Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die
Baseball is a numbers game, we love to talk statistics and accolades to compare players on a yearly basis. Recently, with the emergence of advanced statistics such as WAR (wins above replacement) and wOBA (weighted on base average), we can debate endlessly about what players we think are better than others. While this has given us more tools to analyze and discuss the game we love, it often leads to comparisons of players who played decades apart and treats the past rather unfairly in retrospect. Inversely, we often look at the unbreakable records of old and revel in their superiority, claiming that they don’t make ballplayers like they used to.
In the past week, Major League Baseball announced the addition of statistics from seven different Negro Leagues spanning a 29 season of 1920-48. This has shuffled some stat leaders around, most notably Josh Gibson becoming the active leader in batting average and OPS. This sparks a debate on how stats are recorded and what leagues should be included. Many will say this inclusion somehow lessens the accomplishments of others and solely exist as token attempts to “fix” the reality that was. Rather, we should view it as an opportunity to celebrate baseball’s rich history and ability to span all countries and peoples.
These players should be recognized for their greatness alongside their peers and predecessors. Maybe we aren’t able to definitively say whether or not Josh Gibson would have been the greatest home run hitter or that Bullet Rogan would have been a two way sensation revered like Babe Ruth or Shohei Ohtani. Their accomplishments as players are still impressive and an important part of baseball’s history. We can compare them much like how we compare modern stars to players fifty years ago, with historical context and the knowledge that they were the best of their time, and that with modern philosophies and training they would be equally great, if not greater. They made due with what they had and played the game we love despite the abuse and mistreatment they received.
There is no need to discredit or diminish these accomplishments because, with how old baseball is, you can argue in favor or against any player. Many argue that sample size is relevant to the comparison of their contemporaries. The Negro Leagues played far less “official” games due to the discrimination they faced and the need to “barnstorm”- which was traveling around to play, and play as many teams possible in the shortest time possible. This was done to pay for the costs of the team and players (who were payed meagerly).
Context has always been an important part of comparing baseball players, and this only opens up new avenues for discourse and will help educate future generations of baseball fans. For example, the AL and NL were separate entities and interleave play never occurred before the 1990s. Even the great Cy Young pitched before the national agreement and formal creation of the “Major Leagues” in 1903, with 351 of his 511 wins predating 1903 and we still recognize him as the greatest workhorse of all time. So, I encourage all baseball fans to embrace this update to the stats and to learn about all those who pioneered the game we love.
Submitted by Jackson Westfall