December 17, 2020
The year 2020 has not been filled with good news as far as baseball is concerned, but on Wednesday, some arrived. After lengthy study, Major League Baseball announced that it will officially recognize seven professional Negro Leagues that operated between 1920 and 1948 as major leagues. For as overdue as the decision is, it’s first and foremost an official acknowledgement as if one was needed that the baseball played in those leagues at a time when MLB’s shameful color line was in effect was of comparable quality.
“In the minds of baseball fans worldwide, this serves as historical validation for those who had been shunned from the Major Leagues and had the foresight and courage to create their own league that helped change the game and our country too,” said Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, via MLB’s press release. “This acknowledgement is a meritorious nod to the courageous owners and players who he
As Willie Mays career stats grow, he s just happy for his Negro League teammates
FacebookTwitterEmail
1of11
Giants legend Willie Mays is among the players whose stats from the Negro Leagues will now be added to his MLB numbers.Associated Press 1970Show MoreShow Less
2of11
Willie Mays, San Francisco Giants centerfielder, licks his fingers after taking a bite of huge cake presented in the clubhouse on July 18, 1970 in San Francisco following game with Montreal in which Mays hit his 3,000th career hit in major league. (AP Photo)Anonymous / ASSOCIATED PRESSShow MoreShow Less
3of11
1962: San Francisco Giants player Willie Mays looking at his bats during spring training on February 23, 1962. (Photo by Rogers Photo Archive/Getty Images)Rogers Photo Archive / Getty ImagesShow MoreShow Less
MLB makes Negro Leagues a “major league,” earns praise from Willie Mays, Bob Kendrick and more I think that’s a good thing. It recognizes guys who played way back. I’m talking a lot of good ballplayers. These are just numbers now. There’s more to it. They were never part of the league.
12/16/2020
For decades, there’s been a fight to have the Negro Leagues included in Major League Baseball’s group of “major leagues,” which, as per a 1969 decision from an all-white committee included only the National League, the American League, the American Association (1882-1891), the Union Association (1884), the Players League (1890) and the Federal League (1914-15). That fight took a dramatic turn Wednesday with MLB’s announcement that they would finally recognize the Negro Leagues as “major” and add statistics earned in seven leagues there to official MLB stats, albeit only for the period from 1920-1948.
/
NPR s Mary Louise Kelly talks with Larry Lester, co-founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, about the MLB decision to recognize Negro League athletes as Major League players.