For years, Major League Baseball (MLB) has not included the records of Negro League players in the official statistics. Although it has been known that most of the Negro League players who entered MLB did fine, the records from the Negro League were never included. This week, in an amazing turn of events, MLB decided to include the Negro League records in their records. This means that now, some statistical categories have new leaders, and the conversation about the greatest baseball players of all time will be augmented. There will be statistics from over 3,000 Negro League players spanning from 1920-2948 included.
Negro League catcher Josh Gibson is now the MLB’s all-time career leader in batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base plus slugging percentage. Josh Gibson also has the all-time single-season records for all three. The addition of the Negro League statistics will also be a way for some people to be further educated about a time that isn't spoken about enough. When Black and brown players weren't allowed to play in the MLB, they created their league. Check out the video below of ESPN's Mike Greenberg breaking down some of the implications including how MLB all-stars competed against the Negro league players in their exhibitions.