NEW YORK (AP) — Willie Mays will add some hits to his record, Monte Irvin’s big league batting average should climb over .300 and Satchel Paige may add nearly 150 victories to his total.
"“All of us who love baseball have long known that the Negro Leagues produced many of our game’s best players, innovations and triumphs against a backdrop of injustice,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We are now grateful to count the players of the Negro Leagues where they belong: as Major Leaguers within the official historical record.”
At first I thought this was weird, but then in the article the note that MLB already included 6 leagues in the definition of “major” for record-keeping purposes. (And the level of racism in all white-organized baseball, not just the majors, was mindboggling to sheltered me. Teams at all levels refusing to take the field if a black player was on the opposing team…)
Yeah, I know, all of that just shows what a bubble I’ve lived in all my life.
Bravo
Excellent! Overdue by, oh, way too long, but still a major reason for celebration!
Whew. Glad I lived to see it. Wish my dad was here.
Ty Cobb is rolling over in his grave.
interesting - as in a variety of situations in the mid-late 1800’s there were semi-random “inconsistencies” in the racist approach to things …
One of the few black players on an integrated professional league team was Moses Fleetwood “Fleet” Walker, a catcher for the minor league Toledo Blue Stockings. In 1883, the Chicago White Stockings, led by star player Adrian “Cap” Anson, refused to take the field against the Blue Stockings because of Walker’s presence. The Blue Stockings manager insisted that the game be played, and Anson relented. When the Blue Stockings joined the American Association in 1884, Walker became the first African-American major leaguer. In July of 1887, the International League banned future contracts with black players, although it allowed black players already under contract to stay on its teams. These are but two of the events that shaped the unwritten “color line,” which segregated professional baseball until the 1940s.
This just made my day.
So, an upcoming Sharpie Executive Order overturning this?
Snark aside, well pitched, MLB…
MLB statistics pre-Jackie Robinson need to also include a big fat asterisk that says *NEVER HAD TO FACE NEGRO PITCHING, FIELDING, OR HITTING.
I recently watched 42, the wonderful Chadwick Boseman film about Jackie Robinson, and it pierced my bubble. Highly recommended.
You mean on his rotisserie?
Good. Let him spin.
WTAF? This is still 2020, not supposed to be any good news. But we’ve got a new incoming president and now this. Still an unredeemable year, but there are a few candles in the deep darkness!
George Floyd’s death once again, not in vain.
This warms my heart…
reminding me…
On May 7, 1959, the Dodgers, then playing their second season in Los Angeles, honored Campanella with Roy Campanella Night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
We lit candles after sunset…
That would go both ways and gets us nowhere but round and round in circles trying to peek at our own asshole.
It’s about damn time. One more thing to celebrate today.