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For the Australian rules footballer, see Joshua Gibson (footballer).

Joshua Gibson (December 21, 1911 in Buena Vista, Georgia - January 20, 1947 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) was a catcher in baseball's Negro Leagues. He played for the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1930 to 1937 before moving to the Homestead Grays from 1937 to 1946. He stood 6-foot-1 and weighed 256 pounds at the peak of his career.

Baseball historians consider Gibson to be among the very best catchers and power hitters in the history of any league, including the Major Leagues, and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. He never played in the Major Leagues because, under their Gentleman's Agreement policy, they excluded non-whites during his lifetime.

Baseball Career and Statistics

The true statistical achievements of Negro League players are impossible to know, as the Negro Leagues did not compile complete statistics or game summaries. There exists debate as to the records held by African American, White, and Hispanic players of that era due to the fact that neither played with each other; hispanics and african americans didn't play in white leagues and vice versa. So the debate over which was an inferior league or records against inferior competition may never end. As such, it is difficult to separate truth from myth in regards to Negro League stars such as Josh Gibson. His Baseball Hall of Fame plaque says he hit "almost 800" homers in his 17-year career , although the home runs are not recognized as Major League achievement, Gibson is still considered one of the best home run hitters of all time. He is credited with several amazing years, slugging 69 home runs in 1934 and batting .467 with 55 home runs in 137 games in 1933. His lifetime batting average, according to the Hall of Fame's official data, was .359. It was reported that he won nine home-run titles and four batting championships playing for the Crawfords and the Homestead Grays. In two seasons in the late 1930s, it was written that not only did he hit higher than .400, but his slugging percentage was above 1.000. The Sporting News of June 3, 1967 credits Gibson with 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 from home plate. Although it has never been conclusively proven, 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 the Yankee Stadium.

Based on research of historical accounts performed for the Special Committee on the Negro Leagues, Gibson hit 224 homers in 2,375 at-bats against top black teams, 2 in 56 at-bats against white major-league pitchers and 44 in 450 AB in the Mexican League. John Holway lists Gibson with the same home run totals and a .351 career average, plus 21 for 56 against white major-league pitchers. According to Holway, Gibson ranks third all-time in the Negro Leagues in average among players with 2,000+ AB (trailing Jud Wilson by 3 points and John Beckwith by one. Holway lists him as being second to Mule Suttles in homers, though the all-time leader in HR/AB by a considerable margin - with a homer every 10.6 AB to one every 13.6 for runner-up Suttles.

Recent investigations into Negro League statistics, using box scores from newspapers from across the United States, have led to the estimate that, although as many as two thirds of Negro League team games were played against inferior competition (as traveling exhibition games), Josh Gibson still hit between 150 and 200 home runs in official Negro League games. Though this number appears very conservative next to the statements of 800 to 1000 home runs, this research also credits Gibson with a rate of one home-run every 15.9 at bats, which compares favorably with the rates of the top nine home-run hitters in Major League history. The commonly-cited home run totals in excess of 800 are not indicative of his career total in "official" games because the Negro League season was significantly shorter than the major league season; typically consisting of less than 60 games per year. The additional home runs cited were most likely accomplished in "unofficial" games against local and non-Negro League competition of varying strengths, including the oft-cited "barnstorming" competitions. Though these numbers are still based on incomplete evidence, this study does at least provide concrete proof that Josh Gibson was a power hitter of very high caliber.

Despite the fact that statistical validation continues to prove difficult for Negro League players, the lack of verifiable figures has led to various amusing "Tall Tales" about immortals such as Gibson. A good example: In the last 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 from sight, 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 comes falling out of the sky and a Washington outfielder grabs it. The umpire yells to Gibson, "You're out! In Pittsburgh, yesterday!"

In early 1943, Josh Gibson fell into a coma and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He refused the option of surgical removal, and lived the next four years with recurring headaches. Gibson died of a stroke in 1947, at age 35, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, just three months before Jackie Robinson became the first black player in modern major league history. The stroke is generally believed to be linked to drug problems that plagued his later years.

Gibson is buried in the Allegheny Cemetery in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Lawrenceville.

Notes

• In 1941-42, Gibson played for the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League. Playing for the Santurce Crabbers, Gibson won the batting title that season with an average of .480, recognized as the record for that league.)

• In 1996, Gibson was played by Mykelti Williamson in the made-for-cable film Soul of the Game, which also starred Delroy Lindo as Satchel Paige, Blair Underwood as Jackie Robinson, Edward Herrmann as Branch Rickey and Jerry Hardin as Commissioner Happy Chandler.

• 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.) That same year, he was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

• According to the Macmillan Baseball Encyclopedia, Josh Gibson's Negro League stats from official games were as follows: Total years played - 16. Total games played - 501. Total career at bats - 1679. Total career hits - 607. Total career 2B hits - 89. Total career 3B hits - 35. Total career HR - 146. Total career SB 11. Career Batting Average .362

• Current "official" statistics (as published in 'Shades of Glory, by Dr. Lawrence Hogan) show him with a .359 career average and 115 HR in 510 games over 16 seasons.

• Barry Bonds referred to "Josh Gibson's 800 home runs" in his post-game press conference after hitting his 756th MLB home run.

Statistics in organized league games

This section presents published statistics for Gibson's games played in official games played in organized leagues only.

Negro leagues

A statistical study sponsored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and supervised by Larry Lester and Dick Clark is compiling official statistics for Negro league games. A research team has collected statistics from thousands of boxscores of league-sanctioned games. The first results from this study were the statistics for Negro league Hall of Famers elected prior to 2006, which were published in Shades of Glory by Lawrence D. Hogan. Hogan presents the following statistics for official league-sanctioned games played by Josh Gibson:

Source: Hogan, pp. 388–391.

Mexican League

Source: Cisneros.

Dominican League

Source: Holway.

Cuban (Winter) League

Source: Figueredo, pp. 222, 225.

See also

• List of notable brain tumor patients

References

1. *Hogan, Lawrence D. (2006), Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American Baseball, Washington DC: National Geographic, ISBN 079225306X
2. Curry, Jack (09 Aug 2007). "No. 757 for Bonds follows long night". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
3. Hogan, p. 381.

Further Reading

• William Brashler. Josh Gibson: a Life in the Negro Leagues. Harper & Row, 1978.
• Pedro Treto Cisneros. The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics. McFarland & Company, 2002.
• Jorge Figueredo. Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History. McFarland & Company, 2003.
• John Holway. The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues. Hastings House, 2001.
• Larry Lester. Black Baseball's National Showcase. University of Nebraska Press, 2001.
• James Riley. The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. Carrol & Graf, 1994.
• Donn Rogosin. Invisible Men. Atheneum, 1983.
• Buckley, James Jr. "1,001 Facts About Hitters." DK Publishing, 2004.
• Ribowsky, Mark. "Josh Gibson The Power and The Darkness." University of Illinois Press, 2004.
• Snyder, Brad: Beyond the Shadow of the Senators, McGraw-Hill, 2004.

External links

• Baseball Hall of Fame
• Josh Gibson page at Pace University
• Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
• News article on 2004 compilation of Negro League statistics - Includes home-run to at-bat ratio comparison.
• ESPN Sportcentury article on Josh Gibson
• Josh Gibson at Baseball-Reference.com Bullpen

• 1911 births
• 1947 deaths
• People from Georgia (U.S. state)
• Sportspeople from Pittsburgh
• Homestead Grays players
• Negro League baseball players
• Baseball Hall of Fame
• Deaths by stroke