Fastball

Major League Baseball to Make Major Change to All-Time Records on Wednesday

According to reports from Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Major League Baseball is set to make a drastic change to its statistical database.

Brady Farkas

Apr 10, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; A view of the Louisville Slugger logo on the Silver Slugger award before the game between the Texas Rangers and the Oakland Athletics at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 10, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; A view of the Louisville Slugger logo on the Silver Slugger award before the game between the Texas Rangers and the Oakland Athletics at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
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According to a report from Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Major League Baseball is set to make a drastic change to its statistical database on Wednesday.

Per Nightengale on social media, statistics from the Negro Leagues will now be integrated into Major League Baseball stats, which will change the complexion of baseball history.

Josh Gibson joins debate as the greatest of all time with Negro Leagues stats to be officially integrated into MLB record books

As for how this changes things? Nightengale provided some examples of that as well:

Josh Gibson is now the all-time single-season record holder in batting average (.466), eclipsing Hugh Duffy;
Slugging percentage (.974), eclipsing Barry Bonds.
OPS (.1.474), eclipsing Barry Bonds.
He also has the highest career batting average (.372), eclipsing Ty Cobb; slugging (.718), eclipsing Babe Ruth and OPS (1.177), eclipsing Ruth.

That's certainly a drastic change and is bound to elicit some reaction. Baseball Reference officially put Negro Leagues stats into its database back in 2020. The Baseball Hall of Fame recently opened up a new "Souls of the Game" exhibit which focus on the legacy of the Negro Leagues. With this new change, the history of the league will get even further recognition.

Paul Hembokides, who is a well-respected researcher for ESPN, put out a post on "X" seemingly supporting the decision:

The quality of baseball in the Negro Leagues was equivalent to — if not better than — the quality of play in the AL/NL.

Not just my opinion. A statement of fact supported by terabytes of data.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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