What former Negro Leagues players benefitted the most from a recent reset of MLB records?

Kim Overton was personally and practically impacted by Major League Baseball’s recent decision to add Negro National Leagues statistics to its existing records.

It was personal because Overton is one of Sam Jethroe’s three daughters. Jethroe, one of more than 2,300 players who played in each league, died in 2001 at age 84.

Jethroe moved to Erie in 1942, the same year he became a fixture in the outfield for the Negro American League’s Cleveland Buckeyes. He played for them through 1948 and then, aided by Jackie Robinson breaking MLB’s color barrier, in four seasons in that league.

However, the overhaul of baseball’s record book also provided Overton a practical benefit. The Villa Maria Academy and Mercyhurst University graduate teaches first-graders at Eagle’s Nest Leadership Corp., founded by Bishop Dwane Brock.

Looking up her father’s Negro Leagues stats could further an interest inherent in some of her students.

“Kids admire athletes based off stats,” she said. “A couple of my kids can tell you how many points and rebounds LeBron (James) had in (a game) compared to someone else. Now, we can pull up my dad’s stats. Not just during Black History Month, but other months. There’s data for them to look at and compare to other counterparts.

“They can also show they can be someone, too, and beat the odds without doing anything negative. That’s what I’m going to take away from this (decision) as a teacher.”

Some of the Negro Leagues records Overton’s students could research are available at mlb.com and baseball-reference.com.

Here are other notable aspects from a project that required more than three years to complete:

Origins

Major League Baseball franchises and their minor league affiliates started discriminating against signing Black players around the mid-1880s. While segregated leagues existed over the ensuing decades, it wasn’t until 1920 that former player Andrew “Rube” Foster established the most sustained and successful one.

The Negro National League existed in various versions through 1948, the year after Robinson broke MLB’s modern color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Righting a wrong:Sam Jethroe's Negro Leagues statistics among those added to MLB records

Arduous adding

Seamheads.com, thanks to its existing database on Negro Leagues research and history, was the main organization that contributed to the assimilation of those stats into MLB’s records.

The most significant challenge for those involved in the project was determining which games were official and which were exhibitions. However, even if games were deemed official, box scores for them weren’t always printed in newspapers or available elsewhere.

That meant, by agreement, those stats weren’t added.

Jethroe’s new news

Jethroe’s updated biography page at baseball-reference.com lists his Negro Leagues debut as one game for the 1938 Indianapolis ABCs. He doubled in three at-bats.

After three more seasons of minor league ball, Jethroe finally cracked the roster for the 1942 Cincinnati-Cleveland Buckeyes. They permanently called Cleveland home from 1943-48.

Jethroe was a fixture in the Buckeyes’ outfield over those seven seasons. He had a .313 batting average, was a seven-time All-Star and, most importantly, helped them win the 1945 Negro League World Series.

Cleveland swept that best-of-seven series against the Homestead Grays from Pittsburgh. Jethroe went 4-for-15 at the plate, scored once and drove in two runs.

Other Erie honorees

The research also revealed records for other former Negro Leaguers who moved to Erie after their diamond days were over.

Like Jethroe, they played for the Cleveland Buckeyes.

Unlike Jethroe, they had no MLB experience:

• Lefty Bowe (1918-2016): The southpaw pitched for the Chicago American Giants during their 1939 and 1940 seasons. His cumulative record over 18 appearances was 4-4 with a 3.22 ERA.
• George Britt (1895-1981): Mostly action at each end of baseball’s battery over a career that spanned the brunt of the Negro Leagues’ history (1920-44). Britt last suited up for the 1944 Cincinnati-Cleveland Buckeyes. As a pitcher, he retired with an even record of 40-40 and a 4.56 ERA. At the plate, the Lexington, Kentucky, native hit .268 with one home run among his 69 RBIs.
• Walter Crosby (1921-2006): Caught one game for the 1944 Buckeyes. He scored a run and drove in two others.
• Willie Grace (1917-2006): The outfielder hit .305 and drove in 45 runs between 1943-48. His best season at the plate was for 1946, when he hit .356.
• Lovell Harden (1917-1996): Pitched two games apiece for Cleveland’s 1944 and 1945 teams. The right-hander had a 1-1 record with a 4.38 earned run average.
• Alonzo Hicks (1922-1998): The Clarksburg, West Virginia, native, who died three days after his 76^th birthday, made a one-game cameo for the 1947 Homestead Grays. He played left field but recorded no stats.
• George Jefferson (1922-1985): Primarily pitched for the Buckeyes from 1944-48. His regular-season record was 5-5 with a 2.92 ERA. Jefferson was the winning pitcher for one of Cleveland’s victories during its sweep of Homestead in the 1945 Negro Leagues World Series.

Rare rookie

Two years after Jethroe’s final game for the Buckeyes, he was a 33-year-old MLB rookie for 1950 Boston Braves. The National League franchise moved to Milwaukee three years later and then to Atlanta in 1966.

Jethroe hit .273 with 18 homers and 58 RBIs over 141 games for the Braves, who finished fourth with a record of 83-71.

Notable, though, was Jethroe’s speed. He led the league with 35 stolen bases.

Jethroe’s performance was good enough to garner 11 first-place votes and 46% of the total votes for National League Rookie of the Year. He remains the game’s oldest recipient for such an award.

Jethroe played two more seasons for the Braves before he was sent back to the minors. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates and saw his MLB career conclude after two early-season games in 1954.

The meshing of Jethroe’s Negro and MLB stats nudged his career batting average from .261 to .275. His home run total went from 49 to 58 and RBIs from 181 to 273.

Gibson’s gains

No Negro League player benefitted more from baseball’s statistical overhaul than Josh Gibson, who played all but one of his 14 seasons with Homestead or its backyard rival, the Pittsburgh Crawfords.

Gibson was only 35 when he died in January 1947, four months before Robinson joined the Dodgers. He’s widely regarded as the greatest Negro League player who never wore a MLB uniform.

Gibson now has baseball’s best career batting average of .372, 5 points higher than Ty Cobb’s long-held standard of .367. He’s also the new leader for career slugging percentage at .718, which meant nearly three-quarters of his 838 hits were doubles, triples or homers.

Despite Gibson’s power prowess at the plate, he was only credited with 174 home runs. Research indicated that was due to an abundance of games determined to be exhibitions combined with baseball’s more cavernous parks over the early 20th century.

Iconic loss

While Gibson was considered the Negro Leagues' greatest player, Willie Mays was long regarded as baseball’s best player ever.

Mays, nicknamed “The Say Hey Kid,” died June 18 at 93. He was only 17 when his professional career began with a 13-game stint for the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons. His 10 hits for that Negro American League franchise were tacked on to the 3,283 he compiled over 22 seasons with the New York/San Francisco Giants and New York Mets.

Mays’ death left only two known surviving Negro League players, according to research. One of them, Bill Greason, 99, also played for the 1948 Barons.

More:Historic night at Rickwood Field: MLB pays tribute to Willie Mays, Negro Leagues

Greason’s MLB career consisted of three games as a pitcher for the 1954 St. Louis Cardinals.

Ron Teasley, 97, was an outfielder for the 1948 New York Cubans but had no MLB experience.

Contact Mike Copper atmcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.