In 1969 the Special Committee on Baseball Records identified six official "major leagues" extending back to 1876. The MLB has now included the seven top Negro Leagues among them.
The MLB has announced that it will officially recognize the Negro Leagues as a part of Major League baseball. This means the MLB will now include records from the leagues that featured the sports most prestigious black players from 1920-1948.
Late 19th Century
Early in the history of professional baseball there were teams which featured black players. Bud Fowler is the first known professional black baseball player, appearing in games for a couple of Massachusetts clubs in 1878. The first two major league black baseball players were brothers, Moses Fleetwood Walker and Welday Wilberforce Walker, playing for the Toledo Blue Stockings in 1884.
These players were few and far between however and were not treated kindly. It was the height of Jim Crow and abuse of both the verbal and physical variety was common. Sometimes white teams would refuse to play against black players, coming to a head on July 14, 1887 when the Chicago White Stockings refused to play the Newark Giants, demanding only white players played. Newark gave in to the demands and on the same day the league voted to refuse future contracts to black players.
Black Teams and Negro Leagues
Black players would end up forming their own teams. One such team, the Cuban Giants of Trenton, New Jersey, proved to be quite successful. The Cuban Giants spent most of their existence as a barnstorming independent squad, but did play three years in the National Association, a Negro League, from 1907-1909
The first recognized Negro League was formed in 1887 and called the National Colored Base Ball League. It only lasted one year however.
Success
In 1920 stability was found with the establishment of the Negro National League. Later came the Eastern Colored League, American Negro League, East-West League, Negro Southern League, a second Negro National League after the first folded in 1931, and the Negro American League. These are the seven leagues now recognized as having “major” status by the MLB.
These included famous teams like the Homestead Grays who won ten titles in the Negro National League, as well as the Kasas City Monarchs who won eight in the Negro American League. Other successful teams include the Pittsburgh Crawfords, New York Cubans, Memphis Red Sox, Birmingham Black Barons, and Cleveland Buckeyes.
World Series Games
From 1924-1927 the Colored World Series was played between the first Negro National League and Eastern Colored League. The Chicago American Giants won two of these series with the Kansas City Monarchs and Hilldale Club ECL splitting the other two.
Later, in 1942-1948 a Negro World Series was played between the second Negro National League and the Negro American League. The Homestead Grays appeared in the most with five, winning three. The Kansas City Monarchs, Cleveland Buckeyes, Newark Eagles, and New York Cubans each also won a series.
Elite Players
These teams features stars of their own right with greats like pitcher Satchel Paige and catcher Josh Gibson. Paige would integrate into the MLB in 1948 to play for the Cleveland Indians, where he would win a World Series the very same year.
Gibson put up incredible numbers, playing from 1930 to 1946. His career batting average was .359, with a slugging percentage of .648. He is also estimated to have hit between 800 and 1,000 home runs, a truly staggering number. Gibson never got a chance to play in the MLB, dying suddenly of a stroke in 1947, four years after a brain tumor diagnosis that he played through.
Breaking the Color Barrier
After playing one season with the Kansas City Monarchs, Jackie Robinson was the first to break the color barrier in 1947 when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. His debut occurring less than three months after the sudden death of Josh Gibson. After integration the Negro Leagues quickly dissolved with the last teams of the Negro American League lasting until 1960, while suffering a diminishing quality of play.
Changes, both subtle and large, will result from the recognition of these leagues. Satchel Paige should add at least 146 wins to his career pitching total. Also of note is Josh Gibson, however due to poor record keeping it is unlikely he will officially surpass Barry Bond’s 762 career home run record. Though he could still grab the record for highest season batting average of all time with his .441 mark in 1943, should the MLB decide his sub-80 game season is enough to count.
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