The all-time statistical leaders in baseball underwent a dramatic shake-up on Wednesday after MLB’s monumental decision to include Negro League players in its historical record.
You may know the likes of Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige, who now sit alongside names like Babe Ruth and Cy Young, but what about Buck O’Neil, Oscar Charleston, Jud Wilson, Turkey Stearnes and Mule Suttles? Each now ranks among the greatest to ever put on a jersey and deserves to have his legacy remembered.
“That’s the beauty of what has transpired,” Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, told NBC News on Wednesday. “The work of these historians who have really worked so diligently to unearth these numbers and introduce them in this capacity where baseball fans are getting a glimpse into the lens of the Negro Leagues.”
One thing to note before you look closer at the following statistics: Stars of the Negro Leagues benefited from modern baseball’s increased emphasis on measures tied to rates, such as on-base percentage and slugging percentage, and less on total numbers, such as home runs. That’s because pre-integration Black stars played in leagues that did not stage anywhere close to the 154 games common through much of the early 20th century of MLB.
Baseball’s new slugging percentage and batting average leader, Gibson, never played more than 74 games (1933 and 1943), while Suttles logged a career-high 103 games in 1929.
“The seasons were much shorter,” Kendrick said. “You have to keep in mind the Negro Leagues, by and large, didn’t have their own stadiums. They needed to rent the ballparks from those major league teams, so they didn’t even have access to the stadium unless the major leaguers weren’t playing. So this economy of scale certainly impacted the Negro Leagues.”
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest — and not as big — stars of the Negro Leagues who are finally getting their due.
Josh Gibson
There’s now a new historical batting champion. For decades, Ty Cobb reigned supreme with his .367 career batting average. But after Wednesday’s announcement, Gibson, the legendary catcher, has taken the top spot.
Gibson, who spent 16 seasons in the Negro Leagues, primarily with the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, bested Cobb with a career average of .372. His slugging percentage of .718 is also the best in baseball history. According to Baseball Reference, Gibson led the league in batting average three times, on-base percentage six times and slugging percentage eight times.
Gibson, a 12-time All-Star and two-time champion, hit a staggering .417 in 1937. He is the last player in the Negro Leagues to win the Triple Crown — leading the league in home runs, runs batted in and batting average — in consecutive seasons.
“Outstanding hitter. The best hitter that I’ve ever seen,” O’Neil told filmmaker Ken Burns. “He had the power of Ruth and the hitting ability of Ted Williams. That was Josh Gibson. Would have been outstanding [in the majors]. Would have rewritten the book as far as the home runs are concerned.”
Gibson, who died in 1947 at age 35, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
Oscar Charleston
Known as one of the earliest stars of the Negro Leagues, Charleston played center field for 13 teams. Throughout 18 seasons, he batted .363 — No. 3 in baseball history behind only Gibson and Cobb — and hit for the Triple Crown three times.
Charleston, a native of Indianapolis, ranks sixth all-time in on-base percentage (.448), seventh in slugging percentage (.448) and fifth in on-base plus slugging (1.061). And here’s the most fascinating part of it all: He did most of it while also managing the team.
He first managed the Harrisburg Giants from 1924 to 1926. He then led the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932–38), the Toledo Crawfords (1939), the Indianapolis Crawfords (1940), the Philadelphia Stars (1941, 1948–52) and the Indianapolis Clowns (1954).
Charleston was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.
“Charlie was a tremendous left-handed hitter who could also bunt, steal a hundred bases a year,and cover center field as well as anyone before him or since,” O’Neil said of Charleston. “He was like Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and Tris Speaker rolled into one.”
Satchel Paige
Paige, a native of Mobile, Alabama, is largely recognized as the best pitcher in Negro Leagues history. He dominated batters from 1927 to 1947, going 125-82 with a 2.74 ERA and 1,484 career strikeouts. His 1.01 ERA for the Kansas City Monarchs in 1944 is the third best season in baseball history.
He was a six-time Negro Leagues All-Star and helped the Monarchs defeat the Homestead Grays to claim the Negro Leagues’ World Series in 1942.
Paige, a 1971 Baseball Hall of Famer, would eventually make his MLB debut for the Cleveland Indians on July 9, 1948, at age 42. It remains the oldest age for a first-time player in MLB history. He led the club to the 1948 World Series, which Cleveland won in six games.
“He could throw the ball right by your knees all day,” Baseball Hall of Famer Cool Papa Bell said of Paige.
Buck Leonard
Leonard, an 11-time All-Star, was known as one of the best pure hitters in Negro Leagues history. The first baseman spent all 14 seasons of his career with the Homestead Grays, batting fourth behind Gibson and helping the franchise win three titles in 1943, 1944 and 1948.
Leonard was a two-time Negro National League batting champion in 1935 and 1938. He would go on to rank eighth all-time in batting average (.345), fifth in on-base percentage (.452) and seventh in OPS (1.042).
The 1972 Baseball Hall of Famer was offered a spot in MLB as a 45-year-old but he turned it down.
“In 1952, I knew I was over the hill,” Leonard said. “I didn’t try to fool myself.”
Jud Wilson
Wilson, one of the greatest hitters in Negro Leagues history, played for the Baltimore Black Sox, the Homestead Grays and the Philadelphia Stars from 1922 to 1945. Known for his power, Wilson, a third baseman, hit better than .400 in three seasons.
His .350 career average ranks sixth all-time in baseball. He also has the 10th-best on-base percentage (.434).
Wilson, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006, was nicknamed “Boojum” based on the sound the ball would make when his line drives hit the outfield wall.
Turkey Stearnes
Paige called Stearnes, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, “as good as anybody who ever played ball.” He played 18 seasons in the Negro Leagues, finishing with a .348 batting average, a .417 on-base percentage and a 1.033 OPS. Those totals rank sixth, 22nd and ninth, respectively, in baseball history.
Stearnes, who earned the nickname “Turkey” based on his wild running style, led the Negro National League in home runs six times and had the highest batting averages in 1929 and 1931.
He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
“That man could hit the ball as far as anybody,” Bell said. “And he was one of our best all-around players. He could field, he could hit, he could run. He had plenty of power.”
Mule Suttles
Suttles, a first baseman standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 215 pounds, was one of the top power hitters of the Negro Leagues. He would hit the ball so hard and so far that fans would line up to check him out in person. He was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.
“They’d come out to see him hit the ball,” teammate Squire Moore said. “I can tell you he was a great hitter. He was known for his power. He could really hit the ball a long way. In batting practice, he hit some tape-measure balls. He could really hit it for distance.”
Suttles, who spent most of his career with the Birmingham Black Barons, the St. Louis Stars and the Newark Eagles, boasts the fifth-best slugging percentage in baseball history. Who had better figures? Only Gibson, Ruth, Ted Williams and Lou Gehrig.