Negro Leagues recognized as Major Leagues by MLB

Surgnbuck · Post by **Surgnbuck** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 8:14 pm

Surprised no mention of this on the board. Thoughts?

Just wondering, anyone have relatives who might have watched, or even played in the Negro Leagues? I'm guessing even the oldest members of the board are not old enough to have had a chance to watch any games.

Javy · Post by **Javy** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:17 pm

My Dad would go to see the Greys in the late 30's and after he returned from Europe after the war. He said that most years, they were a better experience than watching the Bucs, and cheaper too.

ArnoldRothstein · Post by **ArnoldRothstein** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:23 pm

The stats that MLB are adopting run through 1948, so 72 years plus however old you'd have to be to remember. "Negro Leagues" takes in a lot of ground, most games were played against local teams, so there are probably a lot of 80 or older people who remember seeing them play, even if the weren't official league games.

2drfischer@gmail.c · Post by **2drfischer@gmail.c** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 11:13 pm

I still haven't made up my mind that accepting the statistics from the Negro Leagues is appropriate. Many are incomplete and it's uncertain how many of them are accurate, at least not to the degree they've been recorded in Major League Baseball. Were some accumulated against amateur competition? I'm not sure there's a way to verify their accuracy.

But I do agree it's right to proclaim the Negro Leagues to be a major league in light of the other leagues in history that have been given that designation.

GreenWeenie · Post by **GreenWeenie** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 11:33 pm

Amateur competition? As a Pirates fan, in the current era, I'm not going to raise that as a concern.

BellevueBuc · Post by **BellevueBuc** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 9:43 pm

366076626D77676C6176446369656D682A67040 wrote: I still haven't made up my mind that accepting the statistics from the Negro Leagues is appropriate. Many are incomplete and it's uncertain how many of them are accurate, at least not to the degree they've been recorded in Major League Baseball. Were some accumulated against amateur competition? I'm not sure there's a way to verify their accuracy.

But I do agree it's right to proclaim the Negro Leagues to be a major league in light of the other leagues in history that have been given that designation.

The stats are compiled from official game box scores from 1920 to 1948. Independent league, Mexican League etc. are not counted. For example, Josh Gibson is credited with 238 HRs, not 800+ that is on his Hall of Fame plaque.

This is not without precedence, since 1969 there have been 6 officially recognized major leagues.