On Wednesday, Major League Baseball tried to correct a long-standing mistake by recognizing black leagues as a major league and counting the statistics and records of thousands of black players as part of the game’s history.
“My daughter and sons listened to it and they were all excited and came to talk and rejoice at the good news,” 93-year-old Teasley, who played at Detroit, said on the phone from her home in Detroit. Cubans of New York in 1948.
“It’s early Christmas and it will make the new year a lot happier, especially since my wife died in January. I just think about all the players … It’s a wonderful thing.”
The MLB announcement comes during the celebration of the centenary of the founding of the Black Leagues, which featured stars such as Josh Gibson, considered one of the best hitters in the history of the game, and Leroy “Satchel” Paige, a legend of the pitcher his big league debut in 1948 at the age of 42.
Teasley noted that official recognition only confirmed what Black League players had known for a long time.
“I started practicing with some former Black League players when I was 12 and used to hear stories about the greats: Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and Buck Leonard,” he said. “And then I had the feeling they were as good as the major binders.”
The historic recognition coincided with this week’s decision by the Cleveland Baseball Club to remove the “Indians” from its name as U.S. corporate brands reexamine the use of racist cartoons and stereotypical names.
“Everyone who loves baseball has known for a long time that the Black Leagues produced many of our game’s best players, innovations and triumphs against a backdrop of injustice,” said MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. ., in a statement.
“We are now grateful to have the Black League players where they belong: as Major Leagues within the official historical record.”
MLB said it was “correcting a waste of game history” by raising the status of the Black Leagues, which consisted of seven leagues and about 3,400 players from 1920 to 1948.
The decline of the Black Leagues began when Jackie Robinson became MLB’s first black player with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
In 1969, the Special Committee on Baseball Records did not include black leagues among six “major leagues” that it had identified since 1876.
“MLB’s view is that the 1969 Black Leagues Committee’s omission of the consideration was clearly a mistake requiring the current designation,” MLB said.
“Perceived shortcomings in the structure and programming of the Black Leagues stemmed from MLB exclusionary practices, and denying them Major League status has been a double penalty, in the same way that ‘ he demanded candidates for the Hall of Fame before the induction of Satchel Paige in 1971, “John Thorn, the official Major League Baseball historian, said in a statement.
“Granting MLB status to the Black Leagues a century after its founding is deeply gratifying.”
The review of old records has begun
MLB said it has begun a review, along with the Elias Sports Bureau, to “determine the full scope” of the major league’s “ramifications in statistics and records.” The office is the official statistic of Major League Baseball.
“MLB and Elias will work with historians and other experts in the field to assess relevant issues and reach conclusions at the end of this process,” the statement said.
Bob Kendrick, president of the Black Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, said the recognition “serves as historical validation for those who had fled the Major Leagues and had the foresight and courage to create the his own league that would help change the game and our country, too. “
The recognition is “a commendable gesture for the brave owners and players who helped build this exceptional company and shines a welcome focus on the immense talent he called the black leagues,” he said in a statement.
The museum, on Twitter, called MLB’s play “extraordinarily important,” but added that Black League players “never looked at Major League Baseball to validate them.”
The seven leagues with major league status are the Black National League (I) (1920-1931); the League of Oriental Colors (1923-1928); the American Black League (1929); the East-West League (1932); the Black League of the South (1932); the Black National League (II) (1933-1948); and the Black American League (1937-1948).