Negro Leagues now recognized as Major League status
Major League Baseball has for years acknowledged the contributions and the legacy of the thousands of Black athletes who played in the Negro Leagues.
On Wednesday, the league went a step further, saying it was officially "correcting a longtime oversight in the game's history" and recognizing those professionals as Major League-caliber players. The league said it will also include their statistics and records as part of MLB history.
MLB says its announcement is the culmination of its efforts to honor the Negro Leagues, for which some 3,400 Black athletes played from 1920 to 1948.
"Thousands of players, like Josh Gibson – considered to be one of the best hitters baseball has ever seen though he wasn't allowed to play in a single MLB game – are now officially considered Major Leaguers"
Gibson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
Josh was a better power hitter than Babe Ruth, Ted Williams or anybody else I've ever seen," former Cleveland Buckeye pitcher and manager Alonzo Boone said, according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
"Anything he touched was hit hard. He could power outside pitches to right field. Shortstops would move to left field when Josh came to the plate," Boone said.
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And the Negro Leagues had a pitcher that most may have heard of ... Satchel Paige.
Once asked how many games did he win, Satchel simply answered ... "All of them"
On town tours across the United States, Satchel Paige would sometimes have his infielders sit down on the field behind him and then routinely strike out the side.
And Satchel played with some of the best, with Cool Papa Bell being one of them.
According to Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell was so fast that he could turn off the lights and be in bed before the room got dark.
I would think that we should be seeing some new records added onto the books soon.
It will be a heck of a task for whoever has the honors in sorting all this out !
:eek:
Very cool thou :)
