7 Negro Leagues Recommended For Major League Status

NEW YORK --AP -- Seven Negro Leagues have been recommended for major league status by a task force of the Society for American Baseball Research. The announcement followed Major League Baseball's decision on Dec. 16 that it was reclassifying the Negro Leagues to majors.

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They had been excluded in 1969 when a baseball records committee identified six official major leagues dating to 1876. Willie Mays could be credited with 17 hits from his 1948 season with the Alabama Black Barons. Monte Irvin could see his career average climb from .293 to .304. The Negro Leagues began to dissolve one year after Jackie Robinson broke MLB's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.