Detroit Stars' Negro Leagues stats now part of MLB record
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
A plaque of former Detroit Stars Negro League baseball player Norman "Turkey" Stearnes posted outside Comerica Park. Photo: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images
Major League Baseball announced last week that it would add statistics from the Negro Leagues to the Major League historical record.
Why it matters: The move shines a spotlight on the history of Black baseball players, some of whom played in Detroit.
- Negro League players were barred from the MLB during segregation, but some were considered the greatest of all time.
The big picture: The inclusion of seven professional Negro Leagues that operated between 1920 and 1948 into MLB records comes as replica jerseys and caps from the era have become popular with a new generation of fans.
- "We are now grateful to count the players of the Negro Leagues where they belong: as major leaguers within the official historical record," commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.
The Negro Leagues combined to produce 35 Hall of Famers, per MLB.com, including storied Detroit Stars alumni such as pitcher Andy "Lefty" Cooper and center fielders Norman "Turkey" Stearnes and Pete Hill.
- Stearnes now tops the MLB records, placing sixth in the 10 all-time batting average leaders.
Zoom in: The Detroit Stars were a founding member of the Negro National League that began their first season in 1920, according to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
- The Stars quickly cemented themselves as a top team but never managed to nab a Negro League title or World Series championship, the museum reports.
Flashback: The Stars began playing at Mack Park on Detroit's east side at Mack and Fairview, according to the Detroit Historical Society.
- After a fire in 1929, they relocated amid "opposition to rebuilding from white citizens in the neighborhood," according to a Detroit Stars history from the Tigers' website.
- Their first season at Hamtramck Stadium was in 1930. The stadium, recently renovated and still in use, is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
- Several iterations of the Detroit Stars name continued playing until 1961.
Go deeper: MLB to add Negro Leagues stats to official records … The Negro National League's lasting legacy