by John Reid

Back in 1995, when I was working for The Voice Newspaper at Northern Virginia Community College in Woodbridge, I met John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil Jr. He was a first baseman and later manager with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues. Learning about the vast history of what they accomplished was an incredible experience, but I left feeling a sense of wondering if they would ever be truly recognized.

Well, today is that day, as Major League Baseball announced they would incorporate the Negro League statistics into their records. Completing a process that began in December 2020 by a 17-person committee, they are “correcting a longtime oversight” by adding the Negro Leagues. This will include all statistics from 1920 to 1948, and although some games could not be found due to missing box scores, the committee will conduct additional research to find as many games as possible.

What does this mean? For starters, we now have a new MLB career hitter with Josh Gibson’s .372 batting average, including his amazing .466 average in 1943 when he played for the Homestead Grays. Gibson moves ahead of Ty Cobb, and his .718 slugging percentage puts him ahead of Babe Ruth. In addition to Gibson, other players such as Minnie Minoso, Satchel Paige, and even Willie Mays will see their career numbers increase. Records will also come from the Eastern Colored League, American Negro League, East-West League, Negro Southern League, Negro National and American League.

It’s a day I’m sure Mr. O’Neil Jr. would be proud to see.