Babe Ruth has long been considered the greatest player in baseball history, with arguments made for Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Barry Bonds and even Shohei Ohtani. Now a “new” player entering the debate: Hall of Fame catcher Josh Gibson. It’s about time! Via USAToday:
Gibson, and all the former Negro League players, will have their statistics officially incorporated into Major League Baseball’s historical records, according to a person familiar with the announcement. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity since the official announcement is scheduled for Wednesday.
It’s been 3 1/2 years since MLB officially elevated Negro Leagues’ statistics to ‘Major League’ status in December, 2020.
Gibson, who spent his entire career in the Negro Leagues from 1930, 1933-40 and 1942-46, will now be considered the greatest catcher of all time, and arguably the best player of all time, according to the official historical records after an independent committee reviewed them.
It seems so crazy that America’s Game kept these statistics separate in the first place. At least now they’ll finally be accurate.
