Here’s what MLB’s records look like now that it integrated Negro Leagues statistics
Josh Gibson is now baseball’s career batting average leader, among other things
Major League Baseball finally integrated Negro Leagues statistics into its historical records on Wednesday, a change that has long been pushed in the baseball world.
And just like that, Josh Gibson is now baseball’s all-time leader in several new key categories.
More than 2,300 players who played in the Negro Leagues from 1920-1948 were integrated into MLB’s database officially Wednesday. The review committee poured through decades of box scores, data and more to find statistics for the long project. Barnstorming games, or exhibition games, were not counted. It’s estimated that the league had access to about 75% of of box scores from Negro League games during that timespan, per The Athletic.
“It's a big day,” Negro League Museum president Bob Kendrick told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday. “The great thing about it is that we’ve been saying that quite a bit over recent days and weeks as it relates to the Negro Leagues. … This is the result of a lot of intensive effort by some incredible historians and researchers who have completely dedicated themselves to trying to do something that people thought probably wasn't possible.”
Here’s a look at the major changes in baseball’s record books with the integration of the Negro Leagues on Wednesday:
MLB stats that changed after Negro Leagues integration
Negro Leagues players are italicized
Career batting average
Josh Gibson — .372
Ty Cobb — .367
Oscar Charleston — .363
Rogers Hornsby — .359
Jud Wilson — .350
Turkey Stearnes — .348
Career slugging percentage
Josh Gibson — .718
Babe Ruth — .690
Ted Williams — .634
Lou Gehrig — .632
Mule Suttles — .620
Career on-base percentage
Ted Williams — .482
Babe Ruth — .474
Josh Gibson — .459
Career OPS
Josh Gibson — 1.177
Babe Ruth — 1.164
Ted Williams — 1.116
Single-season batting average
Josh Gibson — .466 (1943)
Charlie “Chino” Smith — .451 (1929)
Hugh Duffy — .440 (1894)
Oscar Charleston — .434 (1921)
Charlie Blackwell — .432 (1921)
Oscar Charleston — .427 (1925)
Mule Suttles — .425 (1926)
Single-season slugging percentage
Josh Gibson — .974 (1937)
Mule Suttles — .877 (1926)
Josh Gibson — .871 (1943)
Charlie “Chino” Smith — .870 (1929)
Barry Bonds — .863 (2001)
Single Season on-base percentage
Barry Bonds — .609 (2004)
Barry Bonds — .582 (2002)
Josh Gibson — .564 (1943)
Single-season OPS
Josh Gibson — 1.474 (1937)
Josh Gibson — 1.435 (1943)
Barry Bonds — 1.4217 (2004)
Single-season ERA
Tim Keefe — 0.86 (1880)
Dutch Leonard — 0.96 (1914)
Satchel Paige — 1.01 (1944)
Other notable changes
Willie Mays’ career hit total increased to 3,293 after including his 1948 season with the Birmingham Black Barons.
Minnie Miñoso joined the 2,000-hit club after including his time with the New York Cubans.
Jackie Robinson now has 1,567 career hits after including his time with the Kansas City Monarchs.
Satchel Paige has 125 wins after including his 28 in the Negro Leagues.
