It’s been a long time coming, and let’s say Major League Baseball finally got it right in the name of Negro Leagues baseball.
In a long-overdue move to correct a historic oversight, Major League Baseball announced it will officially elevate the Negro Leagues to “Major League” status and incorporate statistics from the segregated leagues into its records starting Wednesday. The decision opens the door for over 2,300 Negro Leagues players to finally have their on-field accomplishments enshrined alongside MLB greats.
The change means legendary figures like Josh Gibson will now be recognized atop many of baseball’s prestigious batting records. Gibson’s eye-popping career numbers, including a .384 batting average, .691 slugging percentage, and 1.085 OPS, will eclipse hallowed marks set by Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth in MLB’s official annals.
“Major League Baseball is correcting a longtime oversight in the game’s history by officially elevating the Negro Leagues to ‘Major League’ status,” Commissioner Robert Manfred stated three years ago when first announcing the integration plans.
MLB historian John Thorn, who chairs the statistical review committee tasked with verifying thousands of Negro Leagues box scores and records, hailed the decision as “not only righting a social, cultural and historical wrong, it’s defining baseball as a game for Americans without exclusion.”
The momentous records update culminates years of painstaking research by the committee to validate stats from the seven Negro Leagues operating between 1920-1948. As more data becomes available, the records will be updated accordingly.
“Baseball is a game of consistency, and it’s also a game of change. We may be slow to change, but when we do, it can be profound,” Thorn stated.
To commemorate the milestone, MLB will host a “Celebration of the Negro Leagues” tribute game on June 20 at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama – the oldest professional ballpark in America. Players will don period uniforms to honor legends like Alabama native Willie Mays.
When the new records go live at 10:30am ET Wednesday, Thorn said Negro Leaguers’ stats will appear seamlessly integrated, “with no asterisks, no footnotes” segregating them from other MLB players of their era.
The historic move finally etches into baseball’s official chronicle the indelible impact and immense talent of the Negro Leagues and its trailblazing stars who were unjustly excluded for decades.