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There s a handful of numbers throughout baseball history that are so important, so revered, so iconic that they require no additional explanation.
714 and
.406 or
42 is part of that club too. You immediately know what all of those mean.
For nearly 50 years,
660 has been one of those numbers, too. Willie Mays hit the 660th and final regular-season home run of his career on Aug. 17, 1973, at Shea Stadium as a member of the Mets off Cincinnati s Don Gullett. Sure, he hit one in the playoffs ( 71), and three more in All-Star Games ( 56, 60, and 65), and assuredly countless more in Spring Training and other exhibitions, but 660 is the number. It s on his Hall of Fame plaque. It s on some of his autographs. It s written on the wall at Oracle Park. When someone passes 660, it s a big deal. It s as associated with Mays as the 24 he wore on his back.
MLB: On second thought, the Negro Leagues were also major leagues
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Ed MorrisseyPosted at 7:01 pm on December 16, 2020
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A long-overdue correction to a 51-year-old bad decision. In attempting to unify and regulate the baseball record book in 1969, Major League Baseball identified and consolidated records from over a half-dozen professional circuits. The effort resulted in perhaps the most robust and studied set of statistics in professional sports but left out black players from the era when MLB clubs refused to allow them to play.
Soon, those players will finally get their historical due, at least in part:
December 17, 2020
The year 2020 has not been filled with good news as far as baseball is concerned, but on Wednesday, some arrived. After lengthy study, Major League Baseball announced that it will officially recognize seven professional Negro Leagues that operated between 1920 and 1948 as major leagues. For as overdue as the decision is, it’s first and foremost an official acknowledgement as if one was needed that the baseball played in those leagues at a time when MLB’s shameful color line was in effect was of comparable quality.
“In the minds of baseball fans worldwide, this serves as historical validation for those who had been shunned from the Major Leagues and had the foresight and courage to create their own league that helped change the game and our country too,” said Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, via MLB’s press release. “This acknowledgement is a meritorious nod to the courageous owners and players who he
MLB elevating Negro Leagues to Major League status
As the MLB celebrates the Negro Leagues Centennial – an important recognition as MLB acknowledges the historical significance of black players and their contributions to the sport, here is the story of Rube Foster, the Father of Black Baseball. | December 16, 2020, 11:24 AM
December 16, 2020, 11:24 AM
NEW YORK Willie Mays will add some hits to his record, Monte Irvin s big league batting average should climb over .300 and Satchel Paige may add nearly 150 victories to his total.
Josh Gibson, the greatest of all Negro League sluggers, might just wind up with a major league record, too.
MLB Elevates Negro Leagues to Major League Status, Admits it s Overdue
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Major League Baseball officially elevated the Negro Leagues to Major League status in an announcement on Wednesday (December 16).
Commissioner Rob Manfred says that the move is correcting a longtime oversight in the game s history. A statement released also admits that the recognition is long-overdue. The full MLB statement is as follows: This long-overdue recognition is the product of evaluation throughout this year, which included consideration of: discussions with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and other baseball entities; the previous and ongoing studies of baseball authors and researchers; the 2006 study by the National Baseball Hall of Fame (the Negro League Researchers and Authors Group); and an overall historical record that has expanded in recent years. In particular, MLB commends the work of Gary Ashwill, Scott Simkus, Mike Lynch, and K