Josh Gibson: The Black Babe Ruth?

His Hall of Fame plaque reads that Josh Gibson hit “almost 800 homeruns” in his career. There are several reports of Josh Gibson hitting home runs which traveled more than 500 feet. Walter Johnson said Gibson could, “hit the ball a mile.”  Satchel Paige simply called Gibson, “the greatest hitter who ever lived.”  “There were a hundred legends about him,” catching great Roy Campanella said. “Once you saw him play, you knew they were all true.”  Gibson once reportedly hit a ball over the fence in Pittsburgh which was not caught until the next day during his next game in Philadelphia.  He was called out in Pittsburgh for the previous day. Gibson, the subject of a recent column by Graham Womack, was born December 21, 1911 in Buena Vista, Georgia. In 1923, the Gibson family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his father found employment at the Carnagie-Illinois Steel Company. Josh Gibson was preparing to become an electrician at a Pittsburgh school. Instead, he found work as an e...