Following a long awaited 70 years after the Negro Leagues has dissolved, Major League Baseball announced on Wed- nesday, December 16, that they will finally recognize former Negro League players as official Major League Baseball Players.
The announcement came last Wednesday, as the MLB will now include all records and statistics of all 3,400 Negro League players as part of MLB history.
Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, expressed his appreciation of MLB honoring baseball history.
“The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is thrilled to see this well-deserved recognition of the Negro Leagues,” said Kendrick. “In the minds of baseball fans worldwide, this serves as historical validation for those who had been shunned from the Major Leagues and had the foresight and courage to create their own league that helped change the game and our country, too. This is a historic ending to the year following years of lack of recognition in the sports world.”
The Negro Leagues dissolved just one year after Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color barrier in 1947.
The league was not considered for any of the MLB’s stats between 1920-1948.
Following the announcement by MLB on December 16, the group will now work with Elias Sports Bureau to piece together records of the Negro League’s statistical past, since there was no standardized effort to archive their games.
MLB commissioner Rob Man fred said baseball analysts and fans alike “have long known that the Negro Leagues produced many of our game’s best players, innovations, and triumphs against a backdrop of injustice.”
Stats will now count for players such as Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and many others, who had superb Negro League careers.
MLB to recognize Negro League Players’ stats as part of MLB history
Following a long awaited 70 years after the Negro Leagues has dissolved, Major League Baseball announced on Wed- nesday, December 16, that they will finally recognize former Negro League players as official Major League Baseball Players.
The announcement came last Wednesday, as the MLB will now include all records and statistics of all 3,400 Negro League players as part of MLB history.
Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, expressed his appreciation of MLB honoring baseball history.
“The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is thrilled to see this well-deserved recognition of the Negro Leagues,” said Kendrick. “In the minds of baseball fans worldwide, this serves as historical validation for those who had been shunned from the Major Leagues and had the foresight and courage to create their own league that helped change the game and our country, too. This is a historic ending to the year following years of lack of recognition in the sports world.”
The Negro Leagues dissolved just one year after Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color barrier in 1947.
The league was not considered for any of the MLB’s stats between 1920-1948.
Following the announcement by MLB on December 16, the group will now work with Elias Sports Bureau to piece together records of the Negro League’s statistical past, since there was no standardized effort to archive their games.
MLB commissioner Rob Man fred said baseball analysts and fans alike “have long known that the Negro Leagues produced many of our game’s best players, innovations, and triumphs against a backdrop of injustice.”
Stats will now count for players such as Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and many others, who had superb Negro League careers.
