NLDB

[Guest Edgy DC]

Seamheads.com launches the Negro Leagues Database. I'm unclear on how complete it currently is. My first query was for Baltimore Elite Giant (and Donn Clendenon stepfather) Vincius "Nish" Williams, and I came up empty. But what a great resource to have Oscar Charleton's win shares at my fingertips.

[Benjamin Grimm]

My first guess for the meaning of NLDB was "Nationals Loving Douchebags"

A Negro Leagues database is a very worthy and ambitious project. I doubt it can ever be truly complete, since a lot of records are probably lost and unlikely to be recovered. But to have a central place to store whatever exists, and to add future rediscoveries, is a great great thing.

[Guest Edgy DC]

The Negro Leagues mostly did a good job keeping records. That, of course, doesn't mean they all survived. But a lot of the real problem is that the stats don't tell the history as much as in MLB, because teams played nothing like a balanced schedule. The top teams made their real money barnstorming, games against local teams or tag-along saps (like the Globetrotters) that typically didn't get into the records. They really shouldn't get into the records as the competition level was lower, but a league's season could end with the first-place team playing 40 league games while an also ran played 110.

The first place team would qualify for the playoffs with a greater win percentage, and their players would become more famous from the playoffs and the barnstorming trips, but players on the lesser teams would compile more numbers, playing more league games.

[Willets Point]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: My first guess for the meaning of NLDB was "Nationals Loving Douchebags"

I thought National League Designated Batter.