Josh Gibson named MLB career and season batting average leader, Negro League statistics incorporated

NEW YORK (AP) — Josh Gibson’s .372 career batting average, surpassing Ty Cobb’s .367, became the major league leader in batting average Tuesday after a three-year research project that included the records of more than 2,300 Negro league players.

Gibson’s batting average of .466 for the 1943 Homestead Grays set the season standard, followed by Charlie “Chino” Smith’s .451 for the New York Lincoln Giants in 1929. They surpassed the .440 batting average recorded by Hugh Duffy in 1894 for the National League’s Boston team.

Gibson also led all-time in slugging percentage (.718) and OPS (1.177), surpassing Babe Ruth (.690 and 1.164).

“This effort is focused on ensuring that the statistics and milestones of all those who helped make the Negro Leagues possible are available to future generations of fans,” Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “Their on-field accomplishments will serve as a gateway to learning more broadly about this triumph in American history and the journey that led to Jackie Robinson’s debut with the Dodgers in 1947.”

In 1969, a special committee on baseball records decided to recognize the six major leagues that had existed since 1876: National (1876), American (1901), American Association (1882-1891), Union Association (1884), Players League (1890), and Federal League (1914-1915). The National Association (1871-75) was excluded due to “irregular schedules and procedures.”

MLB announced the addition of the Negro Leagues in December 2020 to “correct a long-standing oversight.” MLB’s official historian, John Thorn, chaired a 17-person committee that included Negro Leagues experts and statisticians.

“The shortened 2020 seasons for the National League and American League were shortened to 60 games, which has led me to believe that an abbreviated Negro League season could end up coming under the MLB umbrella,” Thorn said.

The latest version of MLB’s database will be released ahead of the Negro Leagues tribute game between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants on June 20 at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama.

Baseball Hall of Fame Chairman Josh Rawitch said the statistics on Cooperstown plaques will not change because they reflect the information available at the time a player was inducted.

The standard for a season leader in the Negro Leagues, like other leagues, is 3.1 at-bats or one inning for each game a player’s team plays.

Gibson’s slugging percentage of .974 in 1937 was the single-season record, while Barry Bonds’ .863 in 2001 ranked fifth, trailing only Mules Suttles’ .877 in 1926, Gibson’s .871 in 1943 and Smith’s .870 in 1929.

Bonds’ previous record OPS was 1.421 in 2004, which ranked third behind Gibson’s 1.474 in 1937 and 1.435 in 1943.

Willie Mays had 10 hits with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1948, giving him 3,293 career hits. Minnie Minoso surpassed the 2,000 mark, having 150 hits with the New York Cubans from 1946-1948, giving her 2,113 career hits.

Robinson, who broke MLB’s color barrier with the Dodgers in 1947, had 49 hits with the Kansas City Monarchs in 1945 and had 1,567 career hits.

On the pitching side, Satchel Paige recorded 28 wins, bringing his career total to 125.

The committee met six times to address issues that made the compiled league statistics meaningless, such as league wins outnumbering losses and missing walks. Researchers had to determine whether players with the same name were the same or different people, track birthdates, and identify people listed by nicknames. Work is ongoing to record transactions and identify ballparks from the era when neutral venues were commonly used, as well as uncovering statistics for independent teams.

Also involved in the project were researchers Kevin Johnson and Gary Ashwill, who have spent nearly 20 years building the Seamheads Negro Leagues Database.

Thorne estimates that 72 percent of Negro League records from 1920 to 1948 are included, and further research could result in future revisions. Thorne said Gibson’s four home runs in 1938 and Mays’ home run in August 1948 were not included because complete game records could not be found.

“Without the box scores, you can’t balance the statistics,” Johnson said. “These games are in limbo at this point.”

Records include the 1st Negro National League (1920-1931), the Eastern Colored League (1923-1928), the American Negro League (1929), the East-West League (1932), the Negro Southern League (1932), the 2nd Negro National League (1933-1948) and the Negro American League (1937-1948).

Details of some games were obtained from newspapers that covered the black community. Johnson said he found complete records for about 95 percent of games from the 1920s, but coverage dropped off during the Great Depression in the 1930s and never fully recovered after that.

Google News ___

APMLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB