U.S. #3408r
33¢ Josh Gibson
Legends of Baseball
Issue Date: July 6, 2000
City: Atlanta, GA
Quantity: 11,250,000
Printed by: Ashton-Potter (USA) Ltd
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: Serpentine die cut 11.25
C... more
U.S. #3408r
33¢ Josh Gibson
Legends of Baseball
Issue Date: July 6, 2000
City: Atlanta, GA
Quantity: 11,250,000
Printed by: Ashton-Potter (USA) Ltd
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: Serpentine die cut 11.25
Color: Multicolored
Josh Gibson (1911-1947) spent his entire baseball career in the Negro Leagues. His powerful hits made him one of black baseball’s biggest attractions, and the length of his homers was legendary. Gibson was often called the “Babe Ruth of the Negro Leagues.”
A native of Buena Vista, Georgia, Gibson made his baseball debut with the Homestead Grays in 1930 when he was 18 years old. He filled in for the team’s starting catcher, who was injured. The six-foot-one-inch, 215-pound Gibson earned the nickname “Boxer.”
In 1932, Gibson began playing for the Pittsburgh Crawfords. As a member of the Crawfords, Gibson teamed up with pitcher Satchel Paige. Gibson returned to the Grays in 1937. During the winter, he played in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.
Josh Gibson posted the Negro League’s highest batting average twice. His 1943 average of .517 was the second highest in its history. He also led the league in home runs nine times. Officially, Gibson’s home run count stands at 137. But his at-bats during his three best seasons, 1942, 1943, and 1946, were never recorded. For those years, he is credited with hitting 30 homers, making his unofficial career total 167. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972.
First Game Of Negro National League Baseball
On May 2, 1920, the first game of the Negro National Baseball League was played in Indianapolis, Indiana.
In the late 1800s, baseball was divided by a color line. A rule known as the “Gentleman’s Agreement” banned black players from white leagues. From behind this color line, a new American pastime was born – Negro Leagues Baseball.
In 1920, Rube Foster met with several other Negro baseball team owners at the YMCA in Kansas City. When the meeting concluded, Foster introduced the Negro National League by proclaiming, “We are the ship, all else the sea.”
Foster said his goal for forming a Negro League was “to create a profession that would equal the earning capacity of any other profession… and do something concrete for the loyalty of the Race.” Foster backed that up by paying his players a minimum salary of $175 a month – at a time when the average monthly salary in America was $103.
Foster would work 15-hour days to keep the league running. To ensure payrolls were met on time, Rube advanced loans to other owners out of his own pocket. He also shifted players within the league to ensure equal competition between teams. Foster wanted black players to be ready when integration finally came. He routinely spoke to players, telling them to always play at the highest level of excellence.
The first game of this new league was held on May 2, 1920, in Indiana. It was between Foster’s team, the American Giants, and the Indianapolis ABCs. The ABCs went on to win that game 4 to 2, though the Giants would eventually win that year’s championship.
Soon, fans flocked to the ballparks and were treated to a fast-paced game filled with action and flamboyance. Players like Satchel Paige electrified the crowds with their showmanship. A tall, lanky right-hander, Paige often told the outfielders to sit down while he struck out the next batter. And “Cool Papa” Bell would often try to steal two bases on one pitch.
Another great was Josh Gibson. Referred to as the “black Babe Ruth,” Gibson belted home runs that traveled more than 575 feet. And Oscar Charleston, dubbed the “black Ty Cobb,” was always a threat to steal a base or run down a long fly ball. This amazing talent made baseball the favorite pastime for black Americans.
Behind all the pageantry, life in Negro baseball was tough. When the team bus stopped at a restaurant, the players weren’t allowed in the dining room. And they often slept on the buses because white hotels wouldn’t rent them rooms. “We didn’t get a chance sometimes to take a bath for 3 or 4 days because they wouldn’t let us,” recalled Ted Radcliffe.
By the 1940s, the ballpark became a place for community gatherings. Negro Leagues baseball was the largest black-owned organization in America, and the league did its part to aid a community living with segregation. Owners raised money to support anti-lynching campaigns, the United Negro College Fund, and the NAACP.
In 1947, the color barrier was broken when Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. Within five years, more than 150 Negro Leagues players joined Major League teams. Without its greatest stars, and struggling with low attendance, the era of Negro Leagues baseball came to a close.
Click here for a brief video about the Negro League.
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