The New All-Time Leaders in Career Batting Average After Negro League Stat Integration

On Wednesday May 29th, Major League Baseball officially began the process of integrating statistics accumulated by players who played in the Negro Leagues (1920-1948) into the official MLB record books.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said, "This initiative is focused on ensuring that future generations of fans have access to the statistics and milestones of all those who made the Negro Leagues possible."

Once the numbers from the Negro Leagues were combined with those from the American and National Leagues, there were several new players near the top in various statistical categories, including one Negro League superstar who now owns several MLB records.

Who Is The New Career Batting Average Leader?

Most baseball fans know that the all-time career batting average leader for the last 90+ years has been Ty Cobb, who hit .366 throughout a 24-year career with Detroit and Philadelphia. But Cobb is no longer the record-holder as the great Josh Gibson's career mark of .372 is now the gold standard.

Gibson, who spent his entire career in the Negro Leagues is now the career leader in slugging percentage and OPS, too, passing the legendary Babe Ruth in both categories. He also now owns the single-season record for AVG, SLG, and OPS.

Several Major League records are now held by Josh Gibson as he and other Negro Leagues legends officially join the all-time leaderboards.

The statistics of more than 2,300 Negro Leagues players launch today in a newly integrated https://t.co/Z3s2EpgF39 database that presents… pic.twitter.com/UyvCu0pSzi

— MLB (@MLB) May 29, 2024

The famous catcher hit over .400 in three seasons and once drove in 109 runs in only 69 games. He spent most of his career playing for the Homestead Grays and led the Negro Leagues in home runs in all but two years.

Other Negro League Greats Join The Record Books

Oscar Charleston, who played 18 seasons in the Negro Leagues for as many as eight different teams now ranks 3rd in AVG (.363), 7th in SLG (.614), and 5th in OPS (1.063).

Josh Gibson's teammate, Buck Leonard, now ranks 8th in AVG (.345), 5th in OBP, and 7th in OPS (1.042).

Chino Smith had a brief four-year career in the Negro Leagues, but his single-season numbers from 1929 are now among some of the best ever (.451 AVG, .870 SLG, .551 OBP, 1.421 OPS).

Negro League legend Josh Gibson is now the all-time Major League batting champion and pitcher Satchel Paige is third all-time for a single season ERA after MLB added Negro League statistics to its historical record on Wednesday.https://t.co/qW8jdg3cmE

— Axios (@axios) May 30, 2024

One of the greatest pitchers of all time, Satchel Paige, who spent most of his career in the Negro Leagues before successfully transitioning to the American League and pitching incredibly well into his 40s, is now ranked third in MLB history for single-season ERA as he posted a 1.10 mark in 1944.