Negro Leagues Recognized As Major

[Exhibitman]

Tetelo Vargas is now credited with the highest single-season batting average .4711.



Which suits me just fine. He was a pretty remarkable player:

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/juan-tetelo-vargas/

[marzoumanian]

Just read an article on this this morning. One of the guys interviewed joked that there's now going to be a brand new market for baseball trivia books. Brace yourself!

[John1941]

Recently, I've been researching the Brooklyn Bushwicks, a semi-pro team in the 1920s and 1930s. What struck me is that the Bushwicks would consistently post a .500 winning percentage versus Negro League teams. If the Negro Leagues were equal to the Major Leagues, and the Brooklyn Bushwicks were equal to the Negro Leagues, why aren't the Brooklyn Bushwicks Major League too? I know that that will never happen, because the Bushwicks were a semi-pro team, but when you think about it, isn't that what the Negro Leagues were? They played irregular schedules, all over the country, against varying opponents, with small rosters, and no reserve clause. That's semi-pro, and at the time they were viewed as some of the best semi-pro teams. With the Brooklyn Bushwicks. Maybe I'm a dreamer, but I'd enjoy Buck Lai being counted as a major leaguer.

[packs]

I think that's over simplifying the Negro Leagues and their organization as an established major league. I would equate the Bushwicks to a town team. They were not invited to play in the Negro League and were kind of a gimmicky team with a hodge podge roster and not part of any one league I don't think.

[John1941]

Maybe I should have explained: The Bushwicks were a white team, they were part of the Metropolitan Baseball Association, and their roster was both strong and stable. Marius Russo, who threw the most innings for the 1941 Yankees, pitched for several years with the Bushwicks before going pro, a decent amount of their players played in organized ball, and they were known as the kings of white semi-pro baseball.

[packs]

I realize that but if that was the case the players worthy of Major League competition were able to compete, right?

[John1941]

They were able to play in organized ball, but when you consider how measly baseball salaries were back then, a player would make just as much money or more by working 5 days a week, and then playing semi-pro ball on the weekends.