Major League Baseball’s single-season and career leaderboards now have a fresh look.

The changes occurred Wednesday, when MLB announced that Negro Leagues stats -- specifically from seven different Negro Leagues from 1920-48 -- have officially been added to its historical record. It was an effort both long overdue and many years in the making, coming thanks to the hard work of many dedicated researchers. In 2020, MLB recognized those seven leagues across that 29-year period as Major Leagues, but actually reaching the point where their numbers could be incorporated was a thorny task. That time has now arrived, though, with the assistance of Seamheads, Retrosheet, the Elias Sports Bureau (MLB’s official statistician) and the independent Negro League Statistical Review Committee.

For a full explanation of this process from John Thorn, official MLB historian and chairman of the committee, read here.

This effort is not over. In fact, researchers estimate that the 1920-48 Negro Leagues records are about 75% complete, and further updates could come in the future, if more verifiable information comes to light via box scores. It’s also important to note that there is nothing new about historical records shifting over time. In fact, baseball history has always been a living, breathing thing.

So with that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the most significant of those leaderboards, and how they have changed. What do all of these changes have in common? They all are tied to rate stats, as opposed to counting stats. Because Negro Leagues seasons were shorter, players logged many fewer official games than their counterparts in the AL and NL and didn’t have the opportunity to pile up impressive totals in categories such as hits, home runs or strikeouts.

Take the legendary slugger Josh Gibson, whose Hall of Fame plaque mentions a total of “almost 800 home runs.” While it’s possible that total is accurate if one were to count all of Gibson’s games, including exhibitions and other non-league contests, his verifiable total being added to the official record is only 174. Rate stats are another matter, though, and as you will see below, those of many Negro League greats stack up quite favorably.

(You can see all the leaderboards for yourself on MLB’s stats page.)

CAREER BATTING

Batting average

There is one player in particular who is going to come up time and time again as we go through the different categories, and that’s Gibson. While he is already one of the most famous players who spent his entire career in the Negro Leagues, these updated leaderboards drive home the point that he was far more than just a legendary slugger.

Case in point: Gibson, with a .372 average in the official stats, is now the all-time Major League batting champion. That distinction had long belonged to the great Ty Cobb, who batted .367 from 1905-28. (Note: Different sources might present different data. MLB’s official numbers take into account specific qualifying standards and follow the lead of the Elias Sports Bureau.)

While it’s fair to say that comparing Gibson to Cobb is not an exact, apples-to-apples exercise, the same could be said of comparing Cobb to Ted Williams or Rod Carew or Tony Gwynn or Luis Arraez. Each player throughout the game’s long and winding history is, in part, a product of his time and place. But they all are grouped together on one leaderboard.

Before we move on, it’s also worth noting that while Gibson and Cobb are now 1-2 in career batting average, Negro Leagues players actually make up half of the top 10. Oscar Charleston (third, .363), Jud Wilson (fifth, .350), Turkey Stearnes (sixth, .348) and Buck Leonard (eighth, .345) now stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Rogers Hornsby, Tris Speaker and Williams.

On-base percentage

No change at the top here: Williams (.482) and Babe Ruth (.474) still reign supreme. But Negro Leagues players now occupy three of the top six spots: Gibson (third, .459), Leonard (fifth, .452) and Charleston (.449). Wilson (.434) also moves into 10th place.

For some context, consider that in the Expansion Era (since 1961), the only player to finish his career with an OBP of at least .420 in 3,000-plus plate appearances has been Barry Bonds (.444). The Yankees’ Juan Soto is currently flirting with that threshold, although he has many seasons to go.

Slugging percentage

Not only had nobody surpassed Babe Ruth’s record of .690 since the Bambino’s career ended in 1935 -- nobody had challenged it. Williams (.634) was the closest, and Bonds (.607) was the only qualifier in recent decades to even reach the .600 mark.

But now Ruth is No. 2 on the list. That’s again thanks to Gibson. It’s possible that Gibson could have made a run at Ruth’s 714 homers if given the opportunity, but what he certainly did do is slug a whopping .718 in the official tally.

Mule Suttles (fifth, .621), Stearnes (sixth, .616) and Charleston (seventh, .614), meanwhile, all slot in between Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx on the all-time list.

OPS

Before the Negro Leagues numbers were incorporated, only seven qualifying players had a career OPS -- that’s OBP plus slugging -- of 1.000 or higher. All were inner-circle greats: Ruth, Williams, Gehrig, Bonds, Foxx, Hornsby and Hank Greenberg. (How hard is this to do? Mike Trout was over the 1.000 mark through 2022 but has since dropped to .991.)

Well, that “four digit” club now has 12 members. Once more, Gibson (1.177) surpasses Ruth (1.164) for first place. Charleston (fifth, 1.063), Leonard (seventh, 1.042), Stearnes (ninth, 1.033) and Suttles (10th, 1.031) comprise the rest of the additions to the list.

SINGLE-SEASON BATTING

Batting average

In 1894, a man named Hugh Duffy batted .440 for Boston’s NL franchise, which would eventually become the Atlanta Braves. (The entire NL, which then included the Cleveland Spiders and Louisville Colonels, batted .309). Duffy’s record, while not necessarily a widely celebrated achievement over the years, would stand for well over a century.

Now, though, we know that in 1943 -- just two years before an Old Timers Committee put Duffy in the Hall of Fame -- Gibson hit an astonishing .466 (that’s 116-for-249) for the Negro National League’s Homestead Grays. If one were to extrapolate Gibson’s numbers over the 154-game season that was then the norm in the AL and NL, that would give him 241 hits, 233 RBIs and 193 runs scored.

While Gibson is the new single-season batting champ, he isn’t the only one to move ahead of Duffy. The same is true of Charlie “Chino” Smith, who is little known today, even in the context of Negro League players, in part because he died at age 30 in 1932. But just a few years earlier, in 1929, Smith batted .451/.551/.870 for the American Negro League’s New York Lincoln Giants, putting himself in the top four on the new Major League single-season lists in all three categories.

In addition to Gibson and Smith, four other Negro Leagues seasons would pass Hornsby (.424 in 1924) for the best in the Modern Era (since 1900): Charleston’s .434 and Charlie Blackwell’s .432 in 1921, Charleston’s .427 in 1925 and Suttles’ .425 in 1926.

On-base percentage

It speaks to the degree to which Bonds overwhelmed baseball in the early 2000s that, even now, he holds the top two spots on this list, including an absurd .609 in 2004, when he was intentionally walked 120 times. But after Bonds, Gibson’s 1943 (.564) and Smith’s 1929 (.551) both pass Williams for third and fourth, respectively.

Slugging percentage

Ruth’s .847 in 1920 and .846 in ‘21 were understood to be 1-2 on the list until Bonds (.863) usurped him in 2001, while also launching a record 73 home runs. But as it now turns out, four players are ahead of Bonds on the list.

The first, of course, is Gibson, who slugged .974 for the 1937 Grays, while blasting 20 homers in only 39 official games (an 83-homer pace across 162). Next up: Suttles (.877 in 1926), Gibson again (.871 in 1943) and Smith (.870 in 1929).

OPS

The top of this leaderboard previously went Bonds-Bonds-Ruth-Bonds-Ruth-Ruth. Gibson was not being taken into account, however. Now he is, and his 1.474 in 1937 and 1.435 in 1943 move into the top two spots. Smith’s 1.421 in 1929 is now fourth, while Suttles’ 1.349 in 1926 is ninth.

CAREER PITCHING

ERA

Compared with the offensive side, not a ton has changed near the top of the most prominent pitching leaderboards. The top seven pitchers in terms of career ERA remain the same, with all of them having plied their trade in the Dead Ball Era (1900-19) or late 19th Century. (Ed Walsh, with a 1.82 ERA from 1904-17, ranks first.)

The lone addition to the top 10 is left-hander Dave Brown (eighth, 2.24), who pitched for the Negro National League’s Chicago American Giants and Eastern Colored League’s New York Lincoln Giants between 1920-25.

Winning percentage

In 1920, when the Negro National League formed, the Chicago American Giants instantly became the class of the league, winning three straight pennants. The team was organized by Hall of Famer Rube Foster, and pitching for that powerhouse, Brown went 40-7 in those three years. Thanks in large part to that run, his career .738 winning percentage (59-21) makes him the new official record holder.

Another Negro Leagues pitcher, Hall of Fame right-hander Ray Brown, went 117-43 (.731) over a much longer career (1931-45), mostly for another standout team, the Homestead Grays. He now ranks second, with Hall of Fame righty Bullet Rogan (fourth, .694), righty William Bell (seventh, .687) and lefty Nip Winters (10th, .679) also entering the top 10.

This is the one category where an active player may be affected. Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who has yet to pitch this season due to injury, currently has a .695 winning percentage (210-92), which had been just ahead of Hall of Famer Whitey Ford (.690) for the all-time lead.

SINGLE-SEASON PITCHING

ERA

In 1948, Satchel Paige made his AL debut, two days past his 42nd birthday, for the St. Louis Browns. Despite his advanced age, including one final appearance at age 59 in 1965, Paige produced a 3.29 ERA over six AL seasons and 476 innings. One can only speculate as to what the magnificent right-hander would have done on that stage at his peak, but we do know that in 1944, Paige produced a 1.01 ERA over 16 starts for the Negro American League’s Kansas City Monarchs.

That performance now has Paige in third place all-time for a single season. Hall of Famer Tim Keefe (0.86 for the 1880 Troy Trojans of the NL) is the all-time leader, while Dutch Leonard (0.96 for the 1914 Red Sox) owns the Modern Era record.

WHIP

There is a case to be made that no pitcher in baseball history has ever been better than Pedro Martinez was from 1999-2000, and in the second of those seasons, he generated a 0.74 WHIP (walks plus hits allowed per inning). That stood as the single-season record, but not anymore. In 1940, righty George Walker of the Monarchs allowed only 31 hits and seven walks across 52 innings, good for a WHIP of 0.73 that takes the top spot.

Paige’s 0.81 WHIP in 1930 also ranks ninth, just ahead of another incredible pitching season: Greg Maddux’s 1995.