Move Over, Ty Cobb. There's a New Batting Champ in Town

Josh Gibson became Major League Baseball's career leader on Tuesday, with a .372 batting average that surpasses Ty Cobb's .367. The change came thanks to the incorporation of Negro Leagues records for more than 2,300 players following a three-year research project. Gibson's .466 average for the 1943 Homestead Grays became the season standard, followed by Charlie "Chino" Smith's .451 for the 1929 New York Lincoln Giants. They overtook the .440 by Hugh Duffy for the National League's Boston team in 1894.

Gibson also became the career leader in slugging percentage (.718) and OPS (1.177), moving ahead of Babe Ruth (.690 and 1.164). "It's a show of respect for great players who performed in the Negro Leagues due to circumstances beyond their control and once those circumstances changed demonstrated that they were truly major leaguers," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told the AP on Wednesday.

A special committee on baseball records decided in 1969 to recognize six major leagues dating to 1876: the National (which launched in 1876), the American (1901), the American Association (1882-1891), Union Association (1884), Players' League (1890) and Federal League (1914-1915). MLB announced in December 2020 that it would be "correcting a longtime oversight" and would add the Negro Leagues. "The condensed 60-game season for the 2020 calendar year for the National League and American League prompted us to think that maybe the shortened Negro League seasons could come under the MLB umbrella, after all," says John Thorn, MLB's official historian, who chaired a 17-person committee. Other changes:

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• Gibson's .974 slugging percentage in 1937 becomes the season record, and Barry Bonds' .863 in 2001 dropped to fifth, also trailing Mules Suttles' .877 in 1926, Gibson's .871 in 1943, and Smith's .870 in 1929.
• Bonds' prior OPS record of 1.421 in 2004 dropped to third behind Gibson's 1.474 in 1937 and 1.435 in 1943.
• Willie Mays gained 10 hits from the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, increasing his total to 3,293. Minnie Minoso surpassed 2,000 hits, credited with 150 for the New York Cubans from 1946-1948 that boosted his total to 2,113.
• Jackie Robinson, who broke MLB's color barrier with the 1947 Dodgers, was credited with 49 hits with the 1945 Kansas City Monarchs that increased his total to 1,567.
• Among pitchers, Satchel Paige gained 28 wins that raised his total to 125.

(More here.)