Black History Month- Josh Gibson: Arguably the greatest home run hitter of all time. Josh Gibson was one of the most famous baseball players in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s, ... as it is known as the longest home run in Yankee Stadium history. Known as "the black Babe Ruth" in the sports pages, Gibson was the Negro Leagues' greatest home run hitter. Both were Gibson’s teammates and later inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. The ball struck the facade on the right-field roof approximately 370 feet from home plate and 115 feet above field level. Bo to us. • Gibson played baseball in the United States, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Mexico, with a lifetime batting average of .354–.384, depending on which statistics are counted. "In each one of these parks, the person that they asked that question, they always said Josh Gibson." Josh Gibson was one of the most famous baseball players in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s, even though he never played in the Major Leagues because owners would not sign black players. ( Log Out /  The home run was measured at a distance of 582 feet (177 m) and was hit inside Denver's Mile High Stadium. A study of the facts would indicate that perhaps he did not. Home plate at Page Park was close to the river and faced toward the mill. ( Log Out /  A natural hitter, he blasted long home runs and maintained a high batting average. Josh Gibson … The home run allegedly traveled over 500 feet and was the longest ball ever hit at Yankee Stadium. The ball struck it high on the side, at least 30 feet from the ground. In 2 years , 1934 he hit 69 homers, and in 1933 he hit 55 homers. On Sept. 27, 1930, the 18-year-old Gibson playing for the Homestead Grays allegedly hit a ball out of Yankee Stadium. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. But it also seems likely that Gibson's 1930 home run (and perhaps the 1934 homer) ranks as one of the longest ever hit at Yankee Stadium, along with a famous homer by Mickey Mantle in 1963 that came within a few inches of leaving the stadium well beyond right field (see Mantle’s 734 feet Homer). The Guinness Book of World Records lists Gibson's lifetime home run total at 800. The hitter was Josh Gibson, a legendary slugger of the 1930s and 1940s known as “the Black Babe Ruth.” With Major League Baseball played by whites only, Gibson starred in the Negro leagues and on barnstorming tours. Many say the longest home run hit against Kansas City came off the bat of Royal killer Jim Thome in July of 1999. BELMAR - From home plate at Memorial Field you can see the American flag fluttering in the distance, beyond the center field fence and across Main … That will not happen, for ample reason. His Pittsburgh Crawfords team paid multiple visits to Memorial Field, which was part-time home to the rival New York Cubans and full-time home to the semipro Belmar Braves. Longest home run ever? Based upon that belief, this drive has commonly been estimated at … In the opening doubleheader, Josh hit one over the centerfield wall at Forbes Field, home of the Pirates. There, Gibson's legend only grew. Then about 12 years old, he believed it was a game against the House of David, a Michigan team that he said played the Grays once a year in Monessen. In seeing where the ball first landed, that distance was also measured at 649 feet. Lights were installed, although they had to be kept off during World War II per orders of the U.S. Navy. That building was at least 550 feet from home plate, he said. ESPN’s Home Run Tracker seems to have taken these into account when reporting their home runs. Josh Gibson has historically been credited as being the only player to hit a home run out of Yankee stadium, but there is controversy on the issue. I wanted to know if Bradsby & Hillerich’s records show what size bats they had made for Gibson. It was during a Negro League game, though, so if you go to Google you’ll learn that baseball’s longest home run is Babe Ruth’s 575-foot shot in Detroit in 1921. In 1935 the New York Cubans, a Negro National League team led by player-coach Martin Dihigo, used the field for its Saturday home games. The fence at dead center field is 450 feet from home plate. Unofficially, he may have homered close to 900 times in various settings. I always joke with my buddy Brent Stevens, who’s Babe Ruth’s great-grandson. Conversation with Sean Gibson. Months later, he found two 1975 letters in the company’s files, from Cool Papa Bell and Buck Leonard. Almost everyone in attendance believed that the ball was still rising when it was interrupted in midflight by the roof structure. This gentleman said to me, 'I'm going to find the oldest person in this park and ask him who hit the longest home run,'" Teasley says. And according to their new system, the longest home run in recent years has been from Adam Dunn. Wiki User Answered 2012-05-31 03:51:52. about around 600 feet. I hope things change so my grandson won’t have to … I believe it's the first ball … Trilli confirmed what other Monessen old-timers had told me years ago. Bell’s letter says that he used a bat that was 35 inches long and weighed between 38 and 39 ounces. At some point the anecdotal evidence simply becomes overwhelming, even if we know some of the anecdotes are less than 100 percent "true." Josh Gibson photo is from a 1940s studio series showing his home run swing. What we do know is that Memorial Field turns 100 this season, the great Josh Gibson did something remarkable there, and most people have no clue about this place’s glorious past. End of an era: Belmar set to take over emergency medical services as first aid squad nears end. One of Elijah “Lucky” Miller’s favorite stories was seeing Josh Gibson hit a monster home run out of Page Park in Monessen, Pa. Before I met him, when he was “only” 98, he told the story to Peter and Per Argentine in a video interview: He said then that the Homestead Grays catcher hit the ball over a steel mill and into the Monongahela River, a nice precursor to modern-day shots out of PNC Park into the Allegheny River. Negro league slugger Josh Gibson's Baseball Hall of Fame plaque says he hit "almost 800" home runs in his career. I tell him, ‘It was supposed to be the House that Ruth built, but Josh Gibson hit the furthest home run … This during the depths of the Great Depression. It’s another 150 feet to the front steps of the post office, which opened in 1936 — Gibson’s final season with the Pittsburgh Crawfords. The longest home run ever recorded is a subject of longstanding debate among baseball aficionados. I always joke with my buddy Brent Stevens, who’s Babe Ruth’s great-grandson. His Grays teams won nine consecutive league titles at one point, and he played on too many all-star teams to count. The four-time Negro League batting champion, Gibson is credited with a .345 career average on Baseball Reference. Gibson was discovered while playing in an Industrial League All Star game in 1928. He said Gibson’s screamer easily cleared a garage in deep left field that was marked 465 feet, sailed over a driveway and struck the side of a building in the American Chain and Cable plant, Page Division. Most notably, arguably the greatest home run hitter of all time: Josh Gibson. "It was 402 feet," Teasley remembers. His 504 ft blast on September 27th, 2008 (before he … Ruth’s 575-foot blast against the Detroit Tigers in … For a total of 126 home runs! Hall of Fame catcher Josh Gibson is one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. He began as a pro at 18 with the Homestead Grays in 1930, and he also starred for the Pittsburgh Crawfords as Paige's battery mate in the mid-and-late-1930s when that team might have been the best team anywhere to have played the game . Next to Satchel Paige , the barrel-chested catcher was the biggest attraction in black baseball. “I don’t think anybody has ever hit a ball that hard,” Trilli said. His Grays teams won nine consecutive league titles at one point, and he played on too many all-star teams to count. A surviving ledger of the 1934 season shows the Pittsburgh Crawfords as the biggest draw, with revenue from ticket sales exceeding $1,000. It is not exactly known how many home runs Gibson hit. Dihigo, nicknamed “The Immortal,” played every position and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977. It was 1930, Josh was 18, and it was the playoff for the Eastern title between Gibson's Homestead Grays and the NY Lincoln Giants. In 1987, Joey Meyer of the Denver Zephyrs hit the longest verifiable home run in professional baseball history. His hitting prowess is legendary, with stories of 700-foot home runs and eighty home run seasons. For his “official” career, Josh Gibson hit 107 home runs and batted .350. How popular were these affairs? That’s where Josh Gibson comes into play. In Mexico we asked for “Sluggers” and the longest home run I ever hit was in Yankee stadium in 1948 using a slugger.” Then he adds: “The longest homer hit by Josh Gibson was in Monessen, PA. while using your company’s bat.” Leonard was a very religious man, just like Lucky. His plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame notes his great Negro Leagues accomplishments by saying he hit “almost 800 home runs.’’. Longest home run ever? Josh Gibson is said to have hit a home run … What was josh Gibson longest home run? Gibson slugged long home runs -- 69 in 1934 -- and recorded astoundingly high batting averages. Let’s consider for a moment that Gibson often played after enduring overnight bus rides that covered as much as 800 miles (Josh’s own words in a 1942 newspaper story) and staying in dumpy hotels. Beyond the outfield there are monuments to soldiers from five wars and another to Belmar firefighters. Josh Gibson was known as "the Babe Ruth of the Negro Leagues." Some in the media, and historians since, have occasionally tried to portray Gibson as a martyr of segregated baseball, a big … The only way Gibson’s hit could have ended up in the river is if it was a foul tip. Other legendary home run hitters include Ted Williams, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Mickey Mantle (who hit what is considered the longest home run ever at an estimated distance of 643 feet on September 10, 1960), Reggie Jackson, Josh Gibson, Ernie Banks, Eddie Mathews and all the members of Major League Baseball's 500 home run club. Grass is poking through the basepaths. You hear about the home run in Yankee stadium -- 580 feet – the longest home run ever in Yankee Stadium. The Belmar Braves called Memorial Field home in the 1920s and '30s. SHEA STADIUM In a 1973 interview with the Coast Advertiser, former Braves catcher Dave Egbert recounted Gibson’s moon shot. As the years rolled by, Memorial Field hosted all manner of ballgames — Little League, American Legion, high school, over-40. BELMAR - From home plate at Memorial Field you can see the American flag fluttering in the distance, beyond the center field fence and across Main Street. It was “the longest home run ever hit in the House that Ruth Built,” biographer John Holway writes. It’s a long, long way from the batter’s box. Gibson’s impressive bat put him on nine East-West All-Star squads and ranked him second only to Satchel Paige as the best-known Negro League player. If Josh Gibson is the home run king, recognize it." They said it was the longest home run they'd ever seen. That will not happen, for ample reason. “In 1921 the town paid $20,000 for the block, to keep it as an athletic field — as a tribute to those who fought in World War I.”. Kids’ Roberto Clemente Louisville Slugger from eBay. This is an exhibition, as (was) Josh Gibson, not a real major league game. Considered one of the greatest home run hitters, most feared sluggers of any era, and called by many "the Black Babe Ruth", Josh Gibson left an undeniable legacy of greatness and accomplishment. Home Science Math History Literature Technology Health Law Business All Topics Random Unanswered Leaderboard Related Topics Autographs Sports Trading Cards Baseball History Baseball At some point the anecdotal evidence simply becomes overwhelming, even if we know some of the anecdotes are less than 100 percent "true." It’s one of the few slips I’ve found in Lucky’s incredible memory. “I’d like to see a plaque or something here,” Heulitt said. Teasley finally made it to the Negro National League in 1948 when he signed with the New York Cubans. His longest home run of 2019, a walk-off blast that "only" went 442 feet, doesn't show up on the Statcast leaderboards. We’ll never know for sure. Belting home runs of more than 500-feet was not unusual for Gibson. “People don’t know what happened on this field. "At that time, a 400-foot home run was a big deal because the baseball was not as live as they are now." JOSH GIBSON'S FAMOUS YANKEE STADIUM HOME RUN. SEAN GIBSON: You hear about Josh Gibson’s home run greatness all the time. "They would talk about the home run he hit at Griffith Stadium (in Washington) -- right center. Why would he lie about that homer in Monessen, the longest one he had every seen his friend hit? Gibson is almost a mythical figure, sometimes dubbed “the Black Babe Ruth”. “They were playing baseball here in the early 1900s,” Heulitt said. Most of all, there should be some kind of historical marker. “To find out the players who played here, I have so much more reverence for this field now.”. JOSH GIBSON:Longest home run ever? ( Log Out /  Josh Gibson and the incredible history of Belmar Memorial Field The hard-throwing Panzini, pitching as he has all … 1930s crowd photo at Greenlee Field in Pittsburgh’s Hill District by Charles “Teenie” Harris. A study of the facts would indicate that perhaps he did not. If Josh Gibson is the home run king, recognize it." Gibson got his revenge the next night in Hamilton, Ontario, hitting a home run over the center field fence. It is said to be 800-1,000. The place always felt special for him, even though he didn’t learn its history until much later. To honor that legacy of achievement, the surviving family members established a private, non-profit foundation in 1994. On June 3, 1937, Josh Gibson, the Negro League great from the Homestead Grays, also hit a home run near the top of the facade that The Sporting News reported went 580 feet. In 2007, I was talking via email with Dan Cohen, then curator of the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory in Kentucky. Other Negro League superstars who wound up with busts in Cooperstown — Satchel Paige, James “Cool Papa” Bell and Judy Johnson — also strode the diamond in Belmar. It’s not a political statement, and there is no detailed analytical statistical proof that Gibson holds one of our most-cherished sports records. Leonard was a very religious man, just like Lucky. By Jason Lewis (Sentinel Sports Editor, [email protected]) Published February 21, 2013. Facing Seattle’s Mike Moore in a … In 1987, Joey Meyer of the Denver Zephyrs hit the longest verifiable home run in professional baseball history. I used the story in a newspaper article in 2009 and received a call from Art Trilli of North Belle Vernon, now 94, who said he was there that summer day in the early 1930s. A boy picked up the ball some 715 feet away from home plate. Belmar’s First Aid Squad built bleachers as crowds numbered in the thousands. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Negro League statistics of the 1930s and '40s have been described in the kindest terms as sketchy. Gibson slugged one over the third deck next to the left field bullpen in 1934 for the only fair ball hit out of Yankee Stadium. The longest measured home run in MLB measured where it first hit the ground was by Babe Ruth on July 18, 1921, at 575 feet. Josh Gibson has historically been credited as being the only player to hit a home run out of Yankee stadium, but there is controversy on the issue. The twins, named Helen and Josh Jr., survived, but Josh could not stay with them for long. Related Storyboards. A boy picked up the ball some 715 feet away from home plate. That will not happen, for ample reason. His production was so prodigious that his Hall of Fame plaque reads he had almost 800 home runs. Born Dec. 21, 1911, in Buena Vista, GA, Gibson and his family moved to Pittsburgh at age 10. Many think the longest home run in Stadium history came off the bat of one Vincent Edward Jackson. One homer in Monessen, Pa., reportedly … For his “official” career, Josh Gibson hit 107 home runs and batted .350. In 1930, Josh Gibson hit one of the longest home runs in the history of baseball. SHEA STADIUM ( Log Out /  I've been asked about Josh Gibson's famous Yankee stadium home run. Why would he lie about that homer in Monessen, the longest one he had every seen his … 0 0 1. It would have meant so much more if I had known that when I was participating in games here.”. In his letter, Leonard says: “Grays always bought Louisville Sluggers. The longest actual homerun ever hit was by Josh Gibson. The following morning a letter to the editor appeared in the Baltimore Sun from a writer that stated simply: "Josh Gibson of the Negro Baseball Leagues hit 84 home runs in one season. Ruth’s 575-foot blast against the Detroit Tigers in 1921 often comes up. There, Gibson's legend only grew. Barry Bonds referred to "Josh Gibson's 800 home runs" in his post-game press conference after hitting his 756th MLB home run. Imagine how much farther it might have traveled! Change ), About the authors and illustrator of “Lucky Bats”, Lucky & Me Blog: The story behind the book. If Josh Gibson is the home run king, recognize it." I spoke with Trilli again today (April 21) and got more details. Gibson was a stout man who packed 215 pounds of muscle on a 6'1" frame. He unquestionably demonstrated extraordinary power with his bat and is variously credited with 800 to 962 home runs inclusive of exhibition games against … Gibson continued traveling with the team and played through his grief. I've been asked about Josh Gibson's famous Yankee stadium home run. On June 3, 1937, Josh Gibson, the Negro League great from the Homestead Grays, also hit a home run near the top of the facade that The Sporting News reported went 580 feet. Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Considering Gibson played the majority of his career in Forbes Field with a center field measured at 457-feet and Griffith Stadium, whose center rests at the 421-foot mark, his home run totals could have been higher had he played in some of the less challenging stadiums of the league. There have been claims of 600-footers, substantiated to varying degrees. Unofficially, he may have homered close to 900 times in various settings. Quickly after the announcement, there was some level of discussion on the possibility of the late, great Josh Gibson becoming baseball's new, officially recognized home run king. t was the waning days of the 1998 baseball season and Mark McGwire had just hit his 64th home run to pull ahead of Sammy Sosa. The longest home run ever recorded is a subject of longstanding debate among baseball aficionados. Me that Gibson had three bats numbered 7, 8 and 9 toward the mill was still when... 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