Tank McNamara by Bill Hinds for June 10, 2024

This was long overdue. Lots of awesome ballplayers are finally getting some recognition. If one gets the chance, visit Buck O’Neil’s museum in KC. Lots of amazing stuff there. Buck himself got boned by Cooperstown, he should have been enshrined in the 2000s while he was still with us but ended up going in posthumously a short while back. Also, read “The Soul of Baseball” by Joe Posnanski, good detailed account of Mr O’Neil!

Don’t ruin his moment.

He’s gonna need to see a shoulder surgeon when he gets done.

Working on stats is an ongoing project for all leagues.

They’ll have Satchel Paige’s complete statistics by the year 2099——he was everywhere.

Monte Irvin and Roy Campanella played in Black AND Big Leagues

The Mets let go Seth Lugo,Zach Wheeler,and Nolan Ryan.

Does anyone else see a pattern here?

I still love the “X Files” episode that explained all those incredible stats by the athletes being aliens. :)

I was asked to edit my message for banned words. If the word is the one that’s on the jersey of the man on the right, then the answer is “no.”

Players, yes. Stats, no.

The (can’t say the name) Leagues had a number of great players, many of whom have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. But it is a mistake to give their stats equal weight. The leagues had spotty schedules, iffy competition at times, and poor record-keeping. Does anyone really believe Josh Gibson was a better hitter for average than Ty Cobb?

But here’s the proof: look at the players who made the transition to the MLB. What were their stats like? Some really great players, but it’s not like they played at another level entirely. Yet, look at Gibson again. His purported lifetime average was 50 POINTS HIGHER than any MLB catcher in history. Uh…no.

There are a lot of stats we don’t accept into the MLB record book. Ichiro Suzuki had more lifetime hits than did Pete Rose, but Rose is still the hit king because we don’t count Suzuki’s years in the Nippon Professional Baseball. The Pacific Coast League was, by the mid-50s—worth considering as a major league, but ultimately was not. And so on.

There’s nothing shameful about recognizing the accomplishments and contributions of the (can’t say the name) Leagues without accepting their statistics into the MLB record books.

gocomics dot com/getfuzzy/2014/10/17

Rumor has it the two characters from Get Fuzzy were named after players from the league.

and lets not forget about Josh Gibson, the black Babe Ruth. He of over 800 home runs.