The History of Negro League Baseball in Louisiana

Major League Baseball has announced they will officially recognized statistics from Negro League Baseball in their record books. A move that sent shockwaves through the sports world.

The decision by Major League Baseball instantly changed their record books. As players like Josh Gibson instantly ascended to the top of all-time records. Gibson is now the official record holder for lifetime batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS. His career statistics have knocked Ty Cobb from the batting average perch, and dethroned Babe Ruth in the other statistical categories.

Many see this move as something that was a long time coming. The reason for the Negro Leagues to even exist was because these players were banned from playing in Major League Baseball. This effectively made both sets of stats incomplete; because players like Ruth weren't facing the best players out there, and Gibson faced the same dilemma. The sport wasn't integrated until 1947 when Jackie Robinson made his Brooklyn Dodgers debut.

But honestly, that didn't instantly meld the two leagues, there was still a lot of work to do.

Now, while the sport was separated, many Southern states were loaded with Negro League teams...and Louisiana was no exception.

The state of Louisiana was home to numerous Negro League baseball clubs. However, news coverage of these teams can be extremely difficult to trace. This isn't an issue exclusive to Louisiana when it comes to the Negro Leagues, the coverage across the country was lacking during this era. But historians have complied details on many former Louisiana teams, here are some of the franchises they have been able to track.

One of the biggest aspects of the Negro League concept was "barnstorming". This is where organized teams would travel to a region to play against local groups and teams. Due to the popularity of this brand of baseball, the concept of "leagues" was a little hard to pull off for teams.

The leagues that did form generally didn't last long, and the teams that were in the leagues often had trouble maintaining their organization. This, along with a lack of consistent news coverage, has made a lot of the Negro League statistics and history difficult to track.

In Louisiana, there are plenty of details on team names and locations, but finding players, years, and statistics is nearly impossible. This is something Major League Baseball has struggled with when trying to adjust their records, which is why they created the Negro Leagues Statistical Review Committee.

But what we do know about Negro League baseball in Louisiana is that it featured star power. On the field, and in ownership. Check out some of these facts:

-Baseball Hall of Famer Buck O'Neil started his Negro League career with the Shreveport Acme Giants.

-Musician Louis Armstrong owned a team called The Secret Nine in New Orleans.

-Before they were in Major League Baseball, Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays both played Negro League Baseball in Louisiana.

-The first Negro League (Southern League of Colored Base Ballists) featured a New Orleans team

-Female baseball trailblazer Toni Stone played for the New Orleans Creoles.

-The New Orleans Pinchbacks were known as one of the best Negro League teams in the country.

You can check out some of the incredible names that Negro League squads around the state used here: