Josh Gibson has always been considered a baseball legend, earning the nickname “The Black Babe Ruth” for his ability as a power hitter. And now, he will be officially recognized in the Major League Baseball record books, overtaking several MLB records.
This week, Major League Baseball announced that it will begin officially recognizing statistics from the Negro Leagues and incorporating them into its own data. As a result, Josh Gibson will now officially hold several MLB hitting records that were previously held by other legendary players.
“Gibson’s true statistics remain a mystery, but according to USA Today, come Wednesday, Gibson will now hold the records for highest career batting average (.372, surpassing Ty Cobb’s .366), slugging percentage (.718, soon-to-be formerly held by Babe Ruth’s .690) and OPS (1.177, beating Ruth’s 1.164). He played in 602 Negro League games, according to Baseball-Reference,” Fox News reported this week.
“The outlet says his .446 average in 1943 for the Homestead Grays will now be a record, as will his .974 slugging percentage from 1937 — that record was held by Barry Bonds, who slugged .863 in his 73-homer 2001 season. He also will hold the two-best single seasons in terms of OPS, including his 1.474 from 1937, also beating out Bonds.”
Needless to say, the MLB record books will look quite different.
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