The Early Negro Leagues and Major League Baseball: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

This study is an exploratory statistical study of the early Latin and Negro Leagues from 1904 to 1924. Data compiled in the seamheads.com Negro League Database, launched in September 2011, was analyzed and compared to data from Major League Baseball, via baseballreference.com, over the same time period. Despite incomplete data from the Negro Leagues, the results do show some interesting similarities and significant differences in the two data sets. The data shows that both leagues’ batting production progressed similarly throughout the era, with a similar spike in power production at the end of the “Dead Ball Era” in 1920. Results indicate that the primary difference between the leagues was that Negro League teams produced poorer fielding averages. The result of this was higher run production in the Negro Leagues in every year examined in the study, despite the fact that Major League teams often produced better in batting statistics such as batting average, on base percentage and slugging percentage.