Marion County GaArchives News.....Pittsburgh Honors Josh Gibson, Buena Vista citizen who was known as the "black Babe Ruth"  September 24 1996
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Carla Miles http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00010.html#0002476 December 15, 2004, 10:22 pm

A History of Marion County/Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
The following information was taken from the book entitled, A History of Marion 
County, Georgia, Motherland of Many by Rena S. Cobb
Reprinted with permission of Rena Cobb

Page 124

Pittsburgh Honors Josh Gibson

Columbus Ledger Enquirer, September 24, 1996
Associate Press –

Former Negro League Great Has a Historical Marker Josh Gibson Was Born Too Soon

The “black Babe Ruth” hit at least 800 home runs in his 17 years with 
Pittsburgh’s two Negro League teams, but he died just months before Jackie 
Robinson broke the color barrier to join the Brooklyn Dodgers.

“Without Josh there would have been no Jackie,” said Rob Ruck, author of 
several books about the Negro League.

Gibson, from Buena Vista, Georgia was honored Monday with a historical marker 
in the City’s Hill District.  Historians agree Gibson would be a household name 
if black men had been allowed to play in the major leagues during his career.

Nobody has hit longer home runs at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh or at Yankee 
Stadium, and one of his drives was estimated at 700 feet, 134 feet beyond 
Mickey Mantle’s longest.

The Rev. Harold Tinker, 91, played with Gibson, and remembered a game in 1930 
when they were behind 3-1 in the fifth inning against Port Vue, a team in 
southern Allegheny County.

Tinker, up first, hit a single.  The next batter walked.  When Gibson stepped 
up, Port Vue’s pitcher decided an intentional walk would keep the powerhouse 
from hitting a homer.

But on the second ball, Gibson called a time out, walked out to second base and 
informed Tinker he could hit those pitchouts.

A walk would load the bases.  But Tinker gave Gibson the go-ahead.

“This guy threw his third pitch way outside, and lo and behold, Josh reached 
out and swung, and he didn’t hit that ball over the right field fence,” Tinker 
said.  “He hit the ball halfway back to Pittsburgh over the center field 
fence.  I’ll never forget that day.”

The marker by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is on the 
sidewalk in front of Ammons Playground once Ammons Field, where Gibson helped 
organize the semipro Crawford Colored Giants in 1929.

A year later, he joined the Homestead Grays, the championship team in the Negro 
League.  He also played for a few years with the Pittsburgh Crawfords, where he 
caught pitches from Satchel Paige.

Josh Gibson, Jr., 66, remembers Paige and other Negro League legends visiting 
his grandmother’s home in the Hill District.  The younger Gibson lived with her 
after his mother died giving birth to him and his twin sister, Helen, in 1985.*

The elder Gibson, traveled year round, playing for Latin American teams in the 
winter.

*Transcriber note: The year 1985 is given as the date of birth of Josh Gibson, 
Jr. and his sister Helen and this must be incorrect.  The date of this article 
was September 1996, and Josh Gibson, Jr. was 66 years old at this time, so he 
and his twin would have been born about 1930.




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