Baseball Reference shows a hint of sanity on Negro Leagues data added to MLB: Josh Gibson does not qualify for BA, SLG, OPS.

Top leaderboard changes as Negro Leagues join Major League record
May 29th, 2024 Andrew Simon, mlb.com

Gibson, with a .372 average in the official stats, is now the all-time Major League batting champion...

Slugging (average) now Ruth is No. 2 on the list. That’s again thanks to Gibson...

OPS ... Once more, Gibson (1.177) surpasses Ruth (1.164) for first place.

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Josh Gibson 37th in Plate Appearances in Negro Leagues. And NOT highest season BA! Wednesday, May 29, 2024

Tetelo Vargas had only 121 AB. Maybe that was too few for MLB. Ironic since Gibson had only 2,168 for his career compared to 11,440 for Cobb. But:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/batting_avg_season.shtml

Rank	Player (age that year)	Batting Average	Year	PA	Bats
1.	Tetelo Vargas (37)	.4711	1943	136	R
2.	Josh Gibson+ (31)	.4659	1943	302	R
3.	Lyman Bostock (23)	.4658	1941	84	L

Oh, what a tangled web.

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Lyman Bostock played for the 1941 Birmingham Black Barons. They played 45 games (28-17). How the heck does Bostock qualify for BA either using PA or AB? 2.6*45=117 AB minimum. Bostock had 73 AB. Bostock played 23 of his team's 45 games. His qualifying must be based on his games: 2.6*23=60 AB.

What the heck?

See below.

For season rate/average stats:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/about/leader_glossary.shtml#min_req

• From 1920-1948 in the Negro Leagues, a player must have 2.6 at bats per team game...
• From 1957 to the present, a player must have 3.1 plate appearances per team game. Note, however, that from 1967 to the present a player could lead if they still led after the necessary number of hitless plate appearances were added to their at bat total.

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Note for Negro Leagues it's AB, not PA.

I think it's games played by the team, not by the player. I don't think a player can play one game, go 2 for 3 and be declared BA leader.

The 1943 New York Cubans played 34 games, so 2.6*34=88 AB required. The brand new BA season record holder Tetelo Vargas had 121 AB.

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But I noticed that career requires 3,000 PA and Josh Gibson is not listed at all. Is that a change? Did Baseball Reference require more PA previously?

Cobb is still #1:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/batting_avg_career.shtml

Minimum of 1000 IP, 3000 PA, 500 games (fielding, 500 IP for Ps), 200 stolen base attempts (catchers) or 80 stolen base attempts (baserunners only since 1951) or 100 decisions for career and active leaderboards for rate statistics.

Rank	Player (yrs, age)	Batting Average	PA	Bats
1.	Ty Cobb+ (24)	.3662	13103	L
2.	Oscar Charleston+ (17)	.3648	3885	L
3.	Rogers Hornsby+ (23)	.3585	9481	R
4.	Joe Jackson (13)	.3558	5697	L
5.	Jud Wilson+ (21)	.3504	3563	L
6.	Lefty O'Doul (11)	.3493	3660	L
7.	Turkey Stearnes+ (18)	.3483	4279	L
8.	Ed Delahanty+ (16)	.3458	8402	R
9.	Tris Speaker+ (22)	.3447	12020	L
10.	Billy Hamilton+ (14)	.3444	7609	L
	Ted Williams+ (19)	.3444	9792	L

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