Ty Cobb is second now

[HemiEd]

Baseball Integrates Leaderboards

Major League Baseball officially updated its statistics leaderboard yesterday to include 2,300 qualifying men who played in the Negro Leagues between 1920 and 1948. The integration incorporates findings from a three-year research process initiated after MLB first recognized the Negro Leagues as major leagues in December 2020.



The update reshapes long-standing leaderboards, with legendary power hitter and Hall of Fame catcher Josh Gibson now recognized as the all-time leader in career batting average with a .372 mark, passing prior leader, Ty Cobb. Lifetime numbers from MLB players reflecting their time in the Negro Leagues were also recognized, including those of Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, and Satchel Paige. See a rundown of leaderboard changes here. https://www.mlb.com/news/stats-leade...ro-leagues-mlb



Tacit bans in the major leagues forced Black players to create their own leagues in the first half of the 20th century. Jackie Robinson broke the sport's racial barrier when he made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947

[kysirsoze]

Love it. It's about time.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by kysirsoze

Love it. It's about time.

I agree and it is so interesting to read about history.

[neech]

Ty Cobb was supposed to be a real jerk anyway, so too bad so sad.

[Garcia Bronco]

Originally Posted by neech

Ty Cobb was supposed to be a real jerk anyway, so too bad so sad.

It was still a different league. I'm not sure this is the right move, but if that's what major league baseball wants to do more power to them

[kysirsoze]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

It was still a different league. I'm not sure this is the right move, but if that's what major league baseball wants to do more power to them

The obvious racial injustices aside, it's called the major leagues and for a long time there was a third one. It deserves to be recognized. The stats are already muddied by different eras and rules and cheating scandals, etc. Sacrificing a little purity in pursuit of justice and a more truthful telling of the history of the game is the obvious choice.

[Ocotillo]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

It was still a different league. I'm not sure this is the right move, but if that's what major league baseball wants to do more power to them

Other leagues were already included in the official statistical record.

It's also worth remembering: the Major Leagues were never just AL/NL. There were six of them. Now there's more. If that 1969 committee had been more thoughtful, this might have been done long ago. pic.twitter.com/O0caB6D5dg

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) May 29, 2024

[George Liquor]

Originally Posted by neech

Ty Cobb was supposed to be a real jerk anyway, so too bad so sad.

I've heard that the Cobb being a world class prick story is overblown and was essentially made up by one vindictive baseball writer.

PragerU (I'm not a huge fan of them) has a pretty good non-political video on it.

[Ocotillo]

Originally Posted by bdj23

I've heard that the Cobb being a world class prick story is overblown and was essentially made up by one vindictive baseball writer.

PragerU (I'm not a huge fan of them) has a pretty good non-political video on it.

The main thing that Cobb has been commonly miscast as was a racist.

In a 1952 Sporting News article on the integration of the Texas minor leagues, published before the Athletics, Pirates, Cardinals, Reds, Yankees, Phillies, Tigers, and Red Sox had a black player on their rosters, Cobb stated: “The Negro has the right to compete in sports and who’s to say they have not?”

He later said, toward the end of his life: “The only player I would pay to see is Willie Mays.”

[MarkDavis'Haircut]

Originally Posted by bdj23

I've heard that the Cobb being a world class prick story is overblown and was essentially made up by one vindictive baseball writer.

PragerU (I'm not a huge fan of them) has a pretty good non-political video on it.

It is absolutely overblown. Al Stump sold a pack of lies and then the Cobb movie cemented them in the public's mind. Similar to how the Babe Ruth movie acted like he wasn't athletic at all.

Baseball Fever has a great Ty Cobb thread where they strip away the lies. There are several good books as well.

I love baseball but so much of its common knowledge is fable and distorted history.

Unfortunately, the public doesn't know and isn't interested in knowledge. Even this thread has people repeating exaggerations.

[stumppy]

Apparently, he was always 2cnd. It's just documented that way now.

[smithandrew051]

I used to be a major purist for Major League Baseball stats, and these used to be sacred to me as a kid.

Then the Steroid Era happened, and the Homerun records became completely unattainable.

Pitching is so different now that those old time records are also unattainable. Winning 20 games is somewhat rare anymore. Imagine doing that 25 straight seasons and still be 11 wins away from Cy Young’s record.

So really, what do the records in baseball mean if no one can break them?

Given that, I don’t have an issue with this.

[BigRichard]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

I used to be a major purist for Major League Baseball stats, and these used to be sacred to me as a kid.

Then the Steroid Era happened, and the Homerun records became completely unattainable.

Pitching is so different now that those old time records are also unattainable. Winning 20 games is somewhat rare anymore. Imagine doing that 25 straight seasons and still be 11 wins away from Cy Young’s record.

So really, what do the records in baseball mean if no one can break them?

Given that, I don’t have an issue with this.

I say this about all the different sports unless they haven't changed the rules at all. The NFL records are such a joke anymore. You have changed the rules so much it isn't the same game it was 30 years ago. You can't compare records from year to year because of that.

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by BigRichard

I say this about all the different sports unless they haven't changed the rules at all. The NFL records are such a joke anymore. You have changed the rules so much it isn't the same game it was 30 years ago. You can't compare records from year to year because of that.

All records and even who's the best at _________ need to be kept in context of the era in which a player played.

[Garcia Bronco]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

I used to be a major purist for Major League Baseball stats, and these used to be sacred to me as a kid.

Then the Steroid Era happened, and the Homerun records became completely unattainable.

Pitching is so different now that those old time records are also unattainable. Winning 20 games is somewhat rare anymore. Imagine doing that 25 straight seasons and still be 11 wins away from Cy Young’s record.

So really, what do the records in baseball mean if no one can break them?

Given that, I don’t have an issue with this.

Not to mention the alcoholic drunk era, The greeny amphetamine era, .... Baseball has always been on some kind of juice.