Imagine Sports Historical Fantasy Baseball

The Negro League Players

It is important to consider, when attempting to project how long-past and more recent major league players would fare against each other, that the major leagues prior to 1947 were segregated: white major leaguers faced watered-down competition, as black players were barred from the American and National Leagues by the ungentlemanly “gentleman’s agreement” dating back to the 19th century. The 2005 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, edited by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette, estimated that, had the black leagues and the white leagues been merged into a 30-team major league during the first half of the 20th century, an average black team during this period would have had 14 major league caliber players on its roster, seven of whom could have been major league regulars and three of whom could have been stars. What the level of play would have been, had blacks been able to compete on (more or less) even terms for spots in the 16-team white major leagues during this period, one can only surmise.

When it was first proposed that the superstars of Negro League baseball be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the original plan was that there would be a separate wing for these players. The outcry against this plan – that it would enshrine the injustice perpetuated against these players – resulted in its abandonment. In 2006, the results of a ballot to consider the admission of 30 more Negro League and 9 pre-Negro League players, managers and executives were announced, with 12 more players and 5 executives (including the first woman to be admitted to the Hall, Newark Eagles owner Effa Manley) joining the 18 already enshrined.

The belated recognition of black leagues and players culminated in the December 17, 2020 announcement by Major League Baseball that seven Negro Leagues that operated between 1920 and 1948 would henceforth be recognized as major leagues.

Major league baseball, more than any other sport, has an historic record, and the skills of its players are amenable to measurement on the basis of statistics derived from that record. Moreover, that statistical record is growing in depth and sophistication continually through re-examination and analysis. However, the statistical record for the Negro Leagues isn’t nearly as complete, nor as stable, because the leagues themselves weren’t as stable as the major leagues. Players moved more freely from team to team. Negro League schedules were much shorter, with teams deriving a much more substantial proportion of their income from non-league exhibitions against all levels of competition – from barnstorming collections of major league players to local semi-pro outfits. Much of the historical record, in the form of score sheets and box scores, has been lost, and that which remains lacks much of the detail of major league records.

We believe that the Diamond Mind Online® career-based player pool would be incomplete if it omitted Negro League players who were unjustly excluded from playing in the white major leagues. The problem, when these players were rated for inclusion in the game in 2005/06, was to determine how they would have performed relative to white major leaguers. The approach that we took was to ascertain the type of player each one was, in terms of ability, style, and physical attributes.

Four elements were combined to develop a composite picture of each player:

1. Descriptions of the player from available sources.

2. Major League players with whom the player was compared.

3. Other Negro League players with whom the player was compared.

4. The statistical record, sketchy as it is.

There often were discrepancies between sources about such fundamental details as the proper spelling of a player’s name, the player’s height and weight, and even their handedness. The details below resolve any such discrepancies on the basis of a comparison of the information provided in the various sources examined.

Considerable progress has been made by researchers at Seamheads to fill gaps and resolve discrepancies in the statistical record of the Negro Leagues. Following MLB recognition of the Negro Leagues, we considered undertaking a major revision and expansion of our Negro Leagues player pool, but concluded that launching such a project at this time would be premature pending further development of the Seamheads Negro Leagues database.

Baseball underwent a period of transition from 1947, as Negro League players shifted to the white leagues, with some reaching the majors relatively early in their careers (for example, Larry Doby at 23 and Roy Campanella at 26), some well into their prime years (such as Monte Irvin at 31, Sam Jethroe at 32 and Luke Easter at 34) and others past their primes (like Satchel Paige, 41). In our view, players in the second category should not necessarily be measured solely on their major league statistics, and players in the third category not at all.

The initial group of Negro Leaguers included in our player pool omitted many outstanding players, some of whom, like William Bell, Andy Cooper (who was elected for admission) and Roy Parnell, even appeared on the 2006 Hall of Fame special ballot. These three players, and others, have been added, and we anticipate adding more Negro League players to the player pool in the future.

The following is a list of the Negro League players currently included in the Diamond Mind Online® player pool and a description of each.

Player – Primary Position(s) (Secondary Positions) B/T Height Weight (Career Yrs Negro Leagues)

^ = Player admitted to National Baseball Hall of Fame

Newt Allen – 2B (SS, OF) R/R 5’ 8” 160 (1922-44)

Generally described as top fielding 2B of his era, extremely quick with a shortstop’s arm. Line-drive hitter, good bunter, aggressive baserunner. Good bat control, an ideal #2 hitter. Compared by Bill James to Tony Taylor, Manny Trillo, Julian Javier, Cookie Rojas and Frank White. Some sources have Allen as a switch-hitter, but Riley says best evidence is that he abandoned switch-hitting early in his career.