Negro Leagues historian celebrates new MLB records as end of 'a long battle'

By Steve Kraske,

Published May 30, 2024 at 4:06 PM CDT

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In this Aug. 2, 1942, file photo, Kansas City Monarchs pitcher Leroy Satchel Paige warms up at New York's Yankee Stadium before a Negro League game between the Monarchs and the New York Cuban Stars.

Kansas City author Phil Dixon has spent decades arguing that Major League Baseball should incorporate Negro Leagues statistics into its record books. That finally happened on Wednesday.

Major League Baseball's record books underwent a transformation on Wednesday. Nearly 80 years after the racial integration of America's national pastime, MLB officially announced that it has incorporated Negro Leagues statistics into its record books.

Now, legends like Josh Gibson and Oscar Charleston find themselves near or at the top of several all-time statistical leaderboards.

Phil Dixon, a Negro Leagues historian and author based in Kansas City, says he and many others have been pushing for this to happen for nearly 40 years.

"Back in the '80s, I wrote the Hall of Fame and I said, 'These men are Major League ballplayers.' And they were thinking the Negro Leagues was just people playing baseball. And so, for me it has been a long battle, and over the years many more guys have gotten involved and some real dedicated statistics people were finding more information."

Phil Dixon, Negro Leagues historian and author