YouTube Gold: Josh Gibson

Perhaps the greatest hitter of all time, Gibson was never allowed to play in the Major Leagues.

Buck O’ Neil, who many people came to know through Ken Burns’ Baseball documentary, said that there was a noise he only heard from three hitters: Babe Ruth, Bo Jackson and Josh Gibson. He said the crack of their bats was like dynamite.

Born in Buena Vista in 1911, Gibson played professionally from 1930 to 1946 in the Negro Leagues and some internationally as well.

He was an extraordinary power hitter who was believed to have hit at least 800 home runs. At one point he hit a ball right out of Yankee Stadium.

Like many Negro League players, he was barred from MLB as it was segregated until 1947, so relatively few people understood his greatness.

According to this video, Gibson had trouble with substance abuse later in his career and also developed a brain tumor which was diagnosed in 1943. He refused surgery and continued to play until 1946. He died in January, 1947, about three months before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.

There’s an argument that Gibson was the greatest player of all time but sadly, it’s very difficult to answer since he was kept out of the majors and the Negro Leagues didn’t always get enough attention to document his spectacular talents.