Stats and records of players from seven distinct leagues will become a part of official MLB historyGETTY IMAGES
MLB is officially elevating the Negro Leagues to "Major League" status, in a move Commissioner Rob Manfred says corrects a "longtime oversight in the game's history." During this year's centennial celebration of the founding of the Negro Leagues, MLB has highlighted the contributions of the pioneers who played in the seven distinct leagues from 1920-48. MLB is seeking to ensure that future generations will remember the approximately 3,400 players of the Negro Leagues as Major League-caliber ballplayers. Accordingly, the statistics and records of these players will become a part of Major League Baseball’s history. MLB and the Elias Sports Bureau have begun a review process to determine the full scope of this designation’s ramifications on statistics and records. MLB and Elias will work with historians and other experts in the field to evaluate the relevant issues and reach conclusions upon the completion of that process.
LONG TIME COMING: The move was evaluated throughout this year, including consideration of the following: discussions with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and other baseball entities; the previous and ongoing studies of baseball authors and researchers; the '06 study by the HOF (the Negro League Researchers and Authors Group); and an overall historical record that has expanded in recent years. In particular, MLB is commending the work of Gary Ashwill, Scott Simkus, Mike Lynch, and Kevin Johnson, who drove the construction of the Seamheads Negro Leagues Database, and Larry Lester, whose decades-long research underlies and adds to their work. MLB credits all of the baseball research community for discovering additional facts, statistics and context that exceed the criteria used by the Special Committee on Baseball Records in '69 to identify six “Major Leagues” since 1876. It is MLB’s view that the committee’s omission of the Negro Leagues from consideration was "clearly an error that demands today’s designation."
WORDS OF AFFIRMATION: In a statement, Manfred said: "We are now grateful to count the players of the Negro Leagues where they belong: as Major Leaguers within the official historical record." John Thorn, MLB's Official Historian, said: “The perceived deficiencies of the Negro Leagues’ structure and scheduling were born of MLB's exclusionary practices, and denying them Major League status has been a double penalty. ... Granting MLB status to the Negro Leagues a century after their founding is profoundly gratifying.” Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick said, "This serves as historical validation for those who had been shunned from the Major Leagues and had the foresight and courage to create their own league that helped change the game and our country too." Elias Sports Burea Editorial Department Head John Labombarda said, "The Elias Sports Bureau supports Major League Baseball in its conferral of Major League status on the Negro Leagues."
REMEMBERING THE PAST: On Aug. 16, MLB staged a league-wide celebration of the 100th Anniversary commemoration of the Negro Leagues. All MLB players, managers, coaches and umpires wore a patch during that day’s games. In February, MLB and the MLBPA announced a joint donation of $1M to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum to educate and raise awareness regarding the impact of the Negro Leagues. That contribution continued the longtime support of the NLBM by MLB and the MLBPA. The seven leagues that comprised the Negro Leagues of 1920-48 were the Negro National League (I) ('20-31); the Eastern Colored League ('23-28); the American Negro League ('29); the East-West League ('32); the Negro Southern League ('32); the Negro National League (II) ('33-48); and the Negro American League ('37-48).
