Columbus' Negro Leagues stats added to MLB record books
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Major League Baseball recently added Negro Leagues statistics to its historical records, including those from a few Columbus teams.
Why it matters: Such players were barred from the MLB during segregation, but they are now considered "major leaguers."
Zoom in: Columbus was once home to teams like the Buckeyes (1921), Turfs (1932), and Blue Birds (1933).
- The Blue Birds' Jabbo Andrews led all Negro National League hitters in 1933 with a .398 batting average.
Two other Central Ohio historic tidbits in recent headlines:
Restoration, not demolition
Three local buildings are getting historic preservation tax credits to help restore them to their former glories.
- $1.9 million: The Columbus Carriage Manufacturing Co. Building, 2050 S. High St., dates back to 1895. It's turning into restaurant, retail, office, and event spaces.
- $10 million: The Kroger Bakery Complex, 427-457 Cleveland Ave., has been vacant since 2019, but will become an apartment complex.
- $1.5 million: The former Ohio National Bank, 167 S. High St., is being developed into a fine dining space and apartments.
A Dublin dedication
City leaders recently dedicated a historic Black cemetery in Dublin following its rediscovery in 2020.
Flashback: The Brown-Harris Cemetery on Shier Rings Road dates back nearly 200 years when a formerly enslaved family moved from Virginia to Dublin.
- A farmer later acquired the land in 1915 and is believed to have removed around two dozen headstones.
- In 2004, a local historian found part of a headstone while searching for arrowheads.
- The city later bought the land for development and an engineering firm officially located the cemetery in 2020.
The latest: A June 28 dedication ceremony featured a new monument built on the site and brought together descendants of those buried there.