb.com/news/faq-negro-leag ... gue-record

[Vandal]

Josh Gibson, with a .372 average in the official stats, is now the all-time Major League batting champion. That distinction had long belonged to the great Ty Cobb, who batted .367 from 1905-28.

Before the Negro Leagues numbers were incorporated, only seven qualifying players had a career OPS -- that’s OBP plus slugging -- of 1.000 or higher. All were inner-circle greats: Ruth, Williams, Gehrig, Bonds, Foxx, Hornsby and Hank Greenberg. (How hard is this to do? Mike Trout was over the 1.000 mark through 2022 but has since dropped to .991.)

Well, that “four digit” club now has 12 members. Once more, Gibson (1.177) surpasses Ruth (1.164) for first place. Charleston (fifth, 1.063), Leonard (seventh, 1.042), Stearnes (ninth, 1.033) and Suttles (10th, 1.031) comprise the rest of the additions to the list.

https://www.mlb.com/news/stats-leaderbo ... eagues-mlb

[Beebs52]

April and Mr Haney will love this!

[Bob78164]

Did this add any home runs to Willie Mays’s career total? —Bob

[BackInTex]

The leaderboards are meaningless now. They should merge in all the NCAA player stats as well. And add AAA team play.

[Vandal]

Did this add any home runs to Willie Mays’s career total? —Bob

No. Just some hits.

[Appa23]

The leaderboards are meaningless now. They should merge in all the NCAA player stats as well. And add AAA team play.

I hope that you are not trying to say that Negro leagues were minor leagues or less, rather than merely different professional leagues (difference based on race/color and not skill level).

Here is where I give an full-throated advertisement for the Negro League museum in Kansas City, MO. RIP Buck O'Neil, Jr. I was lucky enough to cross paths with him during my younger days.

[BackInTex]

The leaderboards are meaningless now. They should merge in all the NCAA player stats as well. And add AAA team play.

I hope that you are not trying to say that Negro leagues were minor leagues or less, rather than merely different professional leagues (difference based on race/color and not skill level).

Here is where I give an full-throated advertisement for the Negro League museum in Kansas City, MO. RIP Buck O'Neil, Jr. I was lucky enough to cross paths with him during my younger days.

Different league, different fields, different umpires, diferent equipment (balls), different rules (?), everything.

Can't compare skill levels because they weren't given a chance. What percentage of the Negro League players would have made it to the majors? If you say 100% you are virtue signaling. Let's say 75% (probably too high) but those 75% got their stats playing against teams with a 25% handicap. And I'm not saying athetically or skilled 25% weren't good enough, but they, nor the 75% had the years of quality training and coaching that those in the majors had. So take out 25% of the MLB players and replace them with NBA or NFL players, all great athletes. Then see how the remaining MLB players stats improve.

Nothing critical of the Negro Leagues. It's just that the stats are not comparable due to segregation. We can't fix the past. Mixing stats in with MLB stats of the day doesn't do anything other than create a marbling of stats. They are not blended in, they are not the same.

[Bob78164]

The leaderboards are meaningless now. They should merge in all the NCAA player stats as well. And add AAA team play.

I hope that you are not trying to say that Negro leagues were minor leagues or less, rather than merely different professional leagues (difference based on race/color and not skill level).

Here is where I give an full-throated advertisement for the Negro League museum in Kansas City, MO. RIP Buck O'Neil, Jr. I was lucky enough to cross paths with him during my younger days.

Different league, different fields, different umpires, diferent equipment (balls), different rules (?), everything.

Can't compare skill levels because they weren't given a chance. What percentage of the Negro League players would have made it to the majors? If you say 100% you are virtue signaling. Let's say 75% (probably too high) but those 75% got their stats playing against teams with a 25% handicap. And I'm not saying athetically or skilled 25% weren't good enough, but they, nor the 75% had the years of quality training and coaching that those in the majors had. So take out 25% of the MLB players and replace them with NBA or NFL players, all great athletes. Then see how the remaining MLB players stats improve.

Nothing critical of the Negro Leagues. It's just that the stats are not comparable due to segregation. We can't fix the past. Mixing stats in with MLB stats of the day doesn't do anything other than create a marbling of stats. They are not blended in, they are not the same.

Isn't it equally likely that 25% of MLB players wouldn't have made the grade in the Negro Leagues, so it was MLB players who had the unfair advantage of weaker competition? --Bob

[BackInTex]

I hope that you are not trying to say that Negro leagues were minor leagues or less, rather than merely different professional leagues (difference based on race/color and not skill level).

Here is where I give an full-throated advertisement for the Negro League museum in Kansas City, MO. RIP Buck O'Neil, Jr. I was lucky enough to cross paths with him during my younger days.

Different league, different fields, different umpires, diferent equipment (balls), different rules (?), everything.

Can't compare skill levels because they weren't given a chance. What percentage of the Negro League players would have made it to the majors? If you say 100% you are virtue signaling. Let's say 75% (probably too high) but those 75% got their stats playing against teams with a 25% handicap. And I'm not saying athetically or skilled 25% weren't good enough, but they, nor the 75% had the years of quality training and coaching that those in the majors had. So take out 25% of the MLB players and replace them with NBA or NFL players, all great athletes. Then see how the remaining MLB players stats improve.

Nothing critical of the Negro Leagues. It's just that the stats are not comparable due to segregation. We can't fix the past. Mixing stats in with MLB stats of the day doesn't do anything other than create a marbling of stats. They are not blended in, they are not the same.

Isn't it equally likely that 25% of MLB players wouldn't have made the grade in the Negro Leagues, so it was MLB players who had the unfair advantage of weaker competition? --Bob

Not likely. The MLB had the advantage of money to find, recruit, and keep the talent. The Negro league was not the best players fielded from the entire population, but those who through other means were able to play. I may not be explaining it well but from a macro perspective the MLB had the talent acquisition advantage. Sort of a paid and trained military vs a purely voluntary militia. There will be some better players in the Negro League and some worse in the MLB but overall I suspect the MLB was playing with a higher mix of talent from their pool vs the Negro leagues and their pool.

[mrkelley23]

The most fair comparison, games on the field, were won by Negro Leaguers 75 % of the time. By your standards, AL and NL records should be kept separately, not to mention dead ball era and pre 1968,etc. This is the kind of argument that makes you look racist, even when you're not.

[Bob78164]

The most fair comparison, games on the field, were won by Negro Leaguers 75 % of the time. By your standards, AL and NL records should be kept separately, not to mention dead ball era and pre 1968,etc. This is the kind of argument that makes you look racist, even when you're not.

Do we know the Davenport Translations between the Negro Leagues and the contemporary American and National Leagues? --Bob