Negro league stats

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Posted By: Damian

Anyone know of a good site that has comprehensive stats for Negro Leaugers? I have done a google search and haven't found what I am looking for. Does it not exist because stat keeping wasn't consistent?

Damian

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Posted By: Daniel Bretta

It does not exist.

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Posted By: dennis

the 8th edition (1990) of the baseball encyclopedia has a negro leagues player register beginning on page 2575.it does have stats of some of the biggest stars to play in the leagues....of course it is very incomplete but it does have some....better than nothing. this is the last bb encyc. i bought so maybe newer editions have expanded stats.

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Posted By: howard

I believe that the Hall of Fame is either working on or has finished a compilation of Negro League stats that is more comprehensive than anything that currently exists. I don't know when it will be available to the public, though.

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Posted By: Mike M

I have two books "The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues" and "Only the Ball was White", both of which have some stats in the write ups. For example, in Leon Day's bio it says in 1937 he went 13-0, but nothing with each season. In "Only the Ball was White", it has standings and box scores from the East/West All-Star games.

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Posted By: identify7

Yes Dennis, the '90 Macmillans is the last encyclopedia I bought as well. The Negro League section contains the best available stats for <130 of the top players at that time. The plan was to expand the data, but I note that one of the main contributors published his own (primarilly biographical) encyclopedia four years later. This is Riley's work. It contains lots of stats, however, it is organized in a player specific narrative format (while Macmillans is tabular).

Around 1980 Peterson's "Only the Ball Was White" presented the available data with a comprehensive description of the leagues and activities. I don't own this book, but I do take it out of my local library at least annually. I should break down and buy it - it is a soft cover book, and can't cost much. Oh, Rileys is also soft cover, and I just got it for Valentines Day. It is somewhat thick, and costs about $25. All of these books are well worth it.

I have been married so long that my wife no longer thinks that it is strange that a guy would want the Riley book for Valentines Day - see? I told you - Gil gotta get a life!

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Posted By: Jim Hoffman

There is a new book out called "Shades of Glory" that is a product of the BBHOF. I believe that this is the culmination of a comprehensive study of the Negro Leagues, and it includes narrative as well as stats.

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Posted By: Frank Ceresi

John Holways book is the most accomplished book ever published regarding Negro League statistics but even conceding that John poured over countless boxscores at the Library of Congress regarding the same, he and I have both discovered something that should be considered: many of the statistics published and viewed in the old box scores from papers throughout the country might be faulty and thus at least somewhat unreliable. I have done a fair amount of research on the great Sol White (who will certainly be elected to the Hall in a week or so), and learned that Sol tried for years to have the the Negro Leagues hire professional scorers, for the very reason that we seek reliable stats today...to make sure that history properly records the play of those great players who toiled in the Negro Leagues. Much to Sol's chagrin, however, there was never enough money to hire professionals to keep reliable stats. Having said that, there is enoough reliable evidence to have a pretty good idea of which players really excelled.