[molenick]

I think it is great that earlier rankings (and the ESPN list) included Negro League players, because we know some of them would have been stars if they could have played in what were then the Major Leagues. But I think after deciding that they should be included, people didn't have that much to go on except anecdotal evidence, some apocryphal stories, sketchy statistics, and in some cases earlier rankings (which themselves relied on anecdotal evidence, stories, etc.). Paige was the best pitcher, Gibson the best catcher, Charleston the best outfielder, Leonard the best first baseman, etc. It was just a matter of deciding how to rank them among the non-Negro League players.

Now that we have some statistics, in many cases they justify our "gut" rankings. In some cases, the stats are superhuman and clearly have to be taken in context...Josh Gibson's 162 game average .is 374/.458/.719 with 46 HRs, 166 Runs and 196 RBIs. I think we can agree he would not have done that in an integrated major leagues in the 1930s. But I think we can also agree that he certainly lives up to the hype (if not exceeding it). No one can look at those stats and say, I guess he really wasn't as good as they said he was.

But Paige's stats do not hit me in the same way. They are very good, his 162 game average is 14-9 with a 2.70 ERA and 169 strikeouts in 199 innings. His ERA+ is 152 and his lifetime WAR is 46.3 in 1695 innings (36.6 innings per WAR).

Then I look at Bill Foster: 162 game average 19-9 with a 2.63 ERA and 156 strikeouts in 253 innings. His ERA+ is 164 and his lifetime WAR is 47.0 in 1499.67 innings (31.9 innings per WAR).

Bullet Rogan: 162 game average 22-10, 2.70 ERA, 161 ERA+, 168 strikeouts in 275 innings.

Ray Brown: 162 game average 22-8, 3.02 ERA, 149 ERA+, 126 strikeouts in 271 innings.

Except for strikeouts, these players appear to be statistically better than Paige.

Now, there might be reasons for this. For example, Paige was used primarily as a reliever in the integrated Major Leagues, so his 162 game average was watered down for W-L. And pitching in the integrated Major Leagues also worsened his career ERA and W-L pct. There may also be statistics from games that have not been discovered yet.

But let's say Bill Foster was the traditional #1 ranked Negro League pitcher, and say there were stories about him taking the outfielders off the field when he was pitching, and throwing strikes over a bubble gum wrapper.

And then say we were presented with all these statistics we didn't have before. I think we would say, well, yeah, that just shows we got it right, like we do (or I do, anyway) with Gibson (and Charleston, Leonard, and others).

I don't think we would look at Paige's stats and say, no, really he should have been number one all along, it's obvious, can't you see that he has a worse W-L pct., higher ERA, lower ERA+, lower WAR, lower WAR7, lower WAR/162, and lower JAWS and that proves he was better than the guy we always said was number one.