The Negro National League saw few players with the ability to hit for power at the same rate as Josh Gibson. His prolific power numbers lead many baseball historians in comparison with New Yankees slugger Babe Ruth. Gibson was never allowed to played in the Major League Baseball,
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Gibson lead the Negro National League II in home runs 9 times. He lead the league in home runs every season from 1933-1939.
With 808 hits in 2,168 at-bats, Gibson finished his career with an astonishing .373 batting average and an on base percentage of .458.
Josh Gibson's total at-bats adjusted for Babe Ruth’s total career at-bats, would give Gibson a hypothetical 8,399 at-bats.
*Adjusted for Ruth...
Josh Gibson was an American professional baseball player and catcher playing in the Negro National League I. In terms of talent, baseball historians consider Gibson to be among the best power hitters and catchers in baseball history.
In 1972, he became the second player from the Negro Leagues to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Gibson played for the Homestead Grays from 1930 to 1931, before moving to the Pittsburgh Crawfords for 1932 to 1936, eventually returning to the Grays from 1937 to 1939 and 1942 to 1946.
In 1937, he played for Ciudad Trujillo in Trujillo's Dominican League and from 1940 to 1941, he played in the Mexican League for Rojos del Águila de Veracruz.
Josh Gibson served as the first manager of the Cangrejeros de Santurce, one of the most historic franchises of the Puerto Rican League.
Gibson was known as a spectacular power hitter who, by some accounts, hit close to 800 career home runs. He was known as the "black Babe Ruth"; in fact, some fans at the time who saw both Ruth and Gibson play called Ruth "the white Josh Gibson". [3]
Gibson never played in the major leagues because of the unwritten "gentleman's agreement" that prevented non-white players from participating.
He stood 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) and weighed 210 lb (95 kg) at the peak of his career. Gibson was the first player since Oscar Charleston to win consecutive Triple Crowns leading the league in home runs, runs batted in, batting average and no batter has achieved the feat since. [4]
On December 16, 2020, Major League Baseball announced that it will recognize records of the Negro Leagues, giving Gibson the second-highest single-season major league batting average at .466, a mark set by Josh in 1943. [5]
Gibson was originally born in Buena Vista, Georgia to Mark and Nancy Woodlock Gibson. He had a younger brother, fellow Negro leaguer Jerry, and a sister.
In 1923, the Gibson family moved to Pittsburgh, and Josh's father found work at the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Company.
Entering sixth grade in Pittsburgh at the time, Gibson prepared to become an electrician, attending Allegheny Pre-Vocational School and Conroy Pre-Vocational School. [7]
His first experience playing baseball for any organized team came at the of age 16 when he played third base for an amateur team sponsored by Gimbels department store where he found work as an elevator operator.
Shortly thereafter, he was recruited by the Pittsburgh Crawfords, which in 1928 was still considered to be a semi-professional team.
The Crawfords, controlled by Gus Greenlee, were top talent evaluators in black semi-professional in the Pittsburgh area at that time. [8]
In 1928, Gibson met Helen Mason, whom he married on March 7, 1929. While not playing baseball, Gibson continued to work at Gimbels.
Soon after he gave up on his plans to become an electrician and began pursuing a baseball career in professional baseball.
In the summer of 1930, the 18-year-old Gibson was picked up by the Memphis Red Sox for a game in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Despite going 2 for 2, Red Sox manager Candy Jim Taylor was not impressed by Gibson saying after the game that he would never make it as catcher.
These were strong words from a respected figure within the league and Gibson took the criticism to heart. [10]
He was then recruited by Cumberland Posey, owner of the Homestead Grays, which were the preeminent team in the Negro National League team in Pittsburgh; Gibson debuted with the Grays on July 31, 1930.
On August 11, Gibson's wife, pregnant with twins, went into premature labor and died while giving birth to a twin son, Josh Gibson Jr., and daughter, Helen, named after her mother. Helen's parents raised the children.
In Negro League baseball generally, teams found it more profitable to schedule relatively few league games and allow the teams to earn extra money through barnstorming against semi-professional and other non-league teams.
In 1933, he hit .467 with 55 home runs in 137 games against all levels of competition. His lifetime batting average is said to be higher than .350, with other sources putting it as high as .384, the best in Negro league history. [12]
In 2021, it was announced by Major League Baseball that the Negro Leagues would formally be recognized as a major league.
Ongoing research by Baseball Reference tabulated that Gibson led his league three times in batting average and once for all major leagues, most notably hitting .417 in 1937.
He also led the Negro National League 6 times in on-base percentage and slugging percentage 8 times. [13]
Gibson's Hall of Fame plaque reads he hit "almost 800 home runs in league and independent baseball during his 17-year career."
This figure includes games against semi-pro competition and in games that were classified as exhibitions. According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame's official data, his lifetime batting average was .359.
It was reported that he won 9 home run titles and four batting championships playing for both the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Grays.
It is also believed that Gibson hit a home run in a Negro League game at Yankee Stadium that struck two feet from the top of the wall circling the center field bleachers, about 580 feet (180 m) from home plate.
Chicago American Giants infielder Jack Marshall said Gibson slugged one over the third deck next to the left-field bullpen in 1934 for the only fair ball hit out of Yankee Stadium.
There is no published or film account to support this claim. Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith once said that Gibson hit more home runs into Griffith Stadium's distant left field bleachers than the entire American League. [15]
A 2020 article published by the Society for American Baseball Research provides the supporting details for his homers in major league parks.
In early 1943, Gibson fell into a coma and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After regaining consciousness, he refused the option of surgical removal and lived the next four years with recurring headaches.
In 1944, Gibson was hospitalized in Washington, D.C. at Gallinger Hospital for mental observation. [19]
On January 20, 1947, Gibson died of a stroke at 35 years old in his Pittsburgh home. He was buried at the Allegheny Cemetery in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, where he lay in an unmarked grave. A small plaque was placed by his resting place in 1975. [20]
Even though Jackie Robinson became the first black player to integrate, Larry Doby, felt that Gibson was the best black player in 1945 and 1946. Doby would go on to brake the American League color barrier in July of 1945.
Doby said in an interview later, "One of the things that was disappointing and disheartening to a lot of the black players at the time was that Jack was not the best player. The best was Josh Gibson. I think that's one of the reasons why Josh died so early — he was heartbroken." [22]
In 1972, Gibson and Buck Leonard became the second and third players, behind Satchel Paige, inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame based on their careers in the Negro leagues. Gibson's Hall of Fame plaque claims "almost 800" home runs for his career, although this number cannot be substantiated.
Although validation of statistics continues to prove difficult for Negro league players, the lack of verifiable figures has led to various amusing tall tales about players such as Gibson. An example of such: In the bottom of the ninth at Pittsburgh, down a run, with a runner on base and two outs,
Gibson hits one high and deep, so far into the twilight sky that it disappears, apparently winning the game. The next day, the same two teams are playing again, now in Washington. Just as the teams have positioned themselves on the field, a ball falls out of the sky, and a Washington outfielder grabs it. The umpire yells to Gibson, "You're out! In Pittsburgh, yesterday!" [25]
The United States Postal Service issued a 33-cent U.S. commemorative postage stamp which features a painting of Gibson and includes his name.
In 2000, he ranked 18th on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the highest-ranking of five players to have played all or most of their careers in the Negro leagues. (The others were Satchel Paige, Buck Leonard, Cool Papa Bell and Oscar Charleston.) He was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in the same year.
At PNC Park, home of Pittsburgh's Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise, the Pittsburgh Pirates, an exhibit honoring the city's two Negro League Baseball teams was introduced in 2006. Located by the stadium's left field entrance and named Legacy Square, the display featured statues of seven players who competed for the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords, including Gibson. [27]
In 2015, without any public announcement, the Pirates removed all seven statues from the Legacy Square area. Ultimately, they were donated to the Josh Gibson Foundation and sold at auction to benefit the Foundation.
Most of the statues that were originally located at Legacy Square in PNC Park, including Gibson's, are now displayed at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. [30]
In 2009, a statue of Gibson was installed inside the center field gate of Nationals Park along with ones of Frank Howard and Walter Johnson.
He was named to the Washington Nationals Ring of Honor for his "significant contribution to the game of baseball in Washington, D.C" as part of the Homestead Grays on August 10, 2010.
Ammon Field in Pittsburgh was renamed Josh Gibson Field in his honor and is the site of a Pennsylvania State Historical Marker. [31]
An opera based on Josh Gibson's life, The Summer King, by composer Daniel Sonenberg, premiered on April 29, 2017, in Pittsburgh. [36] [37]
Oscar Charleston played and managed in the Negro Leagues as an outfielder, first baseman and pitcher. Charleston would later become manager of the Indianapolis Clowns.
Cool Papa Bell played centerfield in the Negro Leagues from 1922 to 1946. played for the powerhouse Kansas City. Monarchs, Pittsburgh Crawfords, and Homestead Grays.
Buck Leonard, along side Josh Gibson formed the best three-four, hitting tandem in the History of the Negro Leagues, leading the Homestead Grays to dominance.
Satchel Paige began his 20 year career in the Negro Leagues pitching for the Chattanooga Lookouts. He would later make his MLB debut at age 42 for the Cleveland Indians.
Cum Posey was a veteran Negro Leagues team owner, player, and league executive. He is the founding member of two leagues, and a Hall of Fame Basketball player.
Jackie Robinson is the first African American to play Major League Baseball. He broke baseball's color barrier in 1945, by signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Roy Campanella played one season in the Negro Leagues, signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers just one season after Jackie Robinson’s debut in Major League Baseball.
Gus Greenlee was a driving force behind the organization of the Negro National League I. During his time involved with Negro Leagues he owned several profitable side businesses.
Major League Baseball’s all-time leader in home runs with 755, few know Aaron began his baseball career in the Negro Leagues as a shortstop for the Indianapolis Clowns.
Candy Jim Taylor was a professional third baseman, manager, and brother of four professional playing Negro Leaguers. His career in baseball spanned over 40 years.
Cristóbal Torriente, often called the Babe Ruth of Cuba, played as an outfielder in the Negro Leagues from 1912-1932. He was most known for his incredible power to all fields.
Considered one of the best pitchers of the early 1900s, and perhaps the most influential figure in Negro League history, Rube Foster founded the NNLI and managed the Chicago American Giants.
Larry Doby was the second African-American baseball player to break baseball's color barrier and the first black player to play in the American League.
Even at the catchers position, Josh Gibson's display of power in his famed Negro Leagues career is something rarely seen in the history of Major League Baseball.
King Solomon "Sol" White played baseball professionally as an infielder, manager and league executive. White is considered to be one of the pioneers of the Negro Leagues.
Born in July 1888, Ben Taylor was the youngest of 4 professional Negro Leaguers, including Candy Jim Taylor, C.I. Taylor, and Johnny Steel Arm Taylor.
Biz Mackey was regarded as one of the Negro Leagues premier offensive and defensive catchers, playing across several leagues from late 1920s and early 1930s.
Nathaniel Strong was a Negro Leagues sports executive, businessman, team owner and founding member of the Negro National League I,
After joining the New York Giants, Monte Irvin flourished as one of the early African-American players in MLB, making 2 World Series appearances for the Giants, playing along side Willie Mays.
Norman Turkey Stearnes played professionally in the Negro Leagues, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
Gatewood pitched the first no-hitter in National Negro League history when he defeated the Cincinnati Cuban Stars on June 6, 1921.
John Boyce Taylor was the second-oldest of 4 baseball-playing brothers, the others being Charles, Ben and James. For the 1899-1900 seasons, Taylor won 90% of his games starting pitcher for the Giants.
Buck signed with the Memphis Red Sox for their first year of play in the newly formed Negro American League (NAL). His contract was sold to the Kansas Monarchs the following year.
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