Britannica Sources used in this answer

How did the addition of Negro league statistics change Josh Gibson’s place in Major League Baseball record books?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Negro league The 1935 roster of the Negro league team the Pittsburgh Crawfords, including Cool Papa Bell (seventh from right), Josh Gibson (fourth from right), and Satchel Paige (second from right).

In 2024, Major League Baseball officially incorporated statistics from seven Negro leagues into its canonical history, correcting the long-standing exclusion of these players from official records.12

This integration significantly elevated the status of Josh Gibson in the MLB record books. As a result of the inclusion of his Negro league performance data, Gibson surpassed several legendary players to become the all-time leader in three major statistical categories:1

Lifetime Batting Average: Gibson overtook Ty Cobb with a career average of .372.13
Slugging Percentage: He surpassed Babe Ruth with a career mark of .718.14
On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS): He also moved ahead of Ruth to claim the top spot with a career OPS of 1.177.1

These updates provide formal recognition of Gibson’s extraordinary talent, confirming his standing as one of the most prolific hitters in the history of professional baseball.34