Data Files Available for Download

The centerpiece of Negro League data are a set of .csv files which summarize game-level data for all (7,061) Negro League games for which Retrosheet has compiled data. There are seven such .csv files.

• allplayers.csv - contains basic information about all players divided by team-season
• gameinfo.csv - contains game-level information such as teams, attendance, umpires, etc.
• teamstats.csv - contains team-level statistics - line scores, lineups, and team statistics (batting, pitching, fielding)
• batting.csv - batting statistics by player by game
• pitching.csv - pitching statistics by player by game
• fielding.csv - fielding statistics by player by position by game
• plays.csv - parsed play-by-play data for all games for which Retrosheet has play-by-play data (including deduced event files)

The columns are labeled and should be mostly self-explanatory. But, in case not, the columns are defined here.

These seven files can be downloaded here: Negro League CSV Download.

In addition, traditional event files and box-score event files can be downloaded for Negro League games for which play-by-play and/or box-score data exists. As of January 1, 2025, Retrosheet has box-score data for 3,766 Negro League games and play-by-play data for 1,282 Negro League games. The latter number here includes 1,132 games for which play-by-play data have been deduced from newspaper game stories and/or box scores.

Negro League Event Files

Negro League Box-Score Files

Finally, one can download a single file which includes all of the aforementioned files along with biographical data, Negro League team rosters, and logs for individual ballparks, players, and teams. The ballpark logsonly include ballparks which hosted Negro League games, but include all games played at said ballparks. Similarly, player logs are only included for players who played in Negro League games (including some interracial barnstorming games) but the logs include all games played by these players for which Retrosheet has compiled data.

All Negro League Data

The level of detail at which Negro League data can be determined is highly variable across games and the data "known" is highly uncertain in many cases. For example, for many games, we have no box score but may have a reference to the fact that a particular player had at least one hit in the game. To attempt to convey this uncertainty in our data, teams and players may be given up to three sets of statistical lines for each game within the data files which are available for download. These are identified within the .csv files by the variable 'stattype'.

• stattype 'value' is Retrosheet's best estimate of the relevant statistical total
• stattype 'lower' is the lower bound on a player's total
• stattype 'upper' is the upper bound on a player's total

Back to Main Page for Negro League Baseball

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     The information used here was obtained free of
     charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet.  Interested
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     Newark, DE 19711.