THE ONLY THING THAT ROB MANFRED HAS DONE RIGHT!

 It's about damn time... and it's a great day in baseball!

Major League Baseball is doing what they should have done years ago, recognize black athletes before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. The New York Times writes:

"On Wednesday, Major League Baseball took one of its biggest steps to redress past racial wrongs: It formally recognized several of the Negro leagues as on par with the American and National leagues, a distinction that will alter the official record books to acknowledge a quality of competition that the long-excluded players never doubted.

Photo of Larry LeGrande

With the change, more than 3,400 players from seven distinct Negro leagues that operated between 1920 and 1948 will be recognized as major leaguers. And the statistical records will be updated.

“All of us who love baseball have long known that the Negro Leagues produced many of our game’s best players, innovations and triumphs against a backdrop of injustice,” Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, said in a statement."

So what does it mean for players that came in to the major leagues? Well... they get their Negro League stats added to their MLB stats.  The Times writes:

"Records for some of the game’s biggest stars will receive at least mild adjustments. The Hall of Famer Willie Mays, for example, is likely to be credited with 17 more hits, though no home runs, from his time with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1948. 

Photo of : John Henry "Pop" Lloyd

That would bring his career total, including hits from his time with the Giants and the Mets, to 3,300. The actual adjustments will be made after a review of available data by the Elias Sports Bureau, keeper of Major League Baseball’s official statistics."

and ESPN writes:

Photo of Josh Gibson

"...Monte Irvin's big league batting average should climb over .300, and Satchel Paige might 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."

It's just an incredible breakthrough and something important for humanity. I am so happy about this learning about 10 years about the Negro Leagues and all these incredible players. It's amazing!!!