Josh Gibson

Joshua Gibson was an American Negro league baseball catcher. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. He never played in the major leagues because of the unwritten ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that prevented non-white players from participating. Gibson’s lifetime batting average is said to be higher than. 350, with other sources putting it as high as. 384.

About Josh Gibson in brief

Summary Josh GibsonJoshua Gibson was an American Negro league baseball catcher. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. Gibson never played in the major leagues because of the unwritten ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that prevented non-white players from participating. Gibson’s lifetime batting average is said to be higher than. 350, with other sources putting it as high as. 384. It is also believed that Gibson hit a home run at Yankee Stadium that struck two feet from the top of the bleachers, about 580 feet from home plate. On December 16, 2020, the MLB announced that it will recognize Negro league records, giving Gibson the major league record for single-season batting average with. 441. Gibson served as the first manager of the Santurce Crabbers, one of the most historic franchises of the Puerto Rico Baseball League. He hit almost 800 home runs in league and independent baseball during his 17-year career. He won nine home run titles and four batting championships playing for the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Grays. He also played for Ciudad Trujillo in the Dominican League and Rojos del Águila de Veracruz in the Mexican League.

Gibson was born in Buena Vista, Georgia to Mark and Nancy Gibson and had a younger brother and sister. He married Helen Mason, whom he married on March 7, 1929, and had twin sons, Josh Gibson, Jr. and Helen, named after her mother. He died on August 11, 2002, at the age of 87. He is survived by his wife, Helen, and two children, Josh, Jr., and Helen Gibson, III, who were born in 1958 and 1962 respectively. The couple had no children of their own, but raised their children by Helen’s parents. Gibson is buried in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in a plot of land that was once owned by the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Company. He had a son with Helen Mason called Josh Gibson Jr. Gibson also had a daughter, Helen Gibson III, with whom he had two sons, Joshua Gibson, Sr. and Josh Gibson III. Gibson died in 2004 at age 89. His wife died in a car accident in 2007. He has a son, Josh Jr., who was born on July 31, 1929. Gibson had a brother and a sister, Mark Gibson, who was also a professional baseball player.