LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS ARE FINALLY GETTING THEIR DUE.

77 YEARS AFTER THE LEGENDARY JACKIE ROBINSON INTEGRATED MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL LAST WEEKEND WILL BE ANNOUNCED.

IT WOULD ADD STATS FROM THE LEAGUES TO ITS RECORDS TO, QUOTE, CORRECT A LONGTIME ERROR AS A RESULT.

35 PLAYERS FROM THE LEADER NOW PART OF THE NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME AND JOINING US NOW WITH MORE, OUR FRED MICHEL VETERAN SPORTS REPORTER AND JOURNALISM PROFESSOR AT DEPAUL UNIVERSITY.

AND ON ZOOM, WE HAVE BOB KENDRICK PRESIDENT OF THE LEAGUES, BASEBALL MUSEUM LOCATED IN KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

THANK YOU BOTH FOR JOINING KENDRICK, STARTING WITH YOU, PLEASE.

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING NOW?

WHAT TOOK SO LONG?

>> A LOT OF PEOPLE DID NOT KNOW THAT IN 1969.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL HAVE A SPECIAL COMMISSION.

LOOKED AT THE VARIOUS PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE THAT OPERATED IN THIS COUNTRY.

AND OF COURSE, THE LEAGUES HAVE BEEN BLATANTLY DISREGARDED AND IN 2020 DECEMBER 2020 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED MADE THE HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT.

BUT FIRST AND FOREMOST, THAT MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL WOULD RECOGNIZE THE LEAGUE TO BE QUITE FUN.

WHAT WE ALREADY DO IT TO BE A MAJOR AND THAT IT WITH WE'RE TO ROLL IN DISTANCE FROM THEM TO BELIEVE INTO THE ANNALS OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL'S RECORD BOOKS.

LAST WEEK AFTER SOME DILIGENT WORK BY WHAT I CALL DREAM TEAM.

REALLY HISTORIANS AND RESEARCHERS THAT QUANTITATIVE DATA WAS BROUGHT FORWARD AND OFFICIALLY ENTERED INTO THE RECORD BOOKS OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL AND AND >> YEAH, IT'S BEEN IT'S MADE SOME CHANGES TO.

WE'RE GOING TO COME BACK TO THAT A FRED, IF YOU REMIND US BRIEFLY HOW THE LEAGUES FORMED.

>> WELL, AFRICAN-AMERICANS, MINORITIES WERE NOT ALLOWED TO PLAY IN THE MAJOR LOVE FOR THE GAME OF BASEBALL.

KIND OF OVERLOOKED.

THAT FACT AND SUCH A PARTNER GAME AND AMERICA'S PASTIME.

HERE IN CHICAGO FOR IN STUDIO KAMINSKY.

PART.

THEY WOULD DRAW LIKE 50,000 FANS FOR GRILL ALL-STAR GAME SINCE MARCH.

YOU FORTUNATELY, I GUESS YOU'D SAY ARE WE ARE ABLE TO SEE.

FORMER LEAGUE PLAYERS LIKE ERNIE BANKS, HANK AARON AND WILLIE MAYS, ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE NAMES OF PEOPLE ARE VERY FAMILIAR WITH.

START IN THE NEWSROOM SUN AND SOME PEOPLE GOT A GLIMPSE OF THE QUALITY OF PLAY IN LEAGUES BECAUSE KNOW WHO ARE THE BANKS WILLIE MAYS.

I CARE WHAT THEY DID.

SO THIS IS OUR ONE LONG, LONG OVERDUE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE GREAT PLAYERS AND THAT AND THEY WERE REALLY AS YOU SAID, I'M BOB MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SAYS THAT GETTING TO THIS POINT WAS A BIT COMPLICATED BECAUSE OF THE DATA THAT WAS COLLECTED.

>> BY THE 2 DIFFERENT LEAGUES, IT WAS, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT DATA, NOT QUITE APPLES TO APPLES.

EXPLAIN FOR US WHAT SOME OF THOSE COMPLICATIONS WERE AND BRIEFLY, HOW THEY WORKED OUT.

>> WERE YOU KNOW YOU KNOW, PEOPLE ANECDOTALLY, I'M NOT GOING TO SAY THAT FINDING INFORMATION WERE THE EQUIVALENT OF FINDING THE MIDLAND HAS THAT.

BUT IT WORK.

AND THAT'S WHY I COMMEND KNOWS HIS STORY IS BECAUSE THEY'VE BEEN DOING THIS DECADES.

THEY'VE BEEN DOING RESEARCH FOR DECADES.

IT WAS THE LAST 3 YEARS THAT THEY WERE ASKED TO PULL TOGETHER.

THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT AND THIS MAN GOING THROUGH FINDING BOX SCORES.

THE NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS PRIMARILY THROUGH THOSE LIKE A BIRD THAT WAS SO PREVALENT DURING THAT TIME.

THEY WERE THE BOYS.

BEEN A REALLY FUN TO BE HONEST.

HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE BLACK FOR WE WOULD KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT HIS BUT THIS MAY GOING BACK BECAUSE THESE RECORDS GO FROM 1920, 1948.

SO HE SENT TO A YEAR AFTER INTEGRATION AND THERE'S STILL WORK LEFT TO BE DONE AND HOPEFULLY WE'LL SEE TIME THAT TIME SPAN EXPANDS SLIGHTLY AS WELL AS THEY CONTINUE DILIGENT WORK 100 MISINFORMATION.

BUT TIP MY CAP TO THAT TEAM BECAUSE THEY DID YEOMAN'S DUTY TO PULL THIS INFORMATION TOGETHER.

>> YOU'VE GOT TO BE PRETTY GOOD MATH, I CHANGES.

THEY ALSO MEAN SOME HISTORICAL AS WE MENTIONED.

SO NOW JOSH GIBSON IS THE LEAGUE'S ALL-TIME LEADER IN BATTING AVERAGE SURPASSING TY COBB SLUGGING PERCENTAGE ALL-TIME LEADER IN SLUGGING PERCENTAGE SURPASSING BABE RUTH AND ON BASE SLUGGING PERCENTAGE.

SO WHAT OTHER REVELATIONS ARE CHANGES?

IS THE SORT OF INTEGRATION CREATE.

>> YOU KNOW, IT EMBRACED BY A LOT AND THEN JEERED BY ZONE BECAUSE THE FACT THAT GIBSON AND FALL A NUMBER OF MAJOR, THE TYPICAL CATEGORY.

HERE FOR 66 IN 1943.

THAT IS A SINGLE SEASON.

ALL-TIME BATTING RECORD.

HIS LIFETIME BATTING AVERAGE THAT YOU MENTIONED 3, 7, 2, MOVE AHEAD OF TIME.

COM AND IN THE MINDS OF MANY.

WHO ENDURED TO THIS BELIEF THAT BECAUSE REALLY WAS BLACK THAT HAD TO BE A TO THE LEAD THAT THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED TO PLAY IN.

IT IS A HARD PILL TO SWALLOW.

BUT I'VE BEEN TELLING PEOPLE ALONG THAT THE GUY THAT THE NEW BUILDINGS AS MY FRIEND, THE LATE GREAT BUCK >> WHO SPENT MANY YEARS THERE CARGO AS A COACH AS A SCOUT.

AND THEN AS THE FIRST BLACK COACH IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL AS TO ITS WORK ON A AS HE SAYING, WE COULD PLAY.

COULD.

NO, SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISED BY THESE NUMBERS.

BUT, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WANT TO POKE HOLES IN THEM.

BUT THESE NUMBERS ARE VERY VALID.

>> PUTTING IT VERY SIMPLY WE COULD PLAY, FRED, THE WHEN YOU HEAR ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE LEAGUE PLAYERS AND HOW THEY STACK UP TO THE MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYERS AND IF THEY WERE LEFT OUT OF THESE THESE CALCULATIONS ALL THESE YEARS, WHAT DOES THAT SAY TO YOU ABOUT THE PLAYERS IN THE TEENS?

>> WELL, YOU KNOW, FIRST OF ALL, IS KIND OF PERSONAL STORY FOR ME.

I TOO PLAYED.

ONE PLAYED SOME WITH CHICAGO AMERICAN GIANTS.

ASKED HIM SEND ANOTHER OUR CLASS 2 CHARTS AND PLAYING A LOT OF BARNSTORMING GAMES.

GOT TO HIT OFF DIZZY DEAN THE CHICAGO, INDIANA.

MY FATHER PLAYED ON SOME SEMI-PRO TEAMS ALL-BLACK TEAMS THAT PLAYED AGAINST SOME OF THESE LEAGUE START.

SO I WOULD HEAR GROWING ALL THESE YEARS.

HOW GREAT THESE GUYS WERE.

ALL YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THIS GUY PLAY WITH JOSH GIBSON WITH USING THE GREATEST 2 IS ALL, YOU KNOW, ANECDOTAL AT THAT TIME.

YOU KNOW, THERE'S NO TELEVISION.

YOU COULD WATCH THEM.

THERE WAS VERY LITTLE FOOTAGE OF THAT.

SO NOW THIS IS FINALLY ANNOUNCEMENT YES, THEY PLAYED.

YES, THEY WERE GREAT.

ALL RIGHT.

YES, THEY THEY DID WHAT THEY DID DESERVE ALL THE ACCOLADES THAT THEY HAD.

AND AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY'S YOU KNOW, LEARNING BANKS, WILLIE MAYS AND HANK AARON AND HOW WELL THEY PERFORMED IN BOTH >> SO ON JUNE 20 AT THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS WILL PLAY THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS AT RICKWOOD FIELD.

THAT IS A HISTORIC LEAGUES SITES IN ALABAMA.

I BELIEVE FIRST.

ARE YOU GUYS TAKING ANY BETS?

>> I'M THIS ONE TO YOU.

FIRST, THOUGH, CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO SEE THE FIELD HONORED THIS WAY?

>> IT'S GOING TO BE ANOTHER MILESTONE MOMENT BECAUSE RICKWOOD FIELD, AS YOU JUST ALLUDED TO SO MUCH HISTORY WAS MADE HERE.

IT WAS HOME TO BOTH THE BIRMINGHAM BARONS, THE RIGHT PROFESSIONAL TEAM.

AND THE BIRMINGHAM BLACK BARONS.

THE ONLY FOR FEW.

AND THEN IN BULL, CONNOR SEGREGATING DEEPLY SEGREGATED BIRMINGHAM.

BLACK BARONS WERE THE TOAST OF THE TOWN.

>> YEAH.

THEY GOT GOING THERE.

THE GENTLEMEN, WE KNOW THERE SURE THEY WERE.

BUT I WENT THERE.

WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS