Snyder’s Soapbox: With MLB integrating Negro Leagues records, it’s time to name MVP awards after players

Welcome to Snyder’s Soapbox! Here I pontificate weekly on a subject related to Major League Baseball. Some of the topics will be urgent matters, some may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and most will be somewhere in between. The good thing about this site is that it is free and you can click to leave. If you stay you will get smarter, that’s a money back guarantee. Let’s go.

This week, Major League Baseball is fully, finally integrating record books with Negro Leagues statistics. I have no doubt that some people out there will object to this – which is pretty telling, right? – but if white players who only played against other white players get into the record books, why wouldn’t players from the Negro Leagues be there too? Logic dictates that this is the correct move. We know that some of the greatest players in history have been excluded from Major League Baseball simply because of the color of their skin.

One of those players was Josh Gibson, perhaps the greatest catcher who ever lived. In 602 officially recorded games, Gibson hit an absurd .373/.458/.718. If you look at his baseball-reference.com page, the black paint (leading the league in one category) is quite shocking. It just jumps off the page how offensively dominant he was.

On a interview with USA Today Regarding statistics, Gibson’s great-grandson suggested another honor that should be next on MLB’s to-do list: putting his name on the MVP trophy.

“How ironic would it be for Josh Gibson to replace the man who denied more than 2,300 men the opportunity to play major league baseball?” Sean Gibson said. “Hopefully with these stats we can move him toward the Josh Gibson MVP award. These statistics make a great argument for it to be named in his honor.”

Sean Gibson is referring to Kenesaw Mountain Landis, whose name was on the trophy until 2020. No, Landis never won the MVP. He was never a player. He was the first commissioner. Landis oversaw Major League Baseball during an era of segregation that prevented black players from playing, although they were certainly good enough on merit, simply because of racism. It was the right thing to do to remove your name from the award, even if it took so long.

Why is a player award named after a commissioner in the first place? Even if you somehow set aside racism – easily the most egregious aspect here and a disqualifying blow – naming a player’s trophy after a commissioner is madness. What if someone said we should name the MVP after Rob Manfred instead of, say, Mike Trout?

I’m going to pause to laugh.

The best pitcher awards are named after Cy Young. The best newcomer awards are named after Jackie Robinson. Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente have awards named after them. Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman too, as well as Edgar Martinez.

All of these awards are named after players, but the highest and most important honor for an individual player in an individual season is blank and used to be named after a commissioner. At least it’s no longer saddled with Landis, but now it’s time to recognize the NL and AL MVPs, right? It doesn’t even have to be just one. Just like the relief prize, we can assign one to each league’s prize.

I’m pleased with Gibson’s presence in the mix, especially since it would be a good way to reintroduce his name into the conversation among casual fans. Think about how much even non-sports fans have heard about Babe Ruth. A significant portion of baseball fans don’t know much, if anything, about Gibson and that’s not fair.

It’s a shame we never saw an integrated league, because we don’t know exactly how great players like Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Oscar Charleston and Josh Gibson would have faced off against each other. We just know they were all amazing. Once again, shame on Landis and all his minions. But I disagree. We’re talking about the MVP awards.

You know who I feel needs to be mentioned here? Willie Mays. It can be argued that he was the greatest baseball player of all time. He’s led the league in WAR 10 times and as the voting body shifts more toward overall greatness rather than just Triple Crown stats (Mays was amazing at that too), he’s a perfect fit. Which player is most synonymous with prominence in the box, on the bases and on the field? Say hi.

As noted above, Gibson’s career rate stats are downright ridiculous and it could be argued that he is the best player of the segregated era on the Negro Leagues side. Charleston also has a case. At the MLB On the other hand, Babe Ruth is widely considered the leader and there is no argument here against that sentiment. So if you took one player from the Negro Leagues and one from the MLB from that era, Gibson and Ruth are easy choices.

But I really want Mays there.

Could we name an MLB winner after Gibson (“Major League MVP”) and then have the AL MVP be called the Babe Ruth Award while the NL MVP was the Willie Mays Award? This could work. Of course, there is the Babe Ruth Award, given to the best postseason player each year. There just isn’t much fanfare around it (did you know Adolis García won last year?). Still, it could be argued that the AL MVP should be named after Gibson and the NL named after Mays.

I would be fine with anything mentioned here. My strongest belief is that MVP awards should be named after players and that it is embarrassing how long they have been named after a racist, segregationist commissioner. I love the idea of ​​some combination of Gibson, Mays and Ruth.