Quote:
Originally Posted by Topnotchsy
Since Integration, we have 70 years where black players have been roughly half of the all-time greats. I can't say definitively that before that era the players would have been equally good, but it's reasonable to speculate. The elite talent has been sustained for 70 years since, and includes players that crossed over leagues (Jackie, Campanella, Aaron, Mays etc all played in the Negro Leagues.)
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I think it's also pertinent to mention the huge upswing in Latin American talent that represents your post-integration demographic. It gives this discussion more points to consider. While there were certainly black Latinos playing in the Negro Leagues, it was statistically far from what's transpired in the integrated era. The great players of the last 30+ years with (at least some) African ancestry have more often than not been Latino.
And while there are a handful of black Latino HOFers from the Negro Leagues, there was never a Latino superstar who made it into pre-integration MLB.