Meet the Negro League Players Now Holding Baseball’s Top Records

Other notable additions to the record books are men who never had the opportunity to play in the majors.

This includes Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Charlie “Chino” Smith, Jud Wilson and Charles Blackwell, whose career and single-season batting averages place them among the top five in those categories. Gibson’s career .372 average places him in first place, ahead of MLB star Ty Cobb (.367). MLB player Rogers Hornsby (.358) is now sandwiched between Negro Leaguers Charleston (.363) and Wilson (.350).

Four Negro League players are now in the top five best single-season batting averages: Gibson (.466 in 1943), Smith (.451 in 1929), Charleston (.434 in 1921) and Blackwell (.432 in 1921), joining MLB player Hugh Duffy (.440 in 1894).

Josh Gibson slides into home plate during the 1944 East-West Negro League All Star Game at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Gibson’​s career and single-season batting averages put him in first place.

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Josh Gibson

“I’m sure Ty Cobb is rolling over in his grave over being second to Black Josh Gibson,” says Los Angeles–based historian Philip Hart, who has created documentaries on Black history. Cobb’s animus toward African Americans has been debated for years.

If there is one stat that is going to create a lot of conversation, it’s Gibson’s actual number of home runs. What is known is that he hit 174 home runs across 14 seasons. But others argue that the total could be closer to 1,000 if one were to factor in the exhibition games against white players, semipro games and other games.

The fan base for baseball is among the oldest of any of the major sports. In 2017, MarketWatch wrote: “The average age of a baseball viewer is 57, up from 52 in 2006. There won’t be a youth movement, either, as just 7 percent of baseball’s audience is below age 18.” Perhaps this is what makes such recognition important, says Hart.

“It is significant that Major League Baseball brings these statistics into the mainstream, and let’s face it, people who follow baseball tend to be stat driven,” he says.

From left, Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson, Ted Page and William “Judy” Johnson pose for a photo during a Negro League game in San Francisco in 1940.

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Oscar Charleston

Born in 1896 in Indianapolis, Charleston was introduced to baseball as a batboy for his hometown team, the Indianapolis ABC’s. He joined the Army and played baseball in the Manila League while stationed in the Philippines. When he returned home, he signed with the ABC’s as a center fielder.

According to the Baseball Hall of Fame, he joined the Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1933 and led the team to a championship in 1935 against the New York Cubans, hitting three home runs in the series.

He died Oct. 5, 1954, and was posthumously elected to the Hall of Fame in 1976.

Charlie “Chino” Smith

Charlie “​Chino” Smith batted .464 with the New York Lincoln Giants, leading the American Negro League in the team’s only season.

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During his all-too-short life, Smith was regarded as one of the great sluggers in Negro League history, according to Baseball Reference, a source for baseball history. In 1925, Smith signed as a second baseman with the Brooklyn Royal Giants and hit .339. In 1927, Smith was moved to the outfield and hit .435 to lead the Eastern Colored League. He batted .464 as a star with the New York Lincoln Giants, leading the American Negro League in the team’s only season.

On July 5, 1930, in the first Negro League game played in New York’s Yankee Stadium, Smith hit two home runs and a triple in a 13-4 win over the Baltimore Black Sox, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.

Smith died Jan. 15, 1932, at 30.

Jud Wilson

According to the Hall of Fame, Ernest Judson Wilson’s home run blasts were so powerful he was nicknamed “Boojum” because of the sound his hits made when they collided with the outfield walls.

The World War I Army veteran played 21 seasons in his Negro Leagues career and batted over .400 three times. The third baseman played on some of the best Black baseball teams, including the Baltimore Black Sox, Homestead Grays, Pittsburgh Crawfords and Philadelphia Stars. Like many of his peers, he also played in the Cuban Winter League.

Wilson died June 24, 1963, and in 2006, he was posthumously inducted to the Hall of Fame.

Charles Blackwell

Charles H. Blackwell, often called “Rucker” by his peers, was born Dec. 12, 1894, in Brandenburg, Kentucky. He was highly regarded as a great contact hitter with a good eye at the plate and good power, according to the Buck O’Neil Project.

Blackwell played from 1915 to 1929, primarily with the St. Louis Stars and Indianapolis ABC’s. In 1919, he hit .364. His best season may have been in 1921, when he batted .432. He finished with a career batting average of .326.

Blackwell died April 22, 1935.

Walker and Hart welcome MLB’s acknowledgment of the Black leagues as a step to correct past wrongs, but lament that the recognition of the players comes long after many have died.

“It is significant, and it gives real legitimacy to the Negro Leagues. You are talking about players who were equal to or better than the white players but didn’t get the opportunity because of racism,” Hart says.

“It’s complicated,” Walker says. “Better late than never.”

As for Lacy, who well understood the myriad complexities surrounding a moment like this, I can’t help but think that he would have taken it all in stride. It would be on to the next story, the next battle, the next victory. This is your day as well, sir. I know you are smiling.