If anyone thought it was a rough week for the present-day Pirates, consider the plight of poor Arky Vaughan.
Throughout the summer of 1935, Pittsburgh's other legendary Hall of Fame shortstop flirted with .400, ultimately finishing at .385 to claim the National League batting crown, a figure that's yet to be topped on the Senior Circuit and probably never will be. It also was the highest average in the major leagues.
But not anymore.
Because of a long-overdue and very much welcome decree by Major League Baseball late last year that the Negro Leagues were to be considered the major leagues -- players, championships, standings, stats, the whole deal -- the late Mr. Vaughan dropped to fourth with that aforementioned figure.
Three days ago, Baseball Reference, the sport's unofficial online database, began incorporating the Negro Leagues into history, and that left the 1935 batting leaders looking like this:
1. Buck Leonard, Homestead Grays, .389
2. Turkey Stearnes, Chicago American Giants, .388
3. Pat Patterson, Pittsburgh Crawfords, .386
4. Arky Vaughan, Pirates, .385
5. Alejandro Oms, New York Cubans, .377
6. Josh Gibson, Pittsburgh Crawfords, .369
7. Matt Carlisle, Homestead Grays, .364
8. Ted Page, Philadelphia Stars, .359
9. Tommie Dukes, Homestead Grays, .357
10. Willie Wells, Chicago American Giants, .355
That's a whole lot of Pittsburgh in there, huh?
Oh, and also, just like that, nine of the top 10 batting averages now belong to players from the Negro Leagues.
Now, before I proceed, let me make this pointedly clear: The only discussion in this context to be had regarding fairness or unfairness is that players were prohibited from participating in the National and American Leagues based on the color of skin. That's the beginning and end of that.
Still, as the folks at Baseball Reference and other historians have acknowledged, the scope of assimilating all these records and data is seriously daunting.
As tremendous as the talent was throughout the Negro Leagues, no one would argue that it rivaled what was in the majors in terms of sheer depth. Moreover, to use that 1935 season as an example, the Pirates played 154 games, the Crawfords 81, the Grays 74. Teams in the Negro Leagues were forced to barnstorm and play exhibitions to make money and, thus, often faced inferior competition. And within that, the stat-keeping of the games themselves could be scattershot.
Vaughn might've hit .400 if not for a final-month slump, and it's a slump he'd never have encountered, obviously, had he played in half as many games.
See where I'm going here?
Yet again, this isn't about what's fair or unfair. If this were fair, we'd all be hailing Gibson as one of the great Pirates of all-time.
But it's ... a challenge.
YOUR TURN: While respecting that the Negro Leagues are eminently deserving of major-league status, what's the most reasonable way to rate and rank individual and team achievements?