BALTIMORE, MD – Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. applauds Major League Baseball’s (MLB) decision recently to merge Negro League Baseball statistics into their all-time records, now recognizing Hall of Famer Josh Gibson as MLB’s new all-time career leader over Ty Cobb.
MLB’s decision to fully recognize the contributions of professional Black baseball players, who were previously marginalized, enriches sports history, and finally honors players’ legacy, like Gibson. He played for the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords, with MLB’s new top career batting average of .372. Gibson also now leads in slugging percentage, and all-time single season records.
Alpha Brother Sean Gibson, who is the grandson of Gibson, was a leading advocate for the MLB’s decision and has kept his grandfather’s legacy alive as well as those of other Negro Leaguers through his Josh Gibson Foundation since the late 1990s.
The Fraternity is proud to support Brother Gibson and all those who fight to correct past injustices of racial discrimination as well as those who preserve the heritage of Negro League Baseball.
About Alpha Phi Alpha
The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African American men, was founded on December 4, 1906, at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY and is headquartered in Baltimore, MD. The Fraternity has long stood at the forefront of the African American community’s fight for civil rights through Alpha men such as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; late former Congressman Adam Clayton Powell; late former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; legendary activist, actor and performer, Paul Robeson, former Ambassador Andrew Young; late former Senator Edward Brooke; scholar, Cornel West; Senator Raphael Warnock; Congressman Steven Horsford, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus; General CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; six other members of the U.S. Congress, numerous state, and local lawmakers across the United States, as well as President of Liberia Joseph Boakai, Sr. The fraternity, through its more than 720 college and alumni chapters and general-organization members, serves communities in the United States, and other parts of North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. ■
