Kansas City Monarchs players’ stats prove the team was legit | Opinion

When Kansas City Monarchs star Hilton Smith’s new grave marker was unveiled at Kansas City’s Mt. Morah Cemetery on May 1, it served as a sad reminder that the great pitcher was too old to break into the major leagues after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1948.

The longest-running franchise in the history of baseball’s Negro Leagues — from 1920 to 1965 — the Monarchs produced more major league baseball players than any other Negro League franchise. Notable are Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige and Ernie Banks, as well as Elston Howard and Hank Thompson.

But what about Monarchs like Smith who played before 1948? In December 2020, after years of Major League Baseball ignoring the Negro Leagues, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred bestowed major league status upon seven professional Nego Leagues that operated between 1920 and 1948. That meant that the approximately 3,400 players of the Negro Leagues are officially considered major leaguers, with their stats and records a part of league history.

John Thorn, the official historian for Major League Baseball, wrote, “If Negro Leaguers’ statistics were to be integrated into the MLB historical record, one might anticipate an objection that most players never competed against their MLB contemporaries. But that was not their doing.”

Author Todd Peterson noted that every one of the 16 MLB teams in operation between 1901 and 1960 played a Black club at some point in its history, and the Black players more than held their own. From 1900 through 1948, Black teams went 315-282-20 against MLB teams. In comparison, from 1900 to 1950, MLB teams went 1690-677 against minor league teams.

Sabermetric guru Bill James, when asked whether he supported the Negro Leagues’ case for inclusion, replied, “Oh, absolutely. My argument has always been that it is impossible for a league to produce that many players of that quality in that period unless the quality of play in that league was not only equal to the white leagues but probably superior to it. You can’t reach that level of excellence while playing against minor-league competition. So … designate it as major league.”

Gary Gillette, co-editor of The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, said that Negro League stats “are as good or better than some of the 19th-century data, which has gotten the official imprimatur of Major League Baseball.”

Thorn asked, “If we can accept as official Ross Barnes’s .429 in 1876 (70-game schedule), why not Oscar Charleston’s .433 over 77 games in 1921, or Josh Gibson’s .466 over 69 games in 1943?”

Hall of Fame inductees

Let’s look at the stats of some of those amazing Monarchs who never got the chance to play in the major leagues.

Note: MLB began inducting Negro League players into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971 even though it took MLB another 49 years to bestow major-league status on the Negro Leagues. All the following have been inducted into the Hall.

Hilton Smith

He pitched 13 seasons with a 70-38 record, a career 2.92 ERA, and a league-best 1.92 ERA for the Monarchs in 1938.

Cool Papa Bell

The centerfielder, who also did some pitching in his 21 seasons, batted .325, stole 285 bases, leading the league in the latter category eight times.

Andy Cooper

The left-handed pitcher compiled a 118-64 won-loss record over 14 seasons with a 3.58 ERA.

Bill Foster

The southpaw won 110 games against 56 losses for a .663 winning percentage, with a miniscule 2.63 ERA in his 14 seasons.

José Méndez

A legend in the Cuban League, he also pitched in the Negro Leagues for seven seasons, posting a 30-9 mark for a .769 winning percentage, with a 3.46 ERA.

Buck O’Neil

Inducted into the Hall as an executive, the renowned spokesman for the Negro Leagues played a major role in establishing the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. As a player/manager for the 1948 Monarchs he compiled a 62-32 record.

Bullet Rogan

The 5-foot-7 right-handed pitcher had a .698 winning percentage, fifth best all-time, with a 120-52 record and 2.65 ERA.

Turkey Stearnes

The centerfielder batted .348 over 18 seasons with 187 home runs and 1,009 RBIs.

Cristóbal Torriente

The outfielder and occasional pitcher hit .340 in 10 seasons, leading the league in on-base percentage three times and slugging percentage two times.

Willie Wells

The infielder, who batted .411 in 1930, had a .330 average over 21 seasons.

As Dan McLaughlin wrote in the National Review: “As far back as Paige’s induction in Cooperstown in 1971, baseball has fumbled its way toward giving proper due to men who would and could have been major-league stars if not for the color of their skin. It’s appropriate to make that recognition official: they were big leaguers.”

Matt Sieger is a retired sports reporter and columnist for Vacaville, California’s newspaper, The Vacaville Reporter. He is the author of “The God Squad: The Born-Again San Francisco Giants of 1978,” and “In My Humble Opinion: Musings of a Sports Columnist.”