MLB reclassifies Negro League
It is bizarre to think that the Negro Leagues actually was a thing at one point in time, but it was. The Negro Leagues featured many talented players that include the likes of Willie Mays, Josh Gibson and Monte Irvin. Thankfully though, the seven Negro Leagues started to dissolve around 1948 when Jackie Robinson was breaking the colour-barrier in Major League Baseball.
The MLB declared on Wednesday that there was an error made by the Special Committee on Baseball Records in 1969 when they opted to omit the Negro Leagues from official “major leagues” recognition. The Committee recognized six other leagues that dated back to 1876, but not the Negro Leagues.
“It is MLB‘s view that the Committee’s 1969 omission of the Negro Leagues from consideration was clearly an error that demands today’s designation,” the league said in a statement.
As a result of the reclassification, many players who spent time in both the Negro Leagues and MLB will see their stats improved significantly. Players like Mays and Irvin will have stats like hits, home runs, and RBIs added to their career total.
“All of us who love baseball have long known that the Negro Leagues produced many of our game’s best players, innovations and triumphs against a backdrop of injustice,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We are now grateful to count the players of the Negro Leagues where they belong: as Major Leaguers within the official historical record.”
There is even talk that with the reclassification, Gibson may even surpass Barry Bonds’ career record for most home runs with 762. According to ESPN, Gibson may have hit over 800 home runs during his time in the Negro Leagues but that there likely isn’t enough records that exist for him to be officially credited with them all.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled by this recognition of the significance of the Negro Leagues in Major League Baseball history,” said Edward Schauder, legal representative for Gibson’s estate and co-founder of the Negro Leagues Players Association. “Josh Gibson was a legend who would have certainly been a top player in the major leagues if he had been allowed to play.”
Before making their decision official, MLB consulted with various other groups including the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum and the Negro Leagues Researchers and Authors Group.
“The perceived deficiencies of the Negro Leagues’ structure and scheduling were born of MLB‘s exclusionary practices, and denying them major league status has been a double penalty, much like that exacted of Hall of Fame candidates prior to Satchel Paige’s induction in 1971,” baseball historian John Thorn said. “Granting MLB status to the Negro Leagues a century after their founding is profoundly gratifying.”
The correct decision may have taken far too long to reach, but it is important that MLB is finally recognizing the errors they have made in the past and have officially begun to identify ways in order to correct them. Wednesday’s acknowledgment is a significant sign of progress and one the league should be proud of.
