ST. LOUIS (KTVI) – Major League Baseball corrected a longstanding wrong Wednesday by recognizing the Negro Leagues as a major league.
As a result, the statistics and records of thousands of black players from the Negro Leagues will now be included in MLB records.
There was a feeling of joy on James Cool Papa Bell Avenue, a street named after the Negro League star player.
“I think it’s time this happened now,” said Marius Palmer, 100 Black Men.
Devin Williams, a St. Louis native and Hazelwood West graduate, pitches for the Milwaukee Brewers. He said MLB’s announcement has been a long time coming.
“I think a lot of the game’s best players from that era have been left out of the history book and they’re finally going to get their shine – their records count,” Williams said.
Land near Laclede and Compton was home to the St. Louis Stars, a Negro League baseball team beginning in the 1920s.
MLB’s announcement comes when the Negro Leagues celebrates the centennial anniversary of its founding.
