January 20, 1947: Josh Gibson dies of a brain tumor in Pittsburgh. The Negro Leagues' most renowned slugger was only 35 years old. Jackie Robinson desegregated the major leagues 3 months later.
Born on December 21, 1911 in Buena Vista, Georgia, Gibson was a catcher, playing most of his career with the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932-36) and the Homestead Grays (1930-31, 1937-39, 1942-46), who divided their games between Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.
He made 12 Negro League All-Star Games. He won 3 Negro National League batting titles, and 2 Triple Crowns. He led the Grays to the Negro World Series title in 1943 and 1944. He is said to have hit as many as 84 home runs in a season, and over 800 in his career. However, that was due to teams playing many non-league exhibition games on "barnstorming tours," because it was the only way to make as much money as in "the white major leagues."
And how much of that was against major-league quality pitching? There is no way to know, any more than we can know how the white stars of the time would have done against the era's top black pitchers. While there are several surviving photographs of him playing, there is no known surviving film, so we can't analyze his swing or see where he hit the ball. We can't "break down his mechanics" or make a "spray chart" for him. For the most part, we can only guess.
The legend that he hit a fair ball completely out of the original Yankee Stadium is just that: A legend. Someone once tried to prove it true by looking at the sources most likely to say that it happened at the time, if it did: The nation's black newspapers, such as New York's Amsterdam News and Gibson's hometown Pittsburgh Courier. He found records of plenty of games that Gibson played at Yankee Stadium, and a few home runs, some of them apparently very long. Not one of those newspapers that would have been most favorable to him said at the time that he hit one all the way out of Yankee Stadium. So this is one legend that can be put to rest.
Another legend is that Gibson and the Crawfords played the Philadelphia Stars in Pittsburgh, and he hit a ball so far, nobody ever saw where it landed. After the game, the teams then got on their respective buses, and went across Pennsylvania to play in Philadelphia the next day. And as they're getting ready to play, a ball comes out of nowhere, and one of the Stars' players catches it. The same umpire was on hand, saw this, pointed to Gibson, and said, "You're out, yesterday in Pittsburgh!"
In early 1943, Gibson was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He refused the option of surgical removal, and lived the next 4 years with recurring headaches. In 1944, Gibson was hospitalized in Washington, D.C. at Gallinger Hospital, for mental observation. He continued to play through the 1946 season, despite the pain, and the self-medication that led to him becoming addicted to prescription drugs. On January 20, 1947, Gibson died of a stroke, caused by the tumor, in Pittsburgh.
If Gibson had not gotten sick, could he have played in the majors? He always had the talent. But if Satchel Paige could get in the next year at age 42, surely, the man known as "The Black Babe Ruth" – leading some black fans to call Ruth "The White Josh Gibson" – could have made it at 35.
If black players had always been allowed, would Gibson have broken Ruth's records? Unlikely. In every game, he would have been facing major league quality pitchers and major league quality umpires, who would have been unwilling to give him a break. He might have hit 500 home runs. He would not have hit 715 to exceed Ruth, or 756 to exceed Hank Aaron, or 763 to exceed Barry Bonds.
Because the Grays split their games between the Steel City and the nation's capital, both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Nationals have elected him to their team halls of fame, and both have dedicated statues of him outside their ballparks.
In addition to Gibson, the Pittsburgh Pirates have honored Grays players center fielder Oscar Charleston, 1st baseman Walter "Buck" Leonard and pitcher Ray Brown.
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January 20, 1947 was a Monday. Baseball and football were out of season. And there were no games scheduled in the NBA for that day. There were 2 games played in the Basketball Association of America, in its 1st season. In 1949, after its 3rd, it would take on some teams from the National Basketball League, and become the National Basketball Association.
The Chicago Stags beat the Boston Celtics, 81-54 at the Boston Garden. And the Pittsburgh Ironmen beat the Detroit Falcons, 62-57 at the Duquesne Gardens in Pittsburgh.
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