Baseball Adds Negro League Stats to Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball (MLB) announced on Wednesday that statistics from the Negro Leagues have been officially added to the MLB database changing sports history.

In 2020, MLB elevated the status of Negro Leagues statistics to “major league,” calling this change “a longtime oversight in the game’s history.” Since then, MLB has collaborated with the Elias Sports Bureau to integrate these stats into the league’s official records.

This integration has significantly altered the baseball record books. For instance, Willie Mays now has 10 additional hits, and Satchel Paige’s win total has jumped from 28 to 125.

JOSH GIBSON THE NEW GREATEST OF ALL-TIME

Perhaps the most remarkable change is the reevaluation of who might be considered the greatest baseball player of all time: Josh Gibson. A legendary catcher in the Negro Leagues, Gibson’s stellar performance now places him in contention as the best player in baseball history across any league.

“When you hear Josh Gibson’s name now, it’s not just that he was the greatest player in the Negro Leagues,’’ Sean Gibson, Gibson’s great grandson, told USA TODAY Sports, “but one of the greatest of all time. These aren’t just Negro League stats. They’re major-league baseball stats.

Due to the updated records, Gibson now holds the highest career batting average (.372, surpassing Ty Cobb’s .367), the highest slugging percentage (.718, overtaking Babe Ruth’s .690), and the highest OPS (1.177, exceeding Ruth’s 1.164). His career on-base percentage of .459 ranks third all-time.

GIBSON SURPASSES BARRY BONDS

Gibson also now holds several single-season records. His .446 batting average in 1943 for the Homestead Grays is a new record, as is his .974 slugging percentage from 1937, surpassing Barry Bonds’ .863 from his 73-homer season in 2001. Additionally, Gibson has the two best single-season OPS marks, including a 1.474 OPS from 1937, again outperforming Bonds.

It’s important to note that Gibson’s exact statistics may never be fully known. MLB has worked with Elias and other Negro League researchers to establish “official” stats. According to MLB.com’s database, Gibson played in 653 games, compared to Ruth’s 2,504 and Cobb’s 3,034. In 1943, Gibson is recorded to have played 74 games, while in 1937, he played 39 games.

In 1969, MLB’s Special Committee on Baseball Records ruled that “no asterisk or official sign shall be used to indicate the number of games scheduled” for all-time single-season records. This ruling applies even if records were broken in the strike-shortened 1994 season or the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.

RECORD BOOKS UPDATED

Despite his shorter seasons and fewer games, Gibson’s cumulative numbers don’t match the all-time rankings. His Hall of Fame plaque mentions he hit “almost 800 home runs in league and independent baseball during his 17-year career,” but most of these came in “barnstorming” exhibitions not included in MLB’s official records.

The record books now credit Gibson with 838 hits, 174 home runs, 359 walks, and only 11 strikeouts.

Tragically, Gibson fell into a coma at age 32 in 1943, was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and died of a stroke four years later. He never saw baseball’s integration, passing away three months before Jackie Robinson’s debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Larry Doby famously remarked that Gibson died prematurely, feeling he should have been the one to break the color barrier instead of Robinson.

HALL OF FAME INDUCTION

In honor of Gibson, a statue was erected outside Nationals Park in 2009, and he was inducted into the Nationals’ Ring of Honor in 2010. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972, the same year Robinson died.

MLB states that research on Negro Leagues statistics is about 75% complete, so further updates are expected. It has been three and a half years since MLB officially elevated the Negro Leagues’ statistics to major league status in December 2020.

ONLINE REACTIONS TO THE NEW GOAT

Several Major League records are now held by Josh Gibson as he and other Negro Leagues legends officially join the all-time leaderboards.

The statistics of more than 2,300 Negro Leagues players launch today in a newly integrated https://t.co/Z3s2EpgF39 database that presents… pic.twitter.com/UyvCu0pSzi

— MLB (@MLB) May 29, 2024

My local news Facebook comments were as expected; racist and unhinged

— Joph (@jsuzannemd) May 29, 2024

As it should be he was denied because he was Black. He was always better

— Kathia Woods (@kathia_woods) May 29, 2024

Dudes threw 250 pitches every third day. What kind of pedestal are you trying to put either side from back in the day?

There's a handful from back then that could play in today's game.

— Travis (@TravisMcCain5) May 29, 2024

Negro League stats shouldn’t be counted as better than actual MLB stats. It’s ridiculous and everyone knows it. They took away Ty Covbs record and Binds record for a league that the competition was pro level.

— Stuart (@stuartfbaby1) May 30, 2024

Ty Cobb's racism is well-established. And even as he was inducted to the HoF, Cobb himself argued that Gibson and Satchel Paige belonged in the HoF. pic.twitter.com/gqqZ9KzSr9

— ~0~ #VoteBlueToSaveAmerica (Blue Check)🐀 (@PaxNostrum) May 30, 2024