Gibson, Joshua
Baseball
b. Dec. 21, 1911, Buena Vista, GA
d. Jan. 20, 1947
Walter Johnson, who often saw Gibson play, said of him, "He hits the ball a mile and throws like a rifle." Satchel Paige called him "the greatest hitter who ever lived." But Gibson never played in the major leagues because he was black.
His family moved to Pittsburgh in 1924 and Gibson began playing semi-pro baseball in 1929. The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder occasionally played the outfield, but was usually a catcher. He was in the stands that summer to watch the Kansas City Monarchs play Pittsburgh's Homestead Grays in a night game under a portable lighting system. The Homestead catcher refused to play because of the poor lighting and Gibson was called out of the stands to replace him.
Within a short time, he was the starting catcher for the Grays. In 1931, he jumped to the Pittsburgh Crawfords, one of the greatest teams ever assembled. Among his teammates were Paige, Cool Papa Bell, Judy Johnson, and Oscar Charleston.
The Crawfords folded after 1936 and Gibson returned to the Homestead team for three seasons, went to the Mexican League in 1940 and 1941, then was forced back to the Grays by a lawsuit.
Gibson helped draw such large crowds when the Grays played in Washington that Clark Griffith, the owner of the Senators, considered signing him during the late 1930s, but didn't. In part because of frustration at not being able to play in the major leagues, Gibson began drinking heavily after returning from Mexico and his skills declined abruptly. He died of a stroke three months before Jackie Robinson made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The Negro leagues didn't keep accurate records, but Gibson was credited with as many as 84 home runs in a season, which might include as many as 200 games, and he is believed to have hit nearly 800 in his 17 seasons. Although he was questionable on defense early in his career, he worked hard to become a fine catcher.