Benny Kauff (Ty Cobb of Federal League) and Josh Gibson (Babe Ruth of Negro Leagues).

Minor league stars can fail in MLB. Consider that in evaluating Negro League players. Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Let's look at two PCL stars: Gene Lillard and Ox Eckhardt. Their ages in 1935 were 21 and 33 respectively.

Lillard played 1932-1942 (break, probably for military service in WWII), 1946-1954 (age 40). Including the 56 PCL home runs he hit in 1935, Lillard hit 345 minor league home runs in 6,900 AB with a .303 BA...

Lillard hit zero home runs in 44 MLB AB.

Ox Eckhardt led the PCL in BA in 1932, 1933 (.414 in 760 AB), 1935; second in 1934 at .378 in 707 AB; third in 1931 at .369 in 745 AB. Eckhardt played 1926, 1928-1940 (age 38)...

Neither Lillard or Eckhardt would be considered MLB caliber players, certainly not Hall of Famers. The difference between them and the Negro League players in those years is that Lillard or Eckhardt had the opportunity. If they hadn't tried and failed in MLB, we might assume that Lillard or Eckhardt would have performed at their same high minor league level in MLB. That would be a mistake.

__________________________________

Benny Kauff

Position: Centerfielder

Bats: Left  •  Throws: Left

5-8, 157lb (173cm, 71kg)

Born: January 5, 1890 in Pomeroy, OH us

Died: November 17, 1961 (Aged 71-316d) in Columbus, OH

Benny Kauff played his first two full seasons in the Federal League, where he was a star. In both seasons Kauff led the FL in BA, OBP, OPS. In year two Kauff also led in SLG and OPS+ (180).

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP
1912	22	NYY	AL	5	14	11	4	3	0	0	0	2	1	0	3	0	.273	.429	.273	.701	97	3
1914	24	IND	FL	154	669	571	120	211	44	13	8	95	75		72	55	.370	.447	.534	.981	165	305
1915	25	BTT	FL	136	581	483	92	165	23	11	12	83	55		85	50	.342	.446	.509	.955	180	246
1916	26	NYG	NL	154	632	552	71	146	22	15	9	74	40	26	68	65	.264	.348	.408	.756	138	225
1917	27	NYG	NL	153	644	559	89	172	22	4	5	69	30		59	54	.308	.379	.388	.767	138	217
1918	28	NYG	NL	67	294	270	41	85	19	4	2	39	9		16	30	.315	.355	.437	.792	142	118
1919	29	NYG	NL	135	544	491	73	136	27	7	10	67	21		39	45	.277	.334	.422	.756	126	207
1920	30	NYG	NL	55	188	157	31	43	12	3	3	26	3	7	25	14	.274	.380	.446	.826	137	70
8 Yr	8 Yr	8 Yr	8 Yr	859	3566	3094	521	961	169	57	49	455	234	33	367	313	.311	.389	.450	.838	149	1391

Kauff then played five more seasons for the New York Giants in the National League, where he was very good but not great as he had been in the FL.

OPS+:
FL: 172
NL: 136

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Benny-Kauff/

Dubbed “The Ty Cobb of the Federal League,” Kauff was the most heralded young player of his generation, a five-tool star whose unique combination of speed and power defied his stocky 5’8″ frame. Though he performed well in the National League’s faster company, Kauff never did match the high expectations he and others had set for him, and his career ended prematurely in 1921 with his controversial banishment from the game...

“Kauff is the premier slugger, premier fielder, premier base stealer and best all-round player in the league,” Sporting Life gushed. “He is being called a second Ty Cobb, yet there are many followers of the Federal clubs who say that within next season Kauff will play rings around the Georgia Peach.” According to sportswriter Frank Graham, Kauff loved the publicity “and cheerfully agreed that he was at least Ty’s equal, if not his superior, for he was not bound by false modesty.” ...

Judged against the hype, Kauff was a huge disappointment in his first year in New York...

He managed to steal some headlines in the 1917 World’s Series when his two home runs propelled New York to a Game Four victory.

________________________________

Note: Kauff was banned by Commissioner Landis for reasons of "character and reputation". You can read about it in the SABR bio but it is not pertinent to his performance on the field.

________________________________________

Baseball Reference shows a hint of sanity on Negro Leagues data added to MLB: Josh Gibson does not qualify for BA, SLG, OPS.  Thursday, May 30, 2024

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

Gibson's highest BA and SLG came in 1943 

I just found something that impacts the MLB narrative about Gibson also having the season record for BA.

Gibson's highest BA is in 1943 when he had his highest AB and PA: .466.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gibsojo99.shtml

But it's not black ink. If someone in NN2 had a higher BA in 1943, shouldn't that player be recognized? ...

1943: .466 (2nd).

______________________________

Negro National League II Detailed Standings 1943

Rk	Tm	W	L	Ties	W-L%	GB	GBsum	R	RA	Rdiff
1	Homestead Grays	53	14	1	.791	--		7.8	3.9	3.9
2	New York Cubans	19	14	1	.576	17.0	17.0	6.2	4.1	2.0
3	Harrisburg Stars	8	8	0	.500	19.5	22.0	4.9	4.6	0.2
4	Newark Eagles	26	32	0	.448	22.5	31.0	5.5	5.9	-0.4
5	Baltimore Elite Giants	18	26	3	.409	23.5	35.0	4.4	6.4	-1.9
6	Philadelphia Stars	21	31	1	.404	24.5	40.0	6.5	6.5	0.0
7	New York Black Yankees	4	24	2	.143	29.5	70.0	4.2	9.0	-4.8

Homestead Grays played 68 games but other teams played far fewer. Harrisburg played only 16.

Josh Gibson is credited with playing 69 games, one more than the team.

Grays SS Sam Bankhead is credited with leading the league with 71 games, three more than the team.

So there are two basic problems with evaluating Josh Gibson and jumping to conclusions:

The data, what little there is, is junk. And the issue of official scoring is not addressed.

You cannot assume that a player will perform at the major league level as well as he did in seperate and likely lower quality leagues.