I think that the issues raised by some point to distinctions between the Negro Leagues and the American and National Leagues. There is no doubt that the length of season was different.
Combining the numbers ignores many, many things and may be inconsistent with how other leagues have been handled. Yes, it ignores the length of season. It ignores the conditions that black players played under. It ignores the fact that they had to play semi-pro teams in between their official games because they needed to earn more money. It ignores the racism and discrimination that they dealt with.
What we are left with is trying to figure out what to do in a world where the black players were not allowed to play in the American and National leagues, despite a lot of evidence that they were roughly equivalent players. (Books like Outsider Baseball highlight the evidence but to briefly note a couple of sources: interracial barnstorming games, the success of the black players who integrated MLB and were enormously successful in the years immediately following integration etc.)
At this point we are left with a 'what do we do now?' And there is no right answer. Should Josh Gibson hit over 800 homeruns but the vast majority were in unofficial games. Should he be considered the all-time leader, or should he rank around 250th with 246? He played those games and hit those homeruns and in some cases, the unofficial games were against elite teams. But they were not official games. And so there is a tough decision to be made. Similarly, should we ignore Negro League rate stats (like batting average) because the season was shorter, or find a way to accomodate?
There was no simple, clean, easy decision. And any fan with a degree of nuance will know that Ty Cobb's career batting average was accomplished in far longer seasons, while Josh Gibson's 246 homeruns barely begins to tell the story.
It's not perfect. It never will be. In part because the history is not perfect. There never should have had to have been a separate Negro League. People like Effa Manley, Gus Greenlee, Cumberland Posey etc should have owned MLB teams. Josh Gibson should have been behind the plate catching Lefty Grove or Red Ruffing etc. Satchel Paige should have been pitching to Bill Dickey or Gabby Hartnett. But that was not the case. So we are left picking up the pieces and trying to make the best of it.
Baseball stats more than any other sport are considered sacred. And this is a big change. One that will take getting used to for many and one that some people will not like. I'm sure some of those people will not like it for racial reasons, others because of the inconsistencies and others for many other reasons. As a solution, it is an imperfect one. But I think that some view it as a good start in the right direction.
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