Gibson's .466 average for the 1943 Homestead Grays set a new single-season record, followed by Charlie “Chino” Smith’s .451 for the 1929 New York Lincoln Giants, both surpassing Hugh Duffy’s .440 for the National League’s Boston team in 1894.
Gibson also became the career leader in slugging percentage (.718) and OPS (1.177), moving ahead of Babe Ruth’s .690 and 1.164, respectively.
"This initiative is focused on ensuring that future generations of fans have access to the statistics and milestones of all those who made the Negro Leagues possible,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “Their accomplishments on the field will be a gateway to broader learning about this triumph in American history and the path that led to Jackie Robinson’s 1947 Dodger debut.”
In December 2020, MLB announced it would be "correcting a longtime oversight" by incorporating Negro Leagues records into its official statistics. John Thorn, Major League Baseball's official historian, chaired a 17-person committee comprising Negro Leagues experts and statisticians.
“Working
with this expert group of baseball historians has been an honor," said Phil Dixon, a baseball researcher, author and Negro Leagues expert who
served on the Negro Leagues Statistical Review Committee. "This
is a great effort. There is so much work to be done and so many stories
to be told through the numbers, the articles and the box scores – found
and yet to be found. The future of Black men in baseball has never
looked brighter.”
Among Philadelphia’s Negro League players, Jud Wilson saw the greatest boost, now ranking fifth in Major League history with a career batting average of .350.
Wilson spent 21 seasons in the Negro Leagues, primarily playing for the Philadelphia Stars, Baltimore Black Sox, and Homestead Grays. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006, with the Stars listed as his primary team after spending six years in Philadelphia.
Wilson played a major role in the Stars' 1934 Negro World Series title run, hitting .358 with an OPS+ of 161, four home runs, and 39 RBIs over 61 games.
According to Baseball Reference, Wilson posted a 7.2 WAR over his career with the Stars, ranking him sixth in franchise history.
For his career, Wilson was a three-time All-Star and won back-to-back batting titles in 1927 (.422) and 1928 (.399).
