SEATTLE — On Wednesday, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the Elevation of seven Negro Leagues to ‘major league’ status.
The change means that at least 3,400 Black professional baseball players who played in the Negro Leagues are now officially considered major leaguers and their stats and records will be included with major league’s historical records.
“About damn time,” said baseball lifer and Seattle Mariners broadcaster Dave Sims. “The Negro Leagues existed because guys didn't have an opportunity to play,” he said.
Between 1920 and 1948, the Negro Leagues featured some of the best Black athletes to play the game of baseball. They weren’t allowed to play in Major League Baseball, so they created their own leagues.
“It's exciting from a historical standpoint, because when you look at you know, American history as a lot of ups and there's a lot of downs and this was one of them,” Sims said.
In 1969, Major League Baseball formed a committee on baseball records that would establish the historical baseline for what made a major league. The committee picked six leagues, but never considered any of the Negro Leagues.
The MLB said the committee’s omission of Negro Leagues was ‘clearly an error,’ and said they are still working on how to integrate Negro League statistics.
“Guys like Willie Mays, who played a year, I think, a year or two in the Negro Leagues, and few other guys, some of their numbers are going to be changed. And it'll be interesting to see what the final numbers for that they come up with Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and all the guys that… when you think about the Negro Leagues. Those are the guys at the top of the food chain,” said Sims.
The Negro League Baseball Museum, in a statement attributed to their president Bob Kendrick said, “For historical merit, today it is extraordinarily important. Having been around so many of the Negro League players, they never looked to MLB to validate them. But for fans and for historical sake, this is significant, it really is.”
The MLB has been trying to improve its diversity and increase its Black players. A USATODAY Sports analysis showed in 2020, only 7.8% of players on opening day rosters were Black.
“It's gonna take a while. I mean, I hope to be around to see when it maybe gets up to 17, 18% like it was back in the 70s,” Sims said.
The Seattle Mariners in September announced their inaugural class for the “Hometown Nine,” which focuses on supporting young players of color through their baseball journey.
The team will cover costs associated with equipment, training and travel. The nine youths will remain in the program through high school, and nine more incoming eighth graders will be added each year.