Josh Gibson, Homestead Grays
Image Source: Unknown, but believed to be in the public domain.
Image Subject: Portrait of Josh Gibson, age 18, during his rookie season in 1930.
Folklore: Josh Gibson is often referred to as the black Babe Ruth, but some believe it might be just as accurate to call Babe Ruth the white Josh Gibson. He was known as a power hitter, and perhaps the best power hitting catcher ever.
“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 easy he might as well be in a rocking chair. Throws like a rifle. Too bad this Gibson is a colored fellow.” — Walter Johnson
Since the Negro League often had gaps in official records, much of Gibson’s story falls into the category of legend and folklore. One example of this folklore, as told by author Robert Peterson, recounts how Josh Gibson debuted as catcher for the Homestead Grays.
“On July 25, 1930, the 1929 Negro League Champion Kansas City Monarchs came to Pittsburgh to play an exhibition. Monarchs’ owner J.L. Wilkinson had developed a portable lighting system that the team towed around the country so that they could play at night and maximize the local attendance, but the lights were far dimmer than those used in the modern day. According to legend, Joe Williams was catching for the Grays that night and lost the ball in the low visibility, breaking a finger in the process. Vic Harris was in the outfield that evening, the story goes, so Grays owner Cum Posey called Josh out of the stands and asked him if he would like to catch the rest of the game.”
It is, perhaps, an apocryphal story, myth mixed with memory and laced together with a few facts, but there is no other more definitive account of how Gibson became a member of the Homestead Grays. But my favorite Josh Gibson story can’t possibly be true, but that doesn’t make me love it any less. According to Baseball-Reference.com
“In the last of the ninth at Pittsburgh, down a run, with a runner on base and two outs, Gibson hits one high and deep, so far into the twilight sky that it disappears from sight, apparently winning the game. The next day, the same two teams are playing again, now in Washington. Just as the teams have positioned themselves on the field, a ball comes falling out of the sky and a Washington outfielder grabs it. The umpire yells to Gibson, ‘You're out! In Pittsburgh, yesterday!’”
Painting Detail: Printed on 8.5” x 11” canvas and painted using Schmincke Mussini and Marshall’s oil paints. Finer details were made using Prismacolor pencils.
Acknowledgements: Robert Peterson, Only the Ball Was White and Baseball-Reference.com