Going
to do a bit of revisiting today, this time my 1972 "Hall of Fame
Induction" card for perhaps the greatest catcher the game has ever seen,
Josh Gibson, who rightfully got his place in Cooperstown, though sadly
many years after his passing:
Really, what is left to be said about perhaps the greatest Negro League player of all-time?
The "Black Babe Ruth", sadly so many of his achievements are lost
to lack of true record-keeping through his extensive barn-storming play.
He was reported to have hit about 800 lifetime home runs, hit a
ball completely out of Yankee Stadium (something never done before or
since), posted a .384 lifetime average, won nine home run titles and
four batting titles.
What DOES remain fact was that throughout the years since his death
in 1947 at the young age of 35 from a stroke, Gibson is considered one
of the all-time great power hitters, hands-down.
In 2000, when the Sporting News posted their "100 Greatest Baseball
Players of All-Time", Gibson was ranked 18th, the highest position of
any Negro League player (ahead of Satchel Paige, Buck Leonard, Cool Papa
Bell and Oscar Charleston).
The man was, and is, still mythic in baseball lore.
Sadly because of the "gentleman's agreement" instituted at the turn
of the 20th century, we'd never see him perform against his
contemporaries in the Major Leagues.
