Josh Gibson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Australian rules footballer, see Joshua Gibson (footballer).
Josh Gibson
Josh Gibson
Personal Info
Birth December 21, 1911(1911-12-21), Buena Vista, Georgia
Death: January 20, 1947 (aged 35), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Professional Career
Debut July 31, 1930, Homestead Grays vs. Kansas City Monarchs, Forbes Field
Team(s) Homestead Grays (1930–31, 1937–39, 1942–46)

Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932–1936)
Ciudad Trujillo (1937)
Veracruz (1940–41)
HOF induction: 1972
Career Highlights
Negro League Baseball
  • Lifetime batting average: .359
  • Lifetime slugging percentage: .648

Joshua Gibson (December 21, 1911 - January 20, 1947) was an American catcher in baseball's Negro Leagues. He played for the Homestead Grays from 1930 to 1931, moved to the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1932 to 1936, and returned 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 Veracruz. He stood 6-foot-1 (185 cm) and weighed 210 pounds (95 kg) at the peak of his career.[1]

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. Gibson was known as the "black Babe Ruth."[2] He never played in Major League Baseball because, under their unwritten "gentleman's agreement" policy, they excluded non-whites during his lifetime.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Gibson was born in Buena Vista, Georgia on or about December 21, 1911. In 1923 Gibson moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his father, Mark Gibson, had found work at the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Company. Entering sixth grade in Pittsburgh, Gibson prepared to become an electrician, attending Allegheny Pre-Vocational School and Conroy Pre-Vocational School. His first experience playing baseball for an organized team came at 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 were still a semi-professional team. The Crawfords, controlled by Gus Greenlee, were the top black semi-professional team in the Pittsburgh area and would advance to fully professional major Negro league status by 1931.[3]

In 1928, Gibson met Helen Mason, whom he married on March 7, 1929. When not playing baseball, Gibson continued to work at Gimbels, having given up on his plans to become an electrician to pursue a baseball career. In the summer of 1930, the 18-year old Gibson was recruited by Cum Posey, owner of the Homestead Grays, which were the preeminent Negro league team in Pittsburgh, and on July 31, 1930 Gibson debuted with the Grays. A few days later, on August 11, 1930, Gibson's wife Helen, who was pregnant with twins, went into premature labor and died while giving birth to a twin son, Josh Gibson, Jr., and daughter, named Helen after her mother. The children were raised by Helen's parents.[3]

[edit] Baseball career and statistics

The Negro leagues generally 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.[4] Thus, it is important to distinguish between records against all competition and records in league games only. For example, against all levels of competition Gibson hit 69 home runs in 1934; the same year in league games he hit 11 home runs in 52 games.[1][4]

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. [1].

The Josh Gibson Baseball Hall of Fame plaque says he hit "almost 800" homers in his 17-year career [2] against Negro League and independent baseball. His lifetime batting average, according to the Hall of Fame's official data, was .359.[4] 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 Yankee Stadium.

There is no published season-by-season breakdown of Gibson's home run totals in all the games he played in various leagues and exhibitions.

The true statistical achievements of Negro League players may be impossible to know, as the Negro Leagues did not compile complete statistics or game summaries.[4] 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.[5] John Holway lists Gibson with the same home run totals and a .351 career average, plus 21 for 56 against white major-league pitchers.[5] 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.[5] 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.[5]

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.[4] Though this number appears very conservative next to the statements of "almost 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. [6] 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.[7] 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!"

[edit] Death

In early 1943, Josh Gibson fell into a coma and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Apparently coming out of his coma, 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 believed by a few to be linked to drug problems that plagued his later years.[8] He was buried at the Allegheny Cemetery in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Lawrenceville, where he lay in an unmarked grave until a small plaque was placed in 1975.[9]. 25 years later, his accomplishments were recognized and became the second Negro League player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Money was raised for a proper gravestone.

[edit] Legacy

In 2007 the Washington Nationals decided to honor Josh Gibson as one of the "greatest players to play baseball in Washington, D.C." with a statue as part of their new baseball stadium in Southeast DC. The statue is to be dedicated sometime in 2008. [3]

His son Josh Gibson, Jr. played baseball for the Homestead Grays. [4]. His son was also instrumental in the forming of the Josh Gibson Foundation ( http://www.joshgibson.org/), [5] .

[edit] Records

Lifetime batting average of .354 - .384 [6]

Played baseball in the United States, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Mexico. [7]

Home Runs - Hall of Fame plaque recognizes "almost 800" home runs for his career

Elected to Hall of Fame in 1972, one year after his contemporary, Satchel Paige.

[edit] Notes

  • 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.[12]

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Negro leagues

The first official statistics for the Negro leagues were compiled as part of a statistical study sponsored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and supervised by Larry Lester and Dick Clark, in which a research team collected statistics from thousands of boxscores of league-sanctioned games.[4] 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. These statistics include the official Negro league statistics for Josh Gibson:

Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB BA SLG
1930 Homestead 21 71 13 24 2 0 5 17 0 5 .338 .577
1931 Homestead 32 124 26 38 8 5 6 23 0 11 .306 .597
1932 Pittsburgh 49 191 34 62 10 5 8 28 0 21 .325 .555
1933 Pittsburgh 38 138 32 54 6 2 8 31 1 9 .391 .638
1934 Homestead 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500
1934 Pittsburgh 52 190 39 62 14 3 11 27 2 19 .326 .605
1935 Pittsburgh 35 145 37 54 10 2 8 29 7 16 .372 .634
1936 Pittsburgh 26 90 27 39 3 2 6 18 1 13 .433 .711
1937 Homestead 25 97 39 41 7 4 13 36 1 17 .423 .979
1938 Homestead 28 105 31 38 4 1 3 9 1 13 .362 .505
1939 Homestead 21 74 22 27 3 2 10 22 3 20 .365 .865
1940 Homestead 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000
1942 Homestead 42 138 36 42 6 1 7 38 2 32 .304 .514
1943 Homestead 55 192 69 91 24 5 12 74 3 39 .474 .839
1944 Homestead 34 123 27 44 4 3 9 34 1 15 .358 .659
1945 Homestead 17 62 12 17 2 4 2 15 0 11 .274 .532
1946 Homestead 33 111 22 32 6 2 7 31 0 12 .288 .568
Total 16 seasons 510 1855 467 666 109 41 115 432 22 255 .359 .648

Source: [4]

[edit] Mexican League

Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB BA SLG
1940 Veracruz 22 92 32 43 7 4 11 38 3 16 .467 .989
1941 Veracruz 94 358 100 134 31 3 33 124 7 75 .374 .754
Total 2 seasons 116 450 132 177 38 7 44 162 10 91 .393 .802

Source: [13] , p. 151.

[edit] Dominican League

Year Team AB H BA
1937 Ciudad Trujillo 53 24 .453

Source: [5]

[edit] Cuban (Winter) League

Year Team AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BA SLG
1937–38 Habana 61 11 21 3 2 3 13 — .344 .607
1938–39 Santa Clara 163 50 58 7 3 11 39 2 .356 .638
Total 2 seasons 224 61 79 10 5 14 52 — .353 .629

Source: [14], pp. 222, 225.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Riley, James A. (1994), The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, New York: Carroll & Graf, ISBN 0786709596 
  2. ^ Josh Gibson. Encylopedia Brittanica Online.
  3. ^ a b Ribowsky, Mark (2004). Josh Gibson: The Power and the Darkness. Urbana, IL, USA: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252072243. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Hogan, Lawrence D. (2006), Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American Baseball, Washington DC: National Geographic, ISBN 079225306X 
  5. ^ a b c d e Holway, John B. (2001), The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues: The Other Half of Baseball History, Fern Park, FL: Hastings House Publishers, ISBN 0803820070 
  6. ^ 1939 in baseball#Negro National League final standings
  7. ^ Peterson, Robert (1970), Only the Ball Was White 
  8. ^ *Ribowsky, Mark (2004), Josh Gibson The Power and The Darkness, Urbana IL: University of Illinois Press, ISBN 978-0252-07224-6 
  9. ^ A Legendary Baseball Player: Josh Gibson. Allegheny Cemetery. Retrieved on 2008-01-11.
  10. ^ Vázquez, Edwin; Beisbol De Ligas Negras-James "Cool Papa" Bell Beisbox Caribe; 2006-12-22
  11. ^ Bjarkman, Peter C.; Winter pro baseball’s proudest heritage passes into oblivion
  12. ^ Curry, Jack. "No. 757 for Bonds follows long night", The New York Times, 09 Aug 2007. 
  13. ^ Cisneros, Pedro Treto (2002). The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics, 1937–2001. Jefferson, NC, USA: McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786413786. 
  14. ^ Figueredo, Jorge S. (2003), Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878–1961, Jefferson, NC, USA: McFarland & Company, ISBN 078641250X 

[edit] 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.
  • Robert Peterson. Only the Ball Was White.Gramercy, 1970.
  • 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.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1972
BBWAA Vote
Yogi Berra (85.61%) • Sandy Koufax (86.87%) • Early Wynn (76.01%)
Veterans Committee
Negro League Committee
Josh Gibson • Buck Leonard
J. G. Taylor Spink Award
Frank Graham