Joshua "Josh" Gibson - Pittsburgh, Pa. - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

Joshua Gibson was born on December 21, 1911 in the small community of Buena Vista Georgia. As a youth Josh moved with his family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where his father, Mark Gibson took a job in the steel mills. At the age of 16, Josh work as an elevator operator at Gimbels Department Store. While working at Gimbels a young Josh got his first taste of baseball, playing third base on an amateur team sponsored by Gimbels. In 1928, Gus Greenlee recruited Josh to play for the semi-pro team named the Pittsburgh Crawfords. The Crawfords wouldn’t become a fully professional Negro League Team until the early 1930’s. While still working at Gimbels and playing baseball for the Crawfords, Josh was recruited by Cum Posey, the owner of the Negro League Homestead Grays. On July 31, 1930, 18-year old Josh Gibson made his debut with the Grays. Negro League teams played a combination of league games while “barnstorming” the country playing against semi-pro teams. Baseball historians claim that throughout his career, Josh Gibson was the “best power hitting catcher” any league (including the Major Leagues) have ever known. Because of the mixture of Negro League and semi-pro games his true stats will never be known, but the Baseball Hall of Fame claims that he his “almost 800” homeruns during his 17-year career. In 1943, Josh was diagnosed with a brain tumor and live the rest of his life with excruciating headaches. Four years later he suffered a stroke and died on January 20, 1947. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Pittsburgh’s Alleghany Cemetery. Thanks to efforts of fellow Hall of Famer Willie Stargell and others in the Pittsburg Community a small marker was place at his grave in 1975. It has often been said that “Josh Gibson is the greatest baseball player that most people have never heard of.” Josh Gibson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
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Description: Josh Gibson was born in Buena Vista, Georgia on December 21, 1911. As a child he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his family and as the age of 16, took a job working as an elevator operator at Gimbels Department Store. He play third base on the Gimbels Amateur Baseball Team and was almost immediately noticed by Gus Greenlee, who owned the Pittsburgh Crawfords semi-pro team. After playing a couple of years for the Crawfords, Josh signed to play for the Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues. For the next 17-season, Josh Gibson became one of the great power hitting catchers of all time. Many say he is one of the best players to ever play the game of baseball including the greats of the Major Leagues. During his 17-year Negro League career, he played a combination of League games while barnstorming and also playing against semi-pro teams. Because of this and the lack of accurate statistics it will never be known just how great a player Josh Gibson was. Late in life Josh suffered from a brain tumor and eventually suffered a stroke that took his life on January 20, 1947. He was buried in the Alleghany Cemetery where his grave remained unmarked until 1975. Josh Gibson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. Date of birth: 12/21/1911 Date of death: 01/20/1947 Area of notoriety: Sports Marker Type: Horizontal Marker Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Daily - 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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