Josh Gibson

Joshua Gibson (December 21, 1911 – January 20, 1947) was an American baseball catcher who played primarily in the Negro leagues. In 1972, he became the second Negro league player to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Gibson played for the Homestead Grays from 1930 to 1931, moved to the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1932 to 1936, and returned to the Grays from 1937 to 1939 and 1942 to 1946. In 1937, he played for Ciudad Trujillo in Trujillo's Dominican League and from 1940 to 1941, he played in the Mexican League for Azules de Veracruz. Gibson served as the first manager of the Cangrejeros de Santurce, one of the most historic franchises of the Puerto Rico Baseball League.

Gibson was known as a spectacular power hitter who, by some accounts, hit close to 800 career home runs. (In the Negro League statistical records, his career home run total was 166 and Major League Baseball recognizes 171.) He was known as the "black Babe Ruth"; in fact, some fans at the time who saw both Ruth and Gibson play called Ruth "the white Josh Gibson". Gibson never played in the American League or the National League because of the unwritten "gentleman's agreement" that prevented non-white players from participating. He stood 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) and weighed 210 lb (95 kg) at the peak of his career. He was the first player since Oscar Charleston to win consecutive batting Triple Crowns (leading the league in home runs, runs batted in, batting average) and no batter has achieved the feat since.

On May 28, 2024, Major League Baseball announced that it had integrated Negro league statistics into its records, giving Gibson the highest single-season major league batting average at .466 in 1943 and the highest career batting average at .371.