REVISIT: HALL OF FAME #11: JOSH GIBSON: CLASS OF 1972

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.

 

CUSTOM SPOTLIGHT: "MISSING" 1961 FLEER ALL-TIME GREATS JOSH GIBSON

When I released my 1963 Fleer "Lost Second Series" set a few months back, I also included two special cards of Negro League giants Josh Gibson and Satchel paige that were "missing" from the 1961 Fleer "All-Time Greats" set.

Today I spotlight the Gibson card, with Paige to follow in a week or so:

 

 

Really, what needs to be said about one of the all-time baseball (of ANY league) legends anyone has ever seen?
I remember when I was a kid in the late-70’s/early-80’s, before the internet and information at the tips of your fingers, I would see that image of Gibson in the Guiness Book of World Records, along with their statement that he clubbed over 800 home runs during his playing career, as well as over 70 in a season, and just marvel and wonder about the “what if’s”.
What a treat it would have been to have fully documented numbers and achievements by Gibson against all players. Luckily what we do have are his numbers against his fellow Negro National League players, and they were just as amazing!
By the time Gibson retired at the young age of 34 in 1946, he put up a career average of .350, with 107 home runs in 1825 at-bats. Mind you, this doesn’t take into account all the home runs he blasted in other games such as the Dominican, Mexican, and Cuban (Winter League) games!
Informally, Gibson is credited with a .359 career average with 962 homers, hitting as many as 69 in 1934 and 55 the year before, including barnstorming games.
There’s so much I could write here, but for those who haven’t already, just read up on ANYTHING you can regarding Gibson’s career, it’ll blow your mind, including some of the anecdotes, and you’ll see why he’s considered not only one of the greatest catchers of all-time (in any league), but one of the greatest players, period.
Sadly, he passed away at only 35 years of age, never really seeing all the accolades that would come his way after he was no longer with us.
Such a shame. 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM NEGRO LEAGUE SET: JOSH GIBSON

The next Negro Leagues great spotlighted from my "Negro League Legends" custom set released last Summer is perhaps the greatest of them all, catcher Josh Gibson:

 

Really, what needs to be said about one of the all-time baseball (of ANY league) legends anyone has ever seen?
I remember when I was a kid in the late-70’s/early-80’s, before the internet and information at the tips of your fingers, I would see that image of Gibson in the Guiness Book of World Records, along with their statement that he clubbed over 800 home runs during his playing career, as well as over 70 in a season, and just marvel and wonder about the “what if’s”.
What a treat it would have been to have fully documented numbers and achievements by Gibson against all players. Luckily what we do have are his numbers against his fellow Negro National League players, and they were just as amazing!
By the time Gibson retired at the young age of 34 in 1946, he put up a career average of .350, with 107 home runs in 1825 at-bats. Mind you, this doesn’t take into account all the home runs he blasted in other games such as the Dominican, Mexican, and Cuban (Winter League) games!
Informally, Gibson is credited with a .359 career average with 962 homers, hitting as many as 69 in 1934 and 55 the year before, including barnstorming games.
There’s so much I could write here, but for those who haven’t already, just read up on ANYTHING you can regarding Gibson’s career, it’ll blow your mind, including some of the anecdotes, and you’ll see why he’s considered not only one of the greatest catchers of all-time (in any league), but one of the greatest players, period.
Sadly, he passed away at only 35 years of age, never really seeing all the accolades that would come his way after he was no longer with us.
Such a shame. 

"NEGRO LEAGUE LEGENDS" SPECIAL EDITION SET AVAILABLE NOW!

Hello everyone!

For those interested, my newest custom set, "Negro League Legends", is now available for purchase! See below all photos for ordering instructions.

I've included images of every aspect of the set to give you all as full an idea of what went into this as possible:

 

 

 

There are 25-individual player cards, as well as a title card featuring Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. There is also a raised glossy insert celebrating one of the greatest ballclubs ever to take the field, the 1931 Homestead Grays.

I have also included a four-stamp panel of the stamps I had printed up for the packaging, figuring you'd all like a few of those thrown in to help complete the release.

All of this comes bound in gold foil, then packaged inside a special fold-out folio you see in the images attached.

These sets are numbered, and I have made 80, with an additional 20 possible if needed.

The sets are $20 plus $5.00 shipping, and if you buy more than one set the shipping stays the same, just like with my pack releases. So $5 shipping no matter how many sets you buy!

On top of all of that, once the sets are sold, I will ask you to check your sets to see which one of you ALSO had an extra tag inserted into your set. Only ONE of you will then also win at no extra charge the special 1-of-1 Josh Gibson card I mentioned last week.

I didn't add images here so as not to confuse anyone. But once the set is sold I will send out another email with all the images you need to see which one of you gets the special bonus card!

The 1-of-1 Josh Gibson card is mounted on a gold foil block, which was then mounted on the center panel of the fold-out folio, with special glossy photos of the all-time great decorating the sides. There is only ONE made, and it was a blast creating it!

If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask!

To order, it is the usual paypal address: slogun23@gmail.com

$20 per set, one-time $5.00 postage fee.

Thanks for looking!

Gio

 

NEGRO LEAGUE LEGENDS- JOSH GIBSON

Today we add the legendary slugger Josh Gibson to my “Negro Leagues Legends” 1972 sub-set, celebrating what was at the time the 25th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s breaking the color-line in Major League baseball:

Really, what needs to be said about one of the all-time baseball (of ANY league) legends anyone has ever seen?
I remember when I was a kid in the late-70’s/early-80’s, before the internet and information at the tips of your fingers, I would see that image of Gibson in the Guiness Book of World Records, along with their statement that he clubbed over 800 home runs during his playing career, as well as over 70 in a season, and just marvel and wonder about the “what if’s”.
What a treat it would have been to have fully documented numbers and achievements by Gibson against all players. Luckily what we do have are his numbers against his fellow Negro National League players, and they were just as amazing!
By the time Gibson retired at the young age of 34 in 1946, he put up a career average of .350, with 107 home runs in 1825 at-bats. Mind you, this doesn’t take into account all the home runs he blasted in other games such as the Dominican, Mexican, and Cuban (Winter League) games!
Informally, Gibson is credited with a .359 career average with 962 homers, hitting as many as 69 in 1934 and 55 the year before, including barnstorming games.
There’s so much I could write here, but for those who haven’t already, just read up on ANYTHING you can regarding Gibson’s career, it’ll blow your mind, including some of the anecdotes, and you’ll see why he’s considered not only one of the greatest catchers of all-time (in any league), but one of the greatest players, period.
Sadly, he passed away at only 35 years of age, never really seeing all the accolades that would come his way after he was no longer with us.
Such a shame. 

HALL OF FAME #11: JOSH GIBSON: CLASS OF 1972

Here was a VERY nice card to work on! A 1972 "Hall of Fame Inductee" card for Negro League superstar Josh Gibson.

Check it out:

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.