Josh Gibson, (Dec. 21, 1911 -Jan. 20, 1947)
American professional baseball catcher, Josh Gibson was one of the most prodigious home run hitters in baseball history. Known as “the black Babe Ruth,” Gibson is known as the greatest player who never played in the major leagues as the league, at that time, did not hire black ballplayers.
In the 20's Gibson studied to become an electrician, but decided try his hand at semiprofessional baseball. He played with the Pittsburgh Crawfords until 1930 and then joined the Homestead Grays, his first professional Negro league club.
Precise records of Gibson’s accomplishments are not available as record keeping in the Negro National League was haphazard, but he is believed to have led the League in home runs for 10 consecutive seasons and to have had a career batting average of .347 and to have hit 84 home runs in 1936 and amassed nearly 800 career homers.
In 1943 he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and refused medical care. He continued to play baseball until he died of a stroke at age 36.
He was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
The Josh Gibson Foundation currently sponsors a 10 team little league for young people ages 9 through 12. The league is linked directly with the Foundation’s educational programming. Josh Gibson Field located in Pittsburgh, PA.
