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Major League Baseball recent decision to include the statistics of Negro League Baseball players means great players like Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson above (two of the greatest, who stack up to any white Major League player) will now be recognized like they should have always been.
Major League Baseball’s decision to alter the status of the Negro Leagues to major league and incorporate Negro Leagues statistics into a historical record in which they did not participate is consistent with two opposing but defining forces of our time.
One is the racial reckoning that has defined America post-George Floyd’s killing. The other is the routine bombardment by powerful institutions and individuals of ahistorical misinformation — the death of truth that has accelerated over the past four years.
Adding Negro League statistics to baseball’s official record in the year of the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues’ founding appeared to be a positive step toward racial justice, and indeed was motivated by the politics and climate of 2020.
The decision was met with great applause, but in addition to being reconciliatory, it was also a spectacular display of historical distortion and institutional arrogance.
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