Negro Major Leagues

Negro major leagues

While organized leagues were common in black baseball, there were only seven leagues that are considered to be of the top quality of play at the time of their existence. In 2020, Major League Baseball announced their official determination and designation of Negro Leagues by seasons as "Major Leagues", including the incorporation of applicable player records into the official baseball statistics. None materialized prior to 1920 and by 1950, due to integration, they were in decline. Even though teams were league members, most still continued to barnstorm and play non-league games against local or semi-pro teams. Those games, sometimes approaching 100 per season, did not count in the official standings or statistics. However, some teams were considered "associate" teams and games played against them did count, but an associate team held no place in the league standings.