Sportsball.
At the end of the last Amren podcast, Taylor and Kersey discussed the decision from major league baseball (MLB) to integrate statistics from the real major leagues with that of the Negro League, with the statement that the new all-time lifetime leader in batting and slugging averages is Negro Josh Gibson (replacing Whites Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, respectively), with Gibson also having the all time single season batting and slugging averages, and with the Negrophilic media claiming that Gibson is the greatest player of all time. I commented briefly on this at Gab; here is some more commentary on this issue.
I note that as of June 11, 2024, Baseball Reference still lists Cobb and Ruth as the lifetime batting and slugging leaders, likely because of the pitifully few numbers of games, plate appearances, and at bats Gibson’s statistics are based on – 602 games, 2526 plate appearances, 2168 at bats.
Gibson’s majestic .974 slugging average of 1937 was in only 39 games, 183 plate appearances, and 156 at bats – a little over a month’s worth of performance in a major league schedule. Is counting that as a single season record supposed to be a joke? Let’s consider the .466 batting average of 1943 (a war year by the way, where the quality of MLB play was lower because of drafted players; the Negro leagues were no doubt the same), which took place in a bit less than half of a major league season (Gibson played in 69 games that year). Do you notice that the .466 is not in black ink; we have the odd fact that an “all-time high single season batting average” didn’t even lead the league for that year! That’s because this 30 game .471 average was awarded the crown. Two points. If you argue that the .471 was in “too few games and plate appearances” then what about Gibson’s .466 compared to the White major leagues? And do you see what an anomaly the .471 was for Vargas, indicative of the hitting paradise of 1943 Negro baseball? Indeed, the .466 for Gibson was an anomaly as well, albeit to a lesser degree.
According to MLB, the major leagues started with the National League of 1876; however, Baseball Reference has it starting with the National Association of 1871, which would mean that the all-time single season batting average of .492 belongs to Jewboy Levi Meyerle, albeit in 26 games, 132 plate appearances, and 130 at bats. I note that Meyerle fielded .646 that season for a ludicrously small .154 difference between his batting and fielding averages.
In any case, most baseball historians do not even consider Gibson the best Negro League player – that would be Oscar Charleston (who may have been a Willie Mays-level talent) – so Gibson could hardly be “the greatest of all time” even if you were inclined to be a Sailer-like jock sniffer for the Negro athlete.
The Negro League was not at major league quality, overall. That was the overall consensus until George Floyd kicked the bucket. I see the analogy as with Japanese baseball and MLB today. Overall, Japanese baseball is of lower quality, but the best players from Japan can be top stars in the MLB (Ohtani as the prime example).
Yes, I know that Negro teams beat MLB teams more often than not, a fact trumpeted by Negro jock sniffers. Fact is, those were barnstorming exhibition games, typically between the best Negro League teams (that were in effect all star teams since the richest owners could pay to stock their teams with the star players) and motley assortments of White players, with a few stars mixed in with a herd of mediocrities. The Negroes were motivated to prove themselves; the Whites were going through the motions to earn money. The best Negro teams no doubt could have been competitive in the major leagues of that time, maybe even winning an occasional pennant. But they were not better than the Whites, and those were the absolute best Negro players. The overall quality of Negro baseball was lower than that of the major leagues.
Josh Gibson would not have batted .466 in MLB in 1943, never mind in a non-war year. I have to laugh. People will look at Hugh Duffy’s .440 batting average of 1894 (the real single season record) and talk about that the mound was moved back the year before (to the present distance) and about differences in the quality of play, but the fact that Gibson hit .466 is just met with pure acceptance and breathless cries of admiration. So, if some Irish guy hits .440 we hear explanations and the modern fan smirks, but if a Negro hits .466 that is taken at face value and we hear onanistic exclamations of “the greatest ever.” What hypocrisy.
Being generous, as a right-handed batter, Gibson may have been as good as Jimmie Foxx, which, if coupled to being a catcher, would have made Gibson the best catcher ever and one of the top players. This is being extremely generous to Gibson, and somewhat unfair to Foxx, since Foxx proved himself over 9677 plate appearances in the real major leagues.
Even if Gibson was a bit lesser as a hitter, say like Jewboy Hank Greenberg, he still would have been the best catcher (assuming his defense was sound). But note that Foxx could catch as well, as did so from time to time, but his bat was considered too valuable to have him behind the plate on a regular basis. Would Gibson have made it as an MLB catcher for one full season after another? More likely he would have been made a first baseman or outfielder. If he stayed as a catcher, he would not have been able to sustain a Foxx/Greenberg level of production year after year. Catching is a physically and mentally draining position and while Gibson was able to put up big numbers as a catcher playing a small number of official games, with exhibition games thrown in, in an inferior league, it is unlikely that he could have been both a regular catcher and a league-leading hitter in the real major leagues, playing full major league seasons. So, at best – being absolutely the most generous – Gibson could have been a Foxx/Greenberg style first baseman, or if he had stayed as a catcher, maybe he could have had a jazzed up Mike Piazza type career. But not let’s take .466 Negro batting averages at face value, shall we?
George Floyd dying of an overdose does not change the relative value of Negro League baseball. Nothing of the statistics should have been changed. At most MLB could have said that the Negro Leagues were an independent, parallel major league and kept the statistics separate; even that would have been a stretch. The current situation is a travesty, and Whites should boycott MLB. Anyway, the modern game is boring as hell, unless you like an endless parade of home runs, strikeouts, walks, and fungible relief pitchers. White baseball fans are better off watching old games on YouTube and/or reading baseball history books. As regards the latter, given Der Movement’s interest in sportsball, I am considering purchasing and reviewing a baseball book coming out this Fall, looking at it from a historical Far Right perspective. In any case, today’s MLB should be boycotted by Whites and their revenue from White fans should dry up. Let them collect the revenue from Josh Gibson’s brain tumor cells.
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