Josh Gibson
Gibson with the Homestead Grays in 1931
Catcher
Born:(1911-12-21)December 21, 1911 Buena Vista, Georgia, U.S.
Died: January 20, 1947(1947-01-20) (aged 35) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Batted: Right Threw: Right
Negro leagues debut
July 31, 1930, for the Homestead Grays
Last Negro leagues appearance
1946, for the Homestead Grays
Negro leagues statistics
Batting average	.371
Hits	831
Home runs	171
Runs batted in	746
Stats atBaseball Reference
Teams
Memphis Red Sox (1930) Homestead Grays (1930–1931) Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932–1936) Homestead Grays (1937–1940,1942–1946)
Career highlights and awards
12×All-Star (1933–1936, 1939, 1942–1944, 1946) 2×Negro World Series champion (1943,1944) 3×Negro National League batting champion (1936, 1937, 1939) 2×Triple Crown (1936, 1937) Washington Nationals Ring of Honor Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame MLB records .371 careerbatting average 1.176 career OPS .466 single season batting average (1943) .974 single season slugging percentage (1937) 1.474 single season OPS (1937)
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1972
Election method	Negro Leagues Committee

Joshua Gibson (December 21, 1911 – January 20, 1947) was an Americanbaseballcatcher who played primarily in theNegro leagues. In 1972, he became the second Negro league player to be inducted in theNational Baseball Hall of Fame.

Gibson played for theHomestead Grays from 1930 to 1931, moved to thePittsburgh Crawfords from 1932 to 1936, and returned to the Grays from 1937 to 1939 and 1942 to 1946. In 1937, he played forCiudad Trujillo inTrujillo'sDominican League and from 1940 to 1941, he played in theMexican League forAzules de Veracruz. Gibson served as the first manager of theCangrejeros de Santurce, one of the most historic franchises of thePuerto Rico Baseball League.

Gibson was known as a spectacular power hitter who, by some accounts, hit close to 800 careerhome runs. (In the Negro League statistical records, his career home run total was 166^[1] andMajor League Baseball recognizes 171.^[2]) He was known as the "blackBabe Ruth";^[3] in fact, some fans at the time who saw both Ruth and Gibson play called Ruth "the white Josh Gibson".^[4] Gibson never played in theAmerican League or theNational League 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.^[5] He was the first player sinceOscar Charleston to win consecutivebatting Triple Crowns (leading the league in home runs, runs batted in, batting average) and no batter has achieved the feat since.

On May 28, 2024,Major League Baseball announced that it had integrated Negro league statistics into its records, giving Gibson the highest single-season major leaguebatting average at .466 in 1943 and the highest career batting average at .371.^[6][7]

Joshua Gibson was born on December 21, 1911, inBuena Vista, Georgia,^[8] to Mark and Nancy (née Woodlock) Gibson and had a younger brother, fellow Negro leaguerJerry, and sister.^[9] In 1923, Gibson moved toPittsburgh, and his father found work at the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Company. Entering sixth grade in Pittsburgh, Gibson prepared to become an electrician, attendingAllegheny Pre-Vocational School and Conroy Pre-Vocational School. His first experience playing baseball for an organized team came at age 16 when he playedthird base for an amateur team sponsored byGimbels department store where he found work as anelevator operator. Shortly thereafter, he was recruited by thePittsburgh Crawfords, which in 1928 were still asemi-professional team. The Crawfords, controlled byGus Greenlee, were the top black semi-professional team in the Pittsburgh area and would advance to fully professional, major Negro league status by 1931.^[10]

In 1928, Gibson met Helen Mason, whom he married on March 7, 1929. When not playing baseball, Gibson continued to work at Gimbels after he had 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 picked up by theMemphis Red Sox for a game inScranton, Pennsylvania. Despite going 2 for 4,^[11] Red Sox managerCandy Jim Taylor was not impressed by Gibson and said afterward that he would never be a catcher.^[12]

He was then recruited byCumberland Posey, owner of theHomestead Grays, which were the preeminent Negro 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.^[10]

The Negro leagues generally found it more profitable to schedule relatively few league games and allow the teams to earn extra money throughbarnstorming againstsemi-professional and other non-league teams.^[13] 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 52 league games, he hit 11 home runs.^[5][13]

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.^[14] In 2021,Major League Baseball (MLB) announced that the Negro Leagues (1920–1948) would formally be recognized as a major league. Ongoing research byBaseball 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 six times in on-base percentage and slugging percentage eight times.^[15]

Gibson's Hall of Fame plaque claims he hit "almost 800 home runs in league and independent baseball during his 17-year career."^[16] This figure includes both semi-pro competition and exhibition games. According to the Hall's official data, his lifetime batting average was .359.^[13] It was reported that he won nine home run titles and four batting championships playing for the Crawfords and the Grays. It is also believed that Gibson hit a home run in a Negro league game atYankee Stadium that left the stadium. There is no published or film account to support this claim.^[17]

Washington Senators ownerClark Griffith once said that Gibson hit more home runs intoGriffith Stadium's distant left field bleachers than the entireAmerican League.^[18] A 2020 article published by theSociety for American Baseball Research provides the supporting details for his homers in major league parks.^[19]

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.^[13] In late May 2024, Negro league statistics were integrated into MLB statistics, and Gibson is now at the top of the leaderboard in many categories.^[20][6]

Based on the 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, two in 56 at-bats against white major-league pitchers,^[21] and 44 in 450 at-bats in the Mexican League.^[22] 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 at least 2,000 at-bats (trailingJud Wilson by three points andJohn Beckwith by one). Holway lists him as being second toMule Suttles in homers, though the all-time leader inAB/HR by a considerable margin — with a homer every 10.6 at-bats to one every 13.6 for runner-up Suttles.^[21]

Recent investigations into Negro league statistics, using box scores from newspapers, 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), Gibson still hit between 150 and 200 home runs in official Negro league games.^[13] Though this number appears very conservative next to the claims of "almost 800" 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 much shorter than the Major League season, typically consisting of fewer than 60 games per year.^[23] The additional home runs cited were most likely accomplished in "unofficial" games against local and non-Negro league competition of varying strengths, includingbarnstorming competitions.

In nine of his seasons played in the Negro Leagues, he was selected to theEast–West All-Star Game twelve times, which included double duty appearances in 1939 (playing atComiskey Park andYankee Stadium), 1942 (Yankee Stadium andGriffith Stadium), and 1946 (Griffith and Comiskey).

In early 1943, Gibson fell into acoma and was diagnosed with abrain 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., atGallinger Hospital for mental observation.^[24] On January 20, 1947, Gibson died of astroke at 35 years old inPittsburgh. He was buried at theAllegheny Cemetery in theLawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, where he lay in an unmarked grave until a small plaque was placed in 1975.^[25]

Larry Doby, who broke theAmerican League color barrier in July 1947, felt that Gibson was the best black player in 1945^[26] and 1946;^[27] over evenJackie Robinson, who became thefirst black player in modern Major League history in April 1947 playing in theNational League. 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."^[27]

In 1972, Gibson andBuck Leonard became the second and third players, behindSatchel Paige, inducted into theBaseball Hall of Fame based on their careers in the Negro leagues.^[28] 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 amusingtall tales about players such as Gibson.^[29] 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. Theumpire yells to Gibson, "You're out! In Pittsburgh, yesterday!"^[30]

In 2000, theU.S. Postal Serviceissued a 33-cent U.S.commemorativepostage stamp which features a painting of Gibson in a Crawfords uniform.^[31][32]

In 2000, he ranked 18th onThe 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 wereSatchel Paige,Buck Leonard,Cool Papa Bell andOscar Charleston.) He was nominated as a finalist for theMajor League Baseball All-Century Team in the same year.

AtPNC Park, home of thePittsburgh Pirates, an exhibit honoring the city's two Negro league 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 theHomestead Grays andPittsburgh Crawfords, including Gibson.^[33] 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.^[34][35] Most of the statues that were originally located at Legacy Square in PNC Park, including Gibson's, are now displayed at theNegro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.^[36]

In 2009, astatue of Gibson was installed inside the center field gate ofNationals Park along with ones ofFrank Howard andWalter Johnson.

Gibson was named to theWashington 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 renamedJosh Gibson Field in his honor and is the site of a Pennsylvania State Historical Marker.^[37]

His son,Josh Gibson, Jr., played baseball for theHomestead Grays.^[38] His son also was instrumental in the forming of the Josh Gibson Foundation.^[39][40][41]

• In 1996, Gibson was played byMykelti Williamson in the made-for-cable filmSoul of the Game, which also starredDelroy Lindo asSatchel Paige,Blair Underwood asJackie Robinson,Edward Herrmann asBranch Rickey, andJerry Hardin as CommissionerHappy Chandler.
• The character of Leon Carter, played byJames Earl Jones in the 1976 filmThe Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, is based on Gibson.
• The character Josh Exley, played byJesse L. Martin in the 1999The X-Files episode "The Unnatural", is based on Gibson.
• An opera based on Gibson's life,The Summer King, by composerDaniel Sonenberg, premiered on April 29, 2017, in Pittsburgh.^[42][43][44]

• Gibson played baseball in the United States, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Mexico, with a lifetime batting average of .354–.384, depending on which statistics are counted.^[45]
• Starting in 1932–1933, Gibson played inPuerto Rico. In 1941–1942, Gibson played for thePuerto Rican Professional Baseball League. Playing for theCangrejeros de Santurce, Gibson won the batting title that season with an average of .480, recognized as the record for that league.^[46][47][48]
• Barry Bonds referred to "Josh Gibson's 800 home runs" in his post-game press conference after hitting his 756th MLB home run.^[49]
• Gibson was said byBuck O'Neil to have created a particular sound likedynamite when he hit the ball that he had heard only three times during his lifetime in baseball.Babe Ruth was the first, when O'Neil was young, Gibson was the second, when hisHomestead Grays came to play O'Neil'sKansas City Monarchs, andBo Jackson was the third, 50 years later, when Jackson was called up by theKansas City Royals and O'Neil was a scout for theChicago Cubs.^[50][51][52]

According to the MacmillanBaseball Encyclopedia, Gibson's Negro official league stats were as follows: Total years played: 16. Total games played: 501. Total career at bats: 1,679. Total career hits: 607. Total career doubles: 89. Total career triples: 35. Total career home runs: 146. Total career stolen bases: 11. Career batting average: .362.

The first official statistics for the Negro leagues were compiled as part of a statistical study sponsored by theNational Baseball Hall of Fame and supervised byLarry Lester and Dick Clark, in which a research team collected statistics from thousands of box scores 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 inShades of Glory by Lawrence D. Hogan.^[13]

Major League Baseball has recognized a different set of statistics at this point. For Josh Gibson, this is his Major League baseball page:Josh Gibson at MLB.com

The Major League Baseball statistics differ from the original first statistics release of Negro league data for Josh Gibson, which were released as follows:^[13]

Source:^[53]

Source:^[54]

Source:^[55]

• List of baseball players who died during their careers
• List of people with brain tumors

• "Josh Gibson Makes 'Time' Magazine".Cleveland Call-Post. July 24, 1943. p. 10-A.
• "Gibson's Long Homer Features Grays' Victory".Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. May 23, 1946. p. 15.
• Young, A. S. "Doc"."Inside Sports: Jimmy Crutchfield Remembers Josh".Jet. April 7, 1955. p. 55.
• Peterson, Robert. "Greatest Battery Ever".Boys' Life. April 1971.p. 32–33,52–53
• "Josh Gibson: Greatest Slugger of 'em All".Ebony. May 1972. pp. 45–46, 48–49.
• "Letters (cont.): Josh Gibson".Ebony. July 1972. p. 17.
• "Josh Gibson, the 'Black Babe Ruth,' Honored With Historical Marker".Jet. October 21, 1996. p. 55.
• Janik, James (August 2001)."Legendary Power".Boys' Life. pp. 42, 43.

• Brashler, William (2000).Josh Gibson : a life in the Negro leagues. I.R. Dee.ISBN 978-1-56663-295-9.
• Buckley, James Jr.1,001 Facts About Hitters. DK Publishing, 2004.
• Figueredo, Jorge.Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History. McFarland & Company, 2003.
• Holway, John (2001).The complete book of baseball's Negro leagues : the other half of baseball history. Foreword byBuck O'Neil, Afterword byTed Williams. Fern Park, FL : Hastings House Publishers.ISBN 978-0-8038-2007-4.
• Lester, Larry (2001).Black baseball's national showcase : the East-West All-Star Game, 1933-1953. University of Nebraska Press.ISBN 978-0-8032-8000-7.
• Riley, James A. (1994).The biographical encyclopedia of the Negro baseball leagues. Carroll & Graf Publishers.ISBN 978-0-7867-0065-3.
• Rogosin, Donn (1983).Invisible men : life in baseball's Negro leagues. New York: Atheneum.ISBN 978-0-689-11363-5.
• Snyder, Brad.Beyond the Shadow of the Senators. McGraw-Hill, 2004.
• Treto Cisneros, Pedro.The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics. McFarland & Company, 2002.

• Josh Gibson at theBaseball Hall of Fame
• Career statistics fromMLB · Baseball Reference · Baseball Reference (Minors) ·Seamheads
• 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
• Josh Gibson atFind a Grave

• 1911 births
• 1947 deaths
• African-American baseball players
• American expatriate baseball players in Mexico
• Azules de Veracruz players
• Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state)
• Burials at Allegheny Cemetery
• Habana players
• History of Pittsburgh
• Homestead Grays players
• Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
• Leopardos de Santa Clara players
• National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
• Negro league hitting Triple Crown winners
• Neurological disease deaths in Pennsylvania
• People from Buena Vista, Georgia
• Pittsburgh Crawfords players
• Baseball players from Pittsburgh
• American expatriate baseball players in Cuba
• Memphis Red Sox players
• 20th-century American sportsmen

• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from March 2025
• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
• Articles with short description
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• Use mdy dates from May 2024