Major League Baseball announced Wednesday that the statistics of more than 2,300 Negro Leagues players will be incorporated into its record book. The addition, which comes a few years after MLB declared the Negro Leagues should be considered “major league level,” means the achievements of some of the sport’s all-time greats will now be considered against those of their contemporaries, even though they were not allowed to compete against them on the field.
Stars such as Homestead Grays slugger Josh Gibson now stand alongside the likes of Babe Ruth and Ted Williams in a record book that long excluded them. The Negro Leagues stars generally played fewer official games than White players of the same era, so the top of the leader boards for many of the counting statistics (hits, home runs, strikeouts, etc.) are unchanged. But rate stats, which speak to how effective a player was without being subject to scheduling, reveal a much different picture.
Here are 10 things to know as MLB’s statistical history changes forever.
Josh Gibson is the new single-season batting, slugging and OPS champion
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No absence from the MLB record book was more glaring than Gibson’s. His .466 average with the 1943 Homestead Grays is now MLB’s highest ever. His .974 slugging percentage from the 1937 season now leads all seasons in that category, too. And his 1.474 OPS in 1937 and 1.435 OPS in 1943 are now the two most prolific seasons in that category, relegating Barry Bonds (1.421 in 2004) to third all-time.
Gibson is now the all-time batting, slugging and OPS leader
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Gibson finished his career with a .372 batting average, surpassing Ty Cobb (.367) for the best in history. He compiled a .718 slugging percentage, 28 points higher than second-place finisher Ruth. And his 1.177 career OPS rewrote the top of that career leader board, which now reads Gibson, Ruth (1.164), Williams (1.116).
Oscar Charleston measures as one of the greatest hitters of all time
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The recalibration of the record book reinforces the idea that Charleston, an early Negro Leagues outfielder who was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976, should be remembered as one of the greatest hitters in the early history of the sport.
— MLB (@MLB) May 29, 2024Several 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
His .363 career batting average now sits third all-time behind Gibson and Cobb. His 1.061 OPS is now fifth all-time, behind Gibson, Ruth, Williams and Lou Gehrig, and ahead of Barry Bonds. He turned in two of the 10 best seasons by batting average in baseball history, with a .434 average in 1921 and a .427 showing in 1925. For reference, Rogers Hornsby hit .424 for St. Louis in 1924.
So does Buck Leonard
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Not far behind Charleston on the top-10 lists for many career offensive stats is Buck Leonard, who batted behind Gibson in the Homestead Grays lineup for much of their collective heydays.
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Leonard (.345) now stands eighth all-time, ahead of batting average legends Tris Speaker (.345) and Williams (.344). His .452 on-base percentage is now fifth all-time, ahead of Gehrig (.447) and Bonds (.444). And his 1.042 OPS is seventh best, just behind Bonds and ahead of Jimmie Foxx.
Satchel Paige had an incredible 1944 season
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When people think of miraculous pitching seasons, they often point to Bob Gibson’s dominant 1968, when he pitched to a 1.12 ERA. History buffs cite Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson, both of whom finished full seasons with 1.14 ERAs in the early 1900s.
Paige was more dominant than all of them in 1944, pitching to a 1.01 ERA (over, it should be noted, fewer innings than the others), striking out more than one batter per inning and holding opponents to a .179 batting average.
Actually, Paige had a lot of incredible seasons
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Because Paige threw fewer officially recorded innings than his White contemporaries during the height of his Negro Leagues career, he does not stack up against them when it comes to stats such as strikeouts and wins.
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But his 125 wins and 1,484 strikeouts came in 399 outings over 1,725 innings, for an average of 7.74 strikeouts per nine innings. That’s the 29th-highest strikeouts-per-nine ratio in MLB history, just behind CC Sabathia — and ahead of Bob Gibson’s 7.22. Paige’s 1.11 career walks and hits per inning pitched is 18th all-time, same as Sandy Koufax.
Dave Brown joins the list of pitching’s greatest short-lived stars
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Dave Brown only pitched six years in the Negro Leagues, per MLB’s counted statistics. His career ended early when he was accused of killing a man and fled authorities, disappearing into anonymity until a dogged biographer from the Society for American Baseball Research tracked his story down years after his death.
But when he did pitch, he was excellent. His 2.24 career ERA now sits eighth all-time, just behind Rube Waddell and Johnson. His 1.08 career WHIP is 10th in history, tied with Max Scherzer.
Minnie Miñoso joins the 2,000-hit club
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Cuban star Minnie Miñoso was already known to many baseball fans as one of the better all-around outfielders of the 1950s and as a trailblazer with the Chicago White Sox. His legacy in both roles has gained appreciation over the years, and he was inducted to Cooperstown in 2022.
But until he was credited for his output in the Negro Leagues from 1946 to 1948, Miñoso could not claim membership to the 2,000-hit club, having finished his time in the majors 37 hits shy. Now he sits at 2,113, the 294th player to cross the 2,000-hit threshold.
Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson’s career numbers changed, too
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Since Mays and Robinson spent brief periods in the Negro Leagues, their already legendary numbers changed, too. Robinson’s career hit total jumped to 1,567, thanks to his time with the Kansas City Monarchs. Mays’s 10 hits with the Birmingham Black Barons pushed him to 3,293, solidifying his place as 12th all-time.
And there are so many more names to know
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Those perusing new leader boards will find several less familiar names in the top 10s alongside those mentioned above. Jud Wilson, who played for the Grays among several other teams, hit .350 in his career, which is now fifth all-time.
Just behind him at .348 is Turkey Stearnes, an outfielder who now sits sixth all-time in career slugging percentage. Mule Suttles, also known for remarkable power, is fifth all-time in slugging at .621. Stearnes and Suttles are now ninth and 10th all-time in OPS, just ahead of Hank Greenberg and Hornsby.
