Josh Gibson becomes MLB’s career batting leader as Negro Leagues records incorporated
Josh Gibson became Major League Baseball’s career batting average of .372, surpassing Ty Cobb’s .367, as Negro Leagues records for more than 2,300 players were recorded Tuesday after a three-year research project.
Gibson’s .466 average for the 1943 Homestead Grays became the season standard, followed by Charlie “Chino” Smith’s .451 for the 1929 New York Lincoln Giants. They overtook Hugh Duffy’s .440 for the National League’s Boston team in 1894.
Gibson also became the career leader in slugging percentage (.718) and OPS (1.177), edging Babe Ruth (.690 and 1.164).
“This initiative is aimed at ensuring that future generations of fans have access to the statistics and milestones of everyone who made the Negro Leagues possible,” Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “Their on-field achievements will be a gateway to broader knowledge about this triumph in American history and the path that led to Jackie Robinson’s Dodger debut in 1947.”
A special baseball records committee decided in 1969 to recognize six major leagues from 1876: the National (which was launched in 1876), the American (1901), the American Association (1882-1891), Union Association (1884), Players’ League (1890) and Federal League (1914-1915). It excluded the National Association (1871-1875), citing an “erratic schedule and procedures.”
MLB announced in December 2020 that it would “correct a longstanding oversight” and add the Negro Leagues. John Thorn, the official historian of the MLB, chaired a seventeen-person committee that included experts and statisticians on the Negro Leagues.
“The shortened 60-game season for the 2020 calendar year for the National League and American League has led us to think that the shortened Negro League seasons might still fall under the MLB umbrella,” Thorn said.
An updated version of the MLB database will become public before the St Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants play a tribute to the Negro Leagues on June 20 at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama.
The standards for season leaders are the same for Negro leagues as for the other leagues: 3.1 at-bats or one inning for each game played by a player’s team.
Gibson’s .974 slugging percentage in 1937 becomes the single-season record, and Barry Bonds’ .863 in 2001 fell to fifth, also behind Mules Suttles .877 in 1926, Gibson’s .871 in 1943, and Smith’s .870 in 1929.
Bond’s previous OPS record of 1,421 in 2004 fell to third, behind Gibson’s 1,474 in 1937 and 1,435 in 1943.
Willie Mays had 10 hits for the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, bringing his total to 3,293. Minnie Minoso surpassed 2,000 hits, including 150 for the New York Cubans from 1946-1948, increasing his total to 2,113.
Robinson, who broke the MLB color barrier with the 1947 Dodgers, was credited with 49 hits with the 1945 Kansas City Monarchs, increasing his total to 1,567.
Among pitchers, Satchel Paige recorded 28 victories, increasing his total to 125.
The committee met six times and addressed issues such as when the composite league statistics made no sense, such as a league with more wins than losses and walks missing. Researchers had to determine whether players with the same name were one person or separate individuals, track dates of birth and identify people listed by nicknames. Documenting transactions and identifying margins at a time when neutral sites were often used continues, along with uncovering metrics for independent teams.
Kevin Johnson and Gary Ashwill, researchers who had helped compile the Seamheads Negro Leagues Database for nearly two decades, were brought into the project.
Thorn estimated that 72% of the Negro Leagues data from 1920-1948 is included and additional research could lead to future changes. Thorn said a four-homer game by Gibson in 1938 and a home run by Mays in August 1948 could not be recorded because complete game accounts have not been found.
“Without a box score, we can’t really balance the statistics,” Johnson said. “Those matches are kind of in limbo right now.”
Records include the first Negro National League (1920–1931), Eastern Colored League (1923–1928), American Negro League (1929), East-West League (1932), Negro Southern League (1932), second Negro National League (1933 ). -48) and Negro American League (1937-1948).
Some game details were obtained from newspapers reporting on the black communities. Johnson said that although complete records were found for about 95% of games in the 1920s, coverage declined during the Great Depression in the 1930s and never fully recovered.