Baseball History Comes Alive Now Ranked #2 by Feedspot Among All Internet Baseball History Websites and Blogs!

Guest Submissions from Our Readers Always Welcome!

**Subscribe to Baseball History Comes Alive for automatic updates (sign-up block found in right side-bar)**

As a Free Bonus for subscribing, you’ll get instant access to my two Special Reports: Memorable World Series Moments and Gary’s Handy Dandy World Series Reference Guide!

Negro League Poll Question

I think I can speak for all our readers by saying that we were thrilled to hear the news that the Negro Leagues will finally be designated as a major league. It’s a recognition they richly deserve, and an honor that’s long overdue. Especially when you consider that leagues like the Federal League, which only lasted two seasons, is considered a major league, as is the American Association, which was only in existence from 1882 to 1891.

But as happy as we are about this decision, there remain many questions regarding the disposition of the Negro League records and statistics and how they should be handled. So that’s the subject of our new poll question.

Check out the poll and be sure to cast your vote. You can vote for as many choices as you want. As always, we’re interested in hearing what our readers are thinking.

What are your feelings about the Negro Leagues being designated a major league and how the individual player's statistics should be handled?

MLB recognition of the Negro Leagues is long overdue because of the number of great players who weren't allowed in the majors.
The Negro Leagues should be recognized, but with a special designation due to the number of different leagues and the inconsistency of their scheduling and length of season.
The players and teams from the Negro Leagues should be honored by MLB and the Hall of Fame, but they should not be considered as a Major League.
If the Negro Leagues are now considered a major league, using the Federal League as a precedent, their records and stats belong on the books.
The records belong on the books but perhaps with an asterisk to indicate their seasons were quite different from the Major Leagues and even the Federal League.
The records should be kept in a separate category due to the inconsistencies under which they were forced to play
If the Negro Leagues are now considered a Major League the batting and fielding statistics of players like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron should be added to their Major League numbers.
The Negro Leagues' stats of Mays and Aaron should be listed alongside their MLB stats in places like the Baseball Reference, but not added to what they've done in the majors.
Other

235 votes · 561 answers

Vote Results

The featured photo above is from the 1939 Negro League East-West All-Star game, played at Comiskey Park. What a team!

Player Identifications

Standing, L-R: Buck Leonard (Homestead Grays), Willie Wells (Newark Eagles), Jose Fernandez (New York Cubans), Sammy Hughes (Baltimore Elite Giants), George Scales (New York Black Yankees), Mule Suttles (Newark Eagles), Pat Patterson (Philadelphia Stars), Josh Gibson (Homestead Grays), Wild Bill Wright (Baltimore Elite Giants), Roy Partlow (Homestead Grays).

Kneeling, L-R: Bill Byrd (Baltimore Elite Giants), Leon Day (Newark Eagles), Bill Holland (New York Black Giants), Cando Lopez (New York Cubans), Homer “Goose” Curry (New York Black Yankees), Red Parnell (Philadelphia Stars).

Hall-of-Famers: Buck Leonard, Willie Wells, Mule Suttles, Leon Day, and Josh Gibson.

Check out the poll and be sure to cast your vote. You can vote for as many choices as you want. As always, we’re interested in hearing what our readers are thinking.

One more thing; If you’re reading this as a visitor, please consider subscribing to the website so you can be eligible for our new monthly trivia contest starting in January. A $25 gift card awarded to the monthly winner.

Gary Livacari

Add your name to the petition to help get Gil Hodges elected to the Hall of Fame (with voting now postponed until December 2021): https://wp.me/P7a04E-57h

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Click here to view Amazon’s privacy policy

1 Comment

daniel mosiello · December 28, 2020 Reply

I was fortunate enough to have a number of telephonic conversations with Effa Manley wife of owner Abe of the Newark Eagles. Although Abe owned the team Effa really controlled it. Her book, Negro Baseball before integration contains a wealth of information on Negro Baseball.