[[link removed]]
COUNTING THE NEGRO LEAGUE RECORDS IS ABOUT MORE THAN NUMBERS
[[link removed]]
Dave Zirin
May 28, 2024
The Nation
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]
_ One player in particular is laying waste to the Major League record
book: Josh Gibson. The debut of Robinson was also the first step
toward MLB’s destruction of the Negro Leagues, strip-mined for
talent. Teams were left without their main attractions _
Negro Leagues superstar Josh Gibson creates a cloud of dust as he
slides into home plate during the fourth inning of a 1944 game in
Chicago., (Bettmann // The Nation)
In 1962, legendary South African activist Dennis Brutus helped launch
the South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (SAN-ROC). One of its
aims was to relentlessly point out the hypocrisy of apartheid
officials speaking about “South African” sporting records when the
only marks being counted and feted were those by white athletes.
Government forces jailed, tortured, and exiled SAN-ROC members for
speaking this truth. But they could not be crushed and kept organizing
international sports boycotts until the fall of apartheid. It has
taken until 2024 for Major League Baseball to achieve what South
Africa did in the early 1990s.
At long last, the records set in the Negro Leagues prior to 1948 will
be integrated into the official MLB ledgers. No longer will the
incredible baseball feats of the Negro Leagues be relegated to a
separate and unequal category. No longer will the accomplishments of
legendary players like Leroy “Satchel” Paige, Oscar Charleston,
and James “Cool Papa” Bell be dusted off only during Major League
Baseball’s thin-gruel salutes to Black History Month.
It has taken a shockingly long time for MLB to arrive at this
point—a delay that falsely gives the impression that competition in
the Negro Leagues was somehow below that of the Major League. But
thanks to the tireless work of historians, activists, and
organizations like the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
[[link removed]] in Kansas City, the MLB has finally entered
the mid-20th century.
One player in particular is laying waste to the baseball record book:
Josh Gibson. No longer is baseball’s all-time leader in batting
average Ty Cobb and his mark of .367. It’s now Gibson, who in his
remarkable career hit .372. No longer is the single-season record for
batting average held by Rogers Hornsby and his .424. It’s now Gibson
and his staggering .466. The Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays
catcher now is also the all-time leader in career slugging percentage
(over Babe Ruth) and slugging in a single season (over Barry Bonds).
That Gibson was able to accomplish these hitting feats as a
catcher—a position that wears down great hitters with the stress it
puts on the knees and back—makes his prowess even more remarkable.
What would Gibson have batted as a designated hitter if such a
position had existed in yesteryear? It boggles the mind.
In announcing this long-overdue move, Major League Baseball
Commissioner Rob Manfred said
[[link removed].],
“We are proud that the official historical record now includes the
players of the Negro Leagues. This initiative is focused on ensuring
that future generations of fans have access to the statistics and
milestones of all those who made the Negro Leagues possible. Their
accomplishments on the field will be a gateway to broader learning
about this triumph in American history and the path that led to Jackie
Robinson’s 1947 Dodger debut.”
Manfred did not add that the debut of Robinson was also the first step
toward MLB’s destruction of the Negro Leagues, strip-mined for
talent. Teams were left without their main attractions, like young
hitters Willie Mays and Henry Aaron. Crowds dwindled. And just like
that, the grand possibility that entire Negro League teams could be
integrated into Major League Baseball, including Black ownership,
Black management, and Black laborers, was dashed. To this day, there
has never been a Black team owner in Major League Baseball, and the
paucity of Black front-office leaders and managers remains an
embarrassment. How different the future may have looked if, on the eve
of the civil rights movement, a group of Black executives were given a
well-earned seat as part of the power structure in America’s
pastime. Instead, Major League Baseball harpooned what could have been
among the largest Black-owned businesses. Manfred shouldn’t skip
over this part of baseball history.
If Dennis Brutus were still with us, the brilliant South African poet
and sports activist would relish the thought of over 2,300 Black
players getting their due in the official record books. He would see
it as a great victory for everyone who would not let the Negro Leagues
be erased. And in acknowledging the debt to those who kept the flame
lit, he would insist we never forget an inequitable past that Major
League Baseball first created and then—as flowers bloomed through
the concrete—ruthlessly destroyed.
_[DAVE ZIRIN is the sports editor at The Nation. He is the author of
11 books on the politics of sports. He is also the coproducer and
writer of the new documentary Behind the Shield: The Power and
Politics of the NFL [[link removed]].]_
_Copyright c 2024 The Nation. Reprinted with permission. May not be
reprinted without permission
[[link removed]].
Distributed by PARS International Corp
[[link removed]]. _
_Please support progressive journalism. Get a digital subscription
[[link removed]]
to The Nation for just $24.95!_
* Negro Leagues
[[link removed]]
* baseball
[[link removed]]
* MLB
[[link removed]]
* Major League Baseball
[[link removed]]
* sports
[[link removed]]
* Josh Gibson
[[link removed]]
* Jackie Robinson
[[link removed]]
* Willie Mays
[[link removed]]
* Hank Aaron
[[link removed]]
* segregation
[[link removed]]
* Black-owned businesses
[[link removed]]
* civil rights movement
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]
INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT
Submit via web
[[link removed]]
Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]
Manage subscription
[[link removed]]
Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]
Twitter [[link removed]]
Facebook [[link removed]]
[link removed]
To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]