Posted on 05/28/2024 8:29:55 PM PDT by Round Earther
It has been an article of faith for nearly a century, as if chiseled onto a tablet by Abner Doubleday himself: The leading hitter in major league history is, and always will be, Tyrus Raymond Cobb.
But history evolves. We know that Doubleday did not, in fact, invent baseball. And as of Wednesday, Josh Gibson will replace Cobb as the leading hitter in the official records of the game. At .372, Gibson’s career batting average eclipses Cobb’s by six points.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
DEI at work.
Never heard of him. Is he black?
I’ve never heard of him either.
He was in the Negro Leagues. Passed away in 1947.
Like Ty Cobb, Gibson was from Georgia.
I’m fine with amalgamating the Negro leagues with the professional league baseball. That seems reasonable to me.
Josh Gibson didn't play in the same leagues as Ty Cobb.
MLB gives the title to a guy who never played in MLB!
I'm the wrong person to ask, but the quality of the play was considered to be AAA? That's a good question to ask. If so, stats by Josh Gibson would be consideree to be inflated, had he played in the MLB, he would have hit less home runs, obviously.
“MLB gives the title to a guy who never played in MLB!”
It was not Josh Gibson’s choice that he not be allowed to play MLB, it was MLB’s decision that Gibson not be allowed to play.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gibsojo99.shtml
He certainly had some power, which Cobb was never known for. (Cobb played in the dead ball era)
However, the Negro Leagues look like they have VERY short seasons, under 70 games a year, so Josh Gibson only played in 600 games over 14 years. That would be a four year career in the NL/AL.
I believe it is an open question as to whether the Negro League talent averaged as well as the NL/AL talent. The best players who played in the NL/AL after there primes competed just fine. I cannot give the all-time hitting leader to someone who only played the equivalent of four seasons.
Yeah, and I played GREAT cow pasture ball!!!
If you never heard of Josh Gibson you’re not a baseball fan.
Great hitter in the Negro Leagues.
Doesn’t the three-fifths compromise affect the total number of runs?
This is a joke.
The records in the Negro Leagues are incomplete. This was the principal reason why MLB never included the Negro Leagues in the same categories as the recognized “major leagues.”
If Cobb and Ruth had barnstorming games included with their MLB statistics, the numbers would be off the charts.
HE is the “black” Babe Ruth. A fantastic player.
all I wanted was a chance....
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