The announcement that Major League Baseball is now integrating statistics from the Negro Leagues into its official database was widely celebrated in and out of baseball when the news broke Wednesday. Many viewed it as the righting of a wrong, as a chance to give these players their rightful place within the historical record books of a league that excluded them for decades based solely on the color of their skin.
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Though welcomed, the announcement failed to land as smoothly with me for multiple reasons. Beyond the obvious that these were separate leagues whose players did not face each other in an official capacity, there was the insinuation by some that the Negro Leagues and its players were now validated, now that it had a stamp of approval from Major League Baseball. That attitude bothered me and continues to make me uncomfortable.
The Negro Leagues do not need validation. Period. End of sentence. End of paragraph. Their players were some of the greatest in the sport’s history, and to argue otherwise is as foolish as it is misguided. But a bigger concern beyond the issue of validation is that integrating these players’ accomplishments could soften or distract from the fact racism was the only reason the Negro Leagues even existed. That should never be minimized or forgotten, and I fear that it could be.
We live in an age when there are people who believe the Holocaust was a hoax and Earth is flat. There are legislators and politicians attempting to whitewash this country’s past — or altogether erase parts of it — by banning textbooks and certain curricula. Is it really such a stretch, against that backdrop, to believe some might use this as an opportunity to rewrite or gloss over the story behind why these players were excluded from Major League Baseball for so many years?
GO DEEPERDid Satchel Paige throw more no-hitters than Nolan Ryan? As MLB adds Negro League stats, it's unclearFact is, the farther we get from a period in time, the easier it is to forget the details of what took place — or sometimes even know that something took place. That’s why I’m hoping baseball takes steps to prominently identify this influx of new players as descendants of the Negro Leagues, which it has yet to do. It is not enough to simply list Josh Gibson as the career leader in batting average. There should also be something that informs the reader that Gibson was part of the Negro Leagues. Until then, the message falls short when commissioner Rob Manfred says, “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.”
Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, fully supports the initiative and what it means to the few Negro Leaguers still alive and the families of those who have passed on. But he also believes more can be done.
“I want people to know that these players played in the Negro Leagues,” Kendrick told me Friday morning by phone. “I need them to know that they played in the Negro Leagues.”
“I hope through these numbers, through these statistics, that this will be the gateway to wanting to learn who these players were,” said Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo. (David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
Not to be divisive, but to be educational. Kendrick knows that though baseball purists might look at the record books and research the names of players they don’t know or players who were added at a later date, new followers or casual observers might not be as diligent.
“Twenty years from now, that new baseball fan — White, Black, whatever color they may be — I don’t want them to look at that list and not know that Josh Gibson or Turkey Stearnes or Oscar Charleston once upon a time weren’t allowed to play in the ‘White’ major leagues,” he said. “They need to know that there were two separate leagues and, ultimately, the sacrifices that were made helped invoke change. It’s also about being able to say, here’s the story. I hope through these numbers, through these statistics, that this will be the gateway to wanting to learn who these players were.”
— Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (@NLBMuseumKC) May 29, 2024
Manfred should take a lesson from the early 1970s, when the idea of including Negro League players in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum first heated up. There were some who wanted to create a separate wing for these players, as if to say, Yeah, we recognize you, but we’re not prepared to fully embrace you. It created contentious moments, from which cooler heads prevailed and it was ultimately decided that there would be no separate wing. But one of the things MLB got right is that it made sure the players’ plaques reflected their time in the Negro Leagues. The same should be done as it relates to the record books.
GO DEEPERMLB's integration of Negro League stats invites us to explore baseball as never beforeGO DEEPERRosenthal: Inclusion of Negro Leagues statistics in MLB records only enhances baseball's historyThe entire discussion further heightens the importance of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo., because it’s critically important that Black people be able to not only tell their own stories but also protect their history. Not to label a moment in time racist, but to show purpose in perseverance.
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“This history is so triumphant,” Kendrick said. “The circ*mstances that dictated the need for a Negro Leagues, that is painful and sorrowful. But the Negro Leagues themselves is really a celebration of the power of the human spirit to persevere and prevail. We cannot lose that story. The life lessons that come from this story of triumph over adversity are as important today as ever before with the things we’re seeing in our society.”
Yet another reason Major League Baseball should go one step further and ensure that its record books are home to not only these players’ statistics but also the origins of the numbers.
(Top photo of Roy Campanella, Don Newcombe and Jackie Robinson, who played in the Negro Leagues before starring for the Dodgers: Bettmann / Getty Images)
Jim Trotter is a national columnist for The Athletic based in San Diego. He previously worked for NFL Media, ESPN, Sports Illustrated and The San Diego Union-Tribune. A proud graduate of Howard University, he is a Pro Football Hall of Fame voter and a former president of Pro Football Writers of America. He has authored two books, including “Junior Seau: The Life and Death of a Football Icon,” and is a regular fill-in guest host on “Brother From Another” on Peaco*ck TV. Follow Jim on Twitter @JimTrotter_NFL
