DETROIT – Major League Baseball made a significant move Wednesday, May 29, changing the landscape of one of the more hallowed corners of its game: the record book.
It will now recognize the Negro League statistics, which means players like Tiger great Ty Cobb will lose his longtime place atop the batting average category to Josh Gibson.
Read: Major leaguers praise inclusion of Negro Leagues statistics into major league records
Hamtramck Stadium, home of the Detroit Stars and Detroit Wolves of the Major Negro Leagues, went onto the National Register of Historic Places 12 years ago. It’s since been renovated to keep those old memories alive.
For Ike McKinnon, the former Detroit Police Chief, the inclusion is great news because his father played in the Negro Leagues in Alabama.
McKinnon said he wasn’t certain his father’s glory days stories were true until “Satchel” Paige came to town and he asked Paige himself if he knew his father.
“‘Cody McKinnon,’ he said, ‘Guy had big arms like Popeye arms,’” McKinnon recalled. “He said, ‘Oh, Cody McKinnon, boy, let me tell you something. Son, if the color line had been broken, he would have played in the major leagues. He was a great catcher. When he played, he called him motormouth.’ Oh, God, I never knew these things.”
McKinnon said he played for the Birmingham Black Bears. He said his dad knew he was good because he spoke often of playing against the likes of Babe Ruther during off-season barnstorms.
He said his dad played barefoot because they couldn’t afford shoes. Cody McKinnon didn’t show up in the Negro League’s history likely because he wasn’t a full-time player. Regardless, McKinnon said he remained proud of his playing days knowing he played with the elites of the game.