Josh Gibson eclipses Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth

Negro Leagues statistics will become part of MLB history today, with more than 2,300 players from the seven iterations of the Negro Leagues (1920-1948) being officially added to the record books.

What this means: Negro League legends, unfamiliar to many modern fans, will now be listed among all-time leaders, while Negro League players who played in MLB — including Willie Mays, Minnie Miñoso and Larry Doby — will have their stats integrated and updated. 

The man, the myth, the legend: Negro Leagues icon and Baseball Hall of Famer Josh Gibson is now the all-time leader in batting average (.372, eclipsing Ty Cobb), slugging percentage (.718, eclipsing Babe Ruth) and OPS (1.177, eclipsing Ruth). Gibson, who played 17 years with the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords, also holds the single-season record in all three categories: .466 BA, .974 SLG and 1.474 OPS.

"He was referred to as the black Babe Ruth, but some believe it might be just as accurate to call the Bambino the white Josh Gibson," wrote Bill Johnson of the Society for American Baseball Research.

top 50 basketball players of all time

[7/28/13] this is a subjective list (meaning your list is just as valid as his) created by Riley Schmitt in February.

Let's see how it matches up with mine.  Here's my top 10 (off the top of my head):

1 - Wilt Chamberlain [8/22/23] (though I know Michael Jordan tops everybody else's list and many/most have him below Bill Russell) [7]
2 - Michael Jordan [1]
3 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar [2]
4 - LeBron James (maybe not now, but will be looking back) [15]
5 - Oscar Robertson [10]
6 - Bill Russell (since he's number 6) [6]
7 - Magic Johnson [3]
8 - Larry Bird [4]
9 - Kobe Bryant [8]
10 - Bob Pettit [19]
11 - Jerry West [9]
12 - George Mikan [38]
13 - Shaquille O'Neal [12]
14 - Julius Erving [17]
15 - Kevin Durant (maybe not now, but...)

16 - Hakeem Olajuwon [11]

17 - Moses Malone [14]
18 - Isiah Thomas [23]

19 - Charles Barkley [20]

20 - Karl Malone [21]
21 - Kevin Garnett (he was a beast in his first 8 or so years) [18]
22 - Tim Duncan [5]
23 - George Gervin [37]
24 - Elgin Baylor (used to be my favorite player) [16]
25 - John Stockton [25]
26 - Allen Iverson [30]
27 - Dominique Wilkens
28 - David Robinson [29]
29 - John Havlicek [13]
30 - Chris Paul (maybe not yet though)
31 - Dwight Howard (ditto)
32 - Walt Frazier [33]
33 - Elvin Hayes
34 - Earl Monroe
35 - Wes Unseld [42]
36 - Scottie Pippen [24]

I'm probably missing somebody.  Yeah, I missed West and Shaq on the first pass.  Elgin Baylor and Dominique too. Probably missing a lot.  OK, make it top 36.   Have seven current players in there (LeBron, Kobe, Garnett, Duncan, Durant, Paul, Howard). Still probably forget two or three.

Now let's put the numbers of this guy in parentheses.

Who did I leave off?

50. Dennis Johnson
49. James Worthy
48. Paul Pierce
47. Billy Cunningham
46. Dave DeBusschere
45. Nate Thurmond
44. Clyde Drexler
43. Dwyane Wade
42. Wes Unseld
41. Patrick Ewing
40. Jason Kidd (?)
39. Gary Payton
36. Sam Jones (?)
35. Steve Nash (forgot about him)
34. Kevin McHale (him too)
32. Dave Cowens (I wouldn't put him above McHale)
31. Will Reed (ditto)
28. Bill Walton (I wouldn't put him this high, due to his injuries)
27. Dirk Nowitzki (forgot Dirk too)
26. Rick Barry (forgot him too, he would probably rank somewhere in the 20s for me too)
22. Bob Cousy (wouldn't rate him close to this high, then again I rated Mikan way up there)

OK, a lot of the current players I chose aren't on the list: Durant, Paul, Howard.  But I'm surprised Dominique didn't make the guy's top 50 (shafted again / here's a cool picture).  Also from my list not making it were Elvin Hayes and Earl Monroe.

Here's Jesse Dorsey's list (at least he had Dominique at 50).  And this guy has him #28.  And Elvin Hayes #17.  And this guy has them 39 and 37.

*** [2/22/18]

And here is Harris Ahmadzai's list of the top 32 (with my ranking from 4-1/2 years ago)

32. Chris Paul  (30)
31. Scottie Pippen (36)
30. Rick Barry (see above)
29.  Jason Kidd (unranked)
28.  Bob Pettit (10)
27.  Kevin Garnett (21)
26.  Kevin McHale (forgot)
25.  David Robinson (28)
24.  John Stockton (25)
23.  Elgin Baylor (24)
22.  Jerry West (11)
21.  Charles Barkley (19)
20.  Isiah Thomas (18)
19.  Stephen Curry (unlisted 4-1/2 years ago)
18.  Kevin Durant (15)
17.  Dirk Nowitzki (forgot)
16.  Karl Malone (20)
15.  Dwyane Wade (didn't make my list, he ain't better than Jerry West)
14.  Moses Malone (17)
13.  Julius Erving (14)
12.  Hakeem Olajuwon (16)
11.  Oscar Robertson (5)
10.  Larry Bird (8)
9.  Bill Russell (6)
8.  Tim Duncan (22 - not better than Russell, Bird, Robertson)
7.  Shaquille O'Neal (13)
6.  Kobe Bryant (9 - see Duncan)
5.  Wilt Chamberlain (1)
4.  Magic Johnson (7)
3.  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (3)
2.  LeBron James (4)
1.  Michael Jordan (2)

I still like my list better.

***

5/2/24 - 11-20

5/2/24 - where does Steph Curry rank now?

The Athletic Top 75 list (2022)

40.  Allen Iverson

39.  Bob Cousy

38.  Steve Nash

37.  Patrick Ewing

36.  Jason Kidd

35.  George Mikan

34.  Kawhi Leonard

33.  James Harden

32.  Scottie Pippen

31.  Bob Pettit

30.  Chris Paul

29.  John Havlicek

28.  Dwyane Wade

27.  Rick Barry

26.  Isiah Thomas

25.  John Stockton

24.  Giannis Antenteokounmpo

23.  Elgin Baylor

22.  Charles Barkley

21.  Dirk Nowitzki

20.  David Robinson

19.  Julius Erving

18.  Moses Malone

17.  Kevin Garnett

16.  Karl Malone

15.  Stephen Curry

14.  Jerry West

13.  Kevin Durant

12.  Oscar Robertson

11.  Harkeem Olajuwon

10.  Kobe Bryant

 9.  Tim Duncan

 8.  Shaquille O'Neal

 7.  Larry Bird

 6.  Wilt Chamberlain  

 5.  Magic Johnson

 4.  Bill Russell

 3.  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

 2.  LeBron James

 1.  Michael Jordan

I'd rate Cousy, Mikan, Pettit, Barry, Oscar, Wilt higher.  And where do you rank Jokic now?

***

[5/10/24] R.W. Jonasson (quora)

[7/30/24 ] Mike Burch has Jordan third behind Wilt and Oscar