Contemporary Negro League Stats

[Jason19th]

With the MLB recognizing Some Negro league stats there seems to be concern that the stats are non existent or unreliable. I have always thought that more casual baseball fans realized the quality of the players but didn’t know the quality of the league and its organization. Below are some examples of stats from contemporary sources. First from the 1945 Negro League Yearbook.

[Jason19th]

1947 Newark Eagle Stats

[Jason19th]

1915 Spaulding Guide Cuban Edition with Stats from the A.B.C.’s visit to the island

[Lorewalker]

Thanks for posting. I hope I am not the only other person who thinks this is reassuring to see. I had always assumed the stats were more fabled so it is great to see they were compiled. I assume it would take some digging to recreate a comprehensive record.

[Bocabirdman]

Having seen these type of incredible batting stats over the years, I have always wondered if the batters were just that good or if the pitching, with the obvious exceptions, was not up to the task.

When the color barrier was broken, how many Negro League pitchers actually made the jump?

[Jason19th]

I don’t think the batting stats really speak to bad pitching but really just to style of play. When looking at Negro League stats of the 1940’s I think it is best to compare them to MLB stats of the 1920’s. It was just a league where the rules and the style of play favored the offense.
There were a number of good pitchers that came out after integration. Don Newcombe was about as good as you can be without making the Hall. Paige was winning games at 40 plus. Dan Bankhead has a number of really good years, as did Sam Jones. There was also a bit of a timing issue where a lot of the great black pitchers were just to old. If integration had come 10 years earlier guys like Cher Brewer, Leon Day and Martin Dihigo would have been great in the MLB. The talent was there. There was also a continuation of the racism that really restricted opportunities as pitcher was thought of as to cerebral a position for black players.