Oscar Charleston: Idential to Sadaharu Oh and better than A-Rod?
The Power Hitter Pantheon: Baseball’s Greatest Home Run Heroes
This project aims to determine the greatest home run hitter of all time by comparing each slugger’s statistics to the average of their era using three formulas. The final adjusted stats will then be used to compare them head-to-head with other all-time greats.
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Oscar Charleston will be the next legendary Negro League home run hitter examined in this study. For a detailed biography of Charleston, please click here.
According to Baseball Reference, Charleston's official statistics reveal a total of 144 home runs over 3,312 at-bats, resulting in an average of 23 at-bats per home run (AB/HR).
Oscar Charleston played in the Negro National League (NNL) from 1920 to 1923 and in the Eastern Colored League (ECL) from 1924 to 1927.
He also played in the American Negro League (ANL) in 1929, and in the Negro National League II (NN2) from 1933 to 1937, as well as in 1939 and 1941. Additionally, Charleston played in the Negro American League (NAL) during the 1939 and 1940 seasons.
In 1929, Charleston was a member of two teams—the Hilldale Club and the Homestead Grays—both of which competed in the same league, the American Negro League (ANL).
In 1939, Charleston competed for the Toledo Crawfords, which participated in both the NAL (8-10-1) and the NN2 (4-6-1). As the Crawfords competed in two different leagues that year, both league hitting figures will be considered for leaguewide totals.
When aggregating the statistics from all these leagues, the combined total includes 227,966 at-bats and 2,903 home runs, resulting in an average of 78.53 at-bats per home run (AB/HR) across the leagues in which Charleston played.
With this data, we can evaluate how Charleston’s performance compared to the average Negro League hitter of his era.
Raw Difference: 55.53
Formula: League Average – Player Career AverageImprovement Factor: 3.41
Formula: League Average / Player Career AveragePercentage Difference: 70.71%
Formula: (League Average – Player Career Average) / League Average × 100%
Oscar Charleston was an exceptional power hitter in the Negro Leagues, as evidenced by his 23 at-bats per home run (AB/HR) compared to the league average of 78.53 AB/HR across the leagues he played.
This stark contrast translates to a 55.53 at-bat advantage over the typical hitter, a 3.41 times better home run frequency, and a 70.71% improvement over the league average—metrics that showcase his dominance.
Charleston’s efficiency stands out, suggesting he was not just a standout but potentially one of the greatest sluggers of his era, rivaling the likes of legends in any league. His stats reveal a player who redefined power hitting in a time when home runs were far less common, cementing his legacy as a Negro League superstar.
In our initial analysis, we examined the careers of Mickey Mantle, Alex Rodriguez, and Joe DiMaggio using our formulas. Following that, we also evaluated the careers of Josh Gibson, Sadaharu Oh, Buck Leonard, Tetsuharu Kawakami, Mule Suttles, and Noboru Aota.
Now, let's compare Charleston's career statistics against these baseball legends to gain a clearer perspective on how he stacks up.
Charleston's performance as a power hitter surpasses MLB icons such as Mantle and DiMaggio, while also competing strongly with top players from the Negro Leagues and Japan.
Charleston outperforms Mantle (63.32%, 2.73), Rodriguez (51.69%, 2.07), and DiMaggio (65.85%, 2.93) in all metrics, and exceeds Japanese players Noboru Aota (63.74%, 2.76) and Tetsuharu Kawakami (45.58%, 1.84). Statistically, he is nearly identical to Buck Leonard (70.97%, 3.44) and Sadaharu Oh (70.65%, 3.41).
Oscar Charleston ranks among the top tier of these baseball legends, excelling particularly against MLB and Japanese stars, though he is slightly overshadowed by Negro League peers like Josh Gibson and Mule Suttles.
Charleston to me was always the Black version of Cobb in terms of comparisons. He had gap power, and had better discipline than ARod imo. Better defensively. Had he played in today's game or even allowed to play in the MLB could have posted better numbers than him.