The Life and Legacy of Baseball's NEW Batting Champion

For decades, if you looked at the historical leaderboards for batting average—both single season and career—in the MLB, the man in first place was the “Georgia Peach” Ty Cobb. However, with MLB’s announcement that the records of the Negro Leagues were being added to the historical leader boards, there’s a new batting champion: “The Black Babe Ruth” Josh Gibson. His legacy is nothing short of legend.

Josh Gibson with the Homestead Grays, 1931.

Born in Buena Vista, Georgia on December 21st, 1911, Josh Gibson spent the first decade of his life in Georgia before his family moved to Pittsburgh in 1923. Pittsburgh, at the time, was a city with prolific Negro League history, hosting the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords.

Gibson’s physical traits almost make it seem like destiny that he became a baseball player. At 6’1”, 200 pounds, he looked like a natural when he took the field for the Gimbels’ sponsored amateur team for the first time at 16. According to Mark Ribowsky’s biography of Josh Gibson, titled Josh Gibson: The Power and the Darkness, “The Firm thought so much of his ability that (they) gave him a job as an elevator operator just to keep him in uniform.” Living and working in Pittsburgh, it would only make sense that Pittsburgh would be where he got his major league start.

However, it was the Memphis Red Sox who gave Josh Gibson his first taste of professional baseball While playing in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  The Red Sox manager “Candy” Jim Taylor started Josh Gibson behind the plate in a game. Even though Gibson went 2-4 in the game, Taylor told Gibson that he would “Never be a catcher.” Fortunately for Gibson, that wasn’t the case.

The problem with discussing the history of the Negro Leagues in the form is that records weren’t properly kept. Much of the legend of Josh Gibson’s career is unconfirmed, thus being just legend. This is the same for the story of Gibson’s big break with the Pittsburgh Crawfords, which the full version is available at the Society for American Baseball Research.

The legend says that the “Kansas City Monarchs owner J.L. Wilkinson developed a portable light system for the purpose of playing road games at night.” The idea being that profits could be maximized. “The catcher for the Homestead Grays, Joe Williams, couldn’t see the ball and broke his finger. Needing a new catcher, the Grays owner pulled Gibson out of the crowd.”

The story, while unconfirmed, is just one of the numerous legends of Josh Gibson’s career. Excelling offensively and defensively, Gibson is renowned as one of the best catchers ever—across the Negro Leagues and Major League Baseball.

While defensive stats weren’t tracked in any league during Gibson’s heyday—the 1930s and 40s, some of his offensive numbers are intact. Gibson hit over .400 three times, including his 1943 season in which he batted .466, the highest recording batting average over a full season in baseball history.

Still, this is just the beginning of Gibson’s legacy. Players, both in the negro leagues and major league baseball, praised Gibson for his ability on the field.

Legendary Negro Leagues pitcher Satchel Paige called Gibson, “The greatest hitter who ever lived.” 

Gibson is affectionately referred to as “The Black Babe Ruth,” an ode to his legacy as one of the best home run hitters of all times. While the true number is unknown, his plaque at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown reads, “Considered Greatest Slugger in Negro Baseball Leagues, Power Hitting Catcher who hit almost 800 Home Runs in league and independent baseball during his seventeen-year career.”

Gibson's Hall of Fame Plaque from The Baseball Hall Of Fame

One of these home runs—again unconfirmed—is rumored to have traveled 587 feet out of Yankee Stadium, further adding the Gibson’s moniker of “The Black Babe Ruth.”  Many players—both in the Negro Leagues and in the Major Leagues—respected Josh’s legacy.

Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson said of Gibson, “There is a catcher that any big-league club would like to buy for $200,000. His name is Gibson. He can do everything. He hits the ball a mile. He catches so easily he might as well be in a rocking chair. Throws like a rifle. Too bad Gibson is a colored fellow.”

To keep on with the Babe Ruth comparison. The price mentioned by Johnson for Gibson’s services in 1930 was double what the Yankees paid for Babe Ruth ten years prior. Adjusting for modern day inflation, the price for Babe Ruth would have been $1,567,740. For Josh Gibson, the price of that deal would be $3,755,065.87. Ruth is considered one of the greatest sluggers in MLB history—by some he has been coined “The White Josh Gibson.”

Of course, a piece about any star of the Negro Leagues can’t shy away from the segregation that baseball endured during Gibson’s career. Based solely on the color of Gibson’s skin, he was deemed ineligible to play Major League Baseball. While Gibson was still young enough that he could have played long enough to be signed to an MLB team, Gibson’s health was beginning to fail.

Prior to that 1943 Season in which he hit .466, Gibson suffered a seizure at his home and was rushed into hospital. After recovering from the seizure, Gibson was diagnosed with a brain tumor. This means that Gibson’s most prolific season was achieved while dealing with a severe health issue.

Over time, Gibson’s health problems worsened due to the tumor. While he was still a god on the field, Josh Gibson was indeed human. Prior to the 1947 season, at the young age of 35, Josh Gibson died at his home. He would not live to see baseball’s color barrier shatter. According to legend emphasized by the Society for American Baseball research, at Gibson’ funeral, “People lined up for more than half a mile to pay respects to Gibson.”

Twenty-five years after his death, the crowds lined up again, as Gibson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. He was the second Negro League player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Flash forward to today, one of the greatest players in the history of the Negro Leagues, one of the greatest players in the history of baseball, Josh Gibson “The Black Babe Ruth” has rightfully taken his place in the record books, allowing his legacy to be available for generations to come.