A baseball player runs to home plate

Josh Gibson is tagged out at home plate during an all-star game in the 1940s.

Vince Compagnone/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images 

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Setting the Record Straight

Major League Baseball finally recognizes the achievements of some of the game’s greatest Black players. 

This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared in the February 15, 2021, issue of Scholastic News Edition 5/6. 

Josh Gibson is often called one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. During the 1930s and 1940s, he was often compared to the sport’s most famous slugger, Babe Ruth. 

But for years, you wouldn’t have found Gibson’s batting average, home run totals, or other statistics in Major League Baseball’s record books. That’s because he was Black and played during an era when people of color weren’t allowed in the major leagues. Instead, Gibson and thousands of others played in separate leagues, called the Negro Leagues. (The term Negro once was commonly used to refer to Black people. It is now considered outdated and offensive.) 

In December, Major League Baseball (MLB) decided to set the record straight. It announced that the statistics and records of Gibson and about 3,400 other Negro Leagues players would officially become a part of MLB history. 

The stats cover official games played in seven different Negro Leagues from 1920 to 1948. Baseball historians say MLB’s decision means a lot more than just recognizing the players’ home runs, wins, and losses. 

“Fans can now go back in a ‘time machine’ and discover the greatness of players they’d never heard of,” says Larry Lester. He co-founded the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. 

Leagues Apart

Beginning in the 1880s, an unwritten rule kept Black players out of the major leagues. So they formed their own teams, many of which eventually became part of the organized Negro Leagues. 

Black players were paid much less than White MLB players. To make ends meet, many of them hit the road before and after their official season to play more games. This was called barnstorming. Teams would spend weeks traveling by bus from town to town. They might drive all night to play two games the next day against other barnstorming clubs or local teams. 

Along the way, Black players faced the discrimination that was common in the U.S. at the time. They weren’t welcomed at Whites-only hotels, restaurants, and even gas stations. 

“Many ate carryout meals and had to plan their stops for gas and sleeping places in advance,” Lester explains.

National Baseball Hall of Fame Library/MLB via Getty Images

Some baseball experts consider the 1930s Pittsburgh Crawfords to be the best team of all time—Black or White.

Getting Their Chance

Though they played in separate leagues, Black stars and White stars sometimes faced off in exhibition games. The Black players often won. More important, Lester points out, they opened a lot of eyes to their talent. 

“The top players in the Negro Leagues were just as good as their White counterparts,” he says.

In 1947, a former Negro Leagues player named Jackie Robinson integrated MLB. Major-league clubs soon began signing more Black players. This weakened the Negro Leagues, but it raised the level of talent in the majors. From 1949 to 1958, six Black players won Most Valuable Player awards.

One of them was Hank Aaron, who went on to become MLB’s all-time home run king.

“Those men I played with in the Negro Leagues, I stood on their shoulders,” says Aaron. “There was so much talent.”

Greatest Pitcher Ever?

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Leroy “Satchel” Paige was the biggest star in the Negro Leagues. Many White players called him the best pitcher they had ever seen. He was also a great showman and the top attraction on barnstorming tours. More than anyone, Paige helped convince White fans and sportswriters that Black Americans belonged on the same field as the best players in MLB. 

Paige finally got his shot in the majors in 1948 and was named an All-Star twice. In 1971, he became the first Black pitcher to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

1. What is barnstorming? Why would players do it?

2. What caused things to change for Black players?

3. What is the purpose of the sidebar “The Greatest Pitcher Ever?”

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