Josh Gibson and Yankee Stadium

By David Marasco

A popular legend has Josh Gibson hitting a home run out of Yankee Stadium. The Negro Leagues have always been filled with larger-than-life stories. Did this home run ever happen? I've searched through the Pittsburgh Courier, Chicago Defender and Baltimore Afro-American newspapers over Josh Gibson's 17 year career to find the answer. While I could not find Josh's home run, I found many great moments none the less.

When the Baltimore Black Sox visited the Lincoln Giants in Yankee Stadium on July 5th, 1930, it was the first time that Negro League teams had ever played in Yankee Stadium. Yankee owner Col. Jacob Ruppert had agreed to allow the ballyard to be used for a double-header to benefit the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. 18,000 fans paid to see the Sox and the Giants split. The legend of Josh's home run may go back all the way to this original series. Even though Josh was still playing for the semi-pro Crawford Colored Giants of Pittsburgh, the Sox and the Giants had still brought some clout. In the first inning of the first game Rap Dixon went deep for Sox, and would do so again in the first and third innings of the second game. Chino Smith of the Giants sent out two of his own in the first game. Longball hitting and the Negro Leagues have Yankee Stadium tradition going back to the very beginning.

Negro League legend has it that Josh Gibson got his first start when the starting catcher of the Homestead Grays split a finger in a night game. While Major League Baseball would not see the light until 1935, the Kansas City Monarchs began experimenting with a travelling lighting system in 1929. With this information, a box score in the August 2nd, 1930 edition of the Pittsburgh Courier takes on special significance. While the report that goes with it only talks of the novel night game between the Grays and the Monarchs, close inspection shows that Buck Ewing started the game at catcher, but had no put-outs. This suggests an early exit. He was replaced by a 19-year-old Josh Gibson. Given the typical time delay in printing game reports, it is most likely that Gibson first crouched behind the plate for the Homestead Grays on July 25, 1930.

At the end of the year, the class of baseball behind the Color Barrier was Homestead and Lincoln. They agreed to meet in a ten game series to decide the world title. It was during this series that Josh first visited Yankee Stadium. Already he was making waves, having hit one of the longest homers in Forbes Field history. The first two games of the series were played in Pittsburgh, and Josh showed his power with a triple and a homer. The games then shifted to New York. Josh did reasonably well in a Sunday double-header, going 1-4 and 1-3 in a Homestead sweep. With the series at 3-1 for the Grays, the two teams travelled to Philadelphia to split a pair, though reports of these matches are murky. The series then returned to Yankee Stadium for the final four games. In a double-header on Saturday, Josh blasted his first Yankee Stadium home run. It was a three run blast to left field that the Pittsburgh Courier claimed to have travelled 430 feet. The Chicago Defender went a little bit farther and labelled it a 460-foot blast, "...the longest home run that has ever been hit at the Yankee Stadium by any player." Once again, details become sketchy, but it would appear that his only other extra-base hit of the series was two-run double in the final contest to put the game out of reach. The Grays took the series 6 games to 4.

Between the years 1931 and 1933, Josh Gibson rose in status to the legend that he is today. He was lured away from the Homestead Grays to the cross-town Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1932. The Crawfords were a team on the rise. They had some of the very best talent in baseball, black or white. Gibson with fellow Hall-of-Famers Satchel Paige, "Cool Papa" Bell, Judy Johnson and Oscar Charleston formed the core of one of the most powerful teams in history. However, Yankee Stadium would not see this team until 1934.

Yankee Stadium did not belong to Gibson in 1934, but it instead belonged to Satchel Paige and Slim Jones. The House the Ruth Built saw Negro League baseball twice in 1934, but this time it had a special twist. These were the first of the famous four-team double-headers. The powers that be in the Negro National League arranged for four popular clubs to meet at Yankee Stadium September 9th. In the first game, the Chicago American Giants slipped by the New York Black Yankees by a score of 4-3. Ted Trent, having one of his best years for the Chicago club, out duelled the Yankee's Bill Holland. However, it was the second game that sent the 27,000 fans home talking. Satchel Paige and the Pittsburgh Crawfords faced Slim Jones and the Philadelphia Stars. Satchel started slowly and after one inning was down by a score of 1-0. The 20-year-old Jones was on fire, at one point striking out "Cool Papa" Bell, Perkins, Oscar Charleston and Josh Gibson, the first four in the Crawford's order. Going into the 7th inning Jones had a no-hitter brewing. At that point Judy Johnson laced a single to right, and Pittsburgh was able to manufacture a run. With the score tied and darkness approaching, Satchel retired White for the first out in the bottom of the ninth. Jud Wilson then hit a single, only to end up on third when the Crawford's defense went haywire. Satchel then walked the powerful Biz Mackey and when Casey (not that Casey) was sent to bat in place of Dunn, he too received a walk. With bases loaded and one out, Satchel went to work. On three pitches Paige fanned McDonald. Three more retired Brooks. With darkness falling, the game was declared a 1-1 tie. Jones had given up three hits with nine strikeouts, while Satchel had allowed five with twelve K's. Josh Gibson, and most of his teammates, was held hitless by Jones this night, going 0-4.

The games were seen as being such a success that a second double-header was arranged for September 30th. The second game saw the Black Yankees beat the American Giants 3-2, but the crowd of 30,000 came to see the first encounter. The fans were promised a rematch of the September 9th showdown, and they were pleased to see Satchel Paige once again face Slim Jones. This time it was Jones who would stumble out of the gate, giving up two unearned runs in the first. Paige, on the other hand, was perfect through the first four, with strikeouts accounting for half of the outs. The game would eventually turn to the Crawfords with a 3-1 final. Josh was 1-4 in this game, held to a single.

The end-of-the season four-team double-headers took root in New York City. In the following year, 1935, another was played. On September 22nd, the New York Cubans squared off with the Nashville Elite Giants, followed by the Crawfords and the Philadelphia Stars. In the first game the Cubans came up just short, pushing across two runs in the bottom of the ninth to finish 4-3. The second game was a massacre. Pittsburgh was up 12-1 after 5, and yielded but one more run to the hapless Stars. Gibson's actions in this game are muddled by history. According to an eyewitness account in the Pittsburgh Courier, Gibson hit a ball that landed roughly 450 feet from the plate on the warning track, and then bounced over the wall and landed behind Ruthville. In those days in the Negro Leagues a ball that bounced over the fence was a home run instead of a ground-rule double. The Chicago Defender reported that the man ahead of Gibson in the batting order hit a home run, to be followed by Gibson with a triple. In any event, Josh added to his status as a Yankee Stadium clout hitter.

In 1936 Josh did not play in Yankee Stadium. However, by that time the politics that had closed the city of New York to the Crawfords had been resolved. A very early date that year saw the Pittsburgh team visit the New York Cuban's Dyckman Oval for a double-header. The Crawfords were able to pull a sweep based upon the prowess of Paige and Gibson. In the first game Satchel faced Chet Brewer, and beat him 8-4 with 12 strikeouts. Gibson contributed with a home run. In the second game Sam Streeter faced the Cuban's Johnny Taylor. Once again Pittsburgh pitching would have the help of Josh's bat, this time with two clouts. Eye-witnesses have one of the home runs towering over the centerfield fence, seemingly destined for an NYU building a quarter of a mile away. Obviously the ball did not make it that far. A double-header was played in Yankee Stadium that year, but it did not involve the Crawfords, so in some respects the denizens of New York were cheated. It is doubtful that many of the fans felt that way. While the first game was a sloppy 15 to 7 victory by Philadelphia over Newark, the second game was a gem. In a battle of New York teams, the Black Yankees edged out the Cubans by a score of 2-1.

The following year was one of turmoil for the Negro Leagues. The political situation in the Dominican Republic caused the local ruler to assemble a baseball team. He did this by raiding the best Negro teams in the country. Josh Gibson, now with the Homestead Grays, could not turn down the enormous amount of money that was offered to him. He spent a good portion of the Summer in the Caribbean, but was banned by the owners from playing in the annual East-West All-Star Game. Many of the other players who had left for the Dominican Republic found that they came back to very angry owners. Their response was to form a barnstorming team. As Josh had the grudging permission of his owner, he was able to return to the Grays rather than barnstorm.

For the third straight year, Josh Gibson did not play in Yankee Stadium. The double-headers moved back to Yankee Stadium for 1938, and the teams that were invited were the Philadelphia Stars, Baltimore Elites, Pittsburgh Crawfords and New York Black Yankees. The Stars defeated the Elites 8-7 and the Crawfords downed the Yankees 5-3. The Negro Leagues had planned for a second East-West game at Yankee Stadium that year, but rain forced scheduling changes and it was held at the Polo Grounds instead.

In the first 9 years of Josh's career, he had played in Yankee Stadium only 9 times. In 1939 things would change. That year the Yankees announced that they would allow five double-headers to be played in Yankee Stadium, and that they would award the Jacob Ruppert Memorial Cup to the winner of tournament.

The first of these double headers featured the New York teams playing East Coast powers. In early June the Baltimore Elite Giants faced the Cubans and the Philadelphia Stars took on the Black Yankees. In the first game the Elites came back from 3 runs down to beat the Cubans by a score of 7-3. Luis Tiant Sr. took the loss for the Cubans. In the second game the Black Yankees took the Stars 5-4, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 8th. The second double header took place in early July. This time the Newark Eagles bested the Philadelphia Stars by a score of 8-1, and the Baltimore Elite Giants shutout the Black Yankees 4-0.

Josh Gibson finally got to Yankee Stadium in the end of July for what would be the third double-header. However, his reputation had preceded him. While his line would read no hits in two at bats with one run scored, the true story goes a little deeper. The Philadelphia Stars had so much respect for Gibson that they intentionally walked Gibson on four pitches three times, once even when behind 8-2. The final score would read Grays 11, Stars 2. In the second game the Black Yankees beat their crosstown rivals the Cubans 4-0.

In mid-August the Negro Leagues once again descended upon Yankee Stadium. In the opener, the Cubans faced the Elite Giants. Tiant was lit up for 11 runs and the Cubans suffered an inglorious 11-1 defeat. In the second game The Grays faced the Black Yankees. The Grays pushed 11 runs across the plate, but Gibson could do no better than a single in his 5 at bats. Buck Leonard, the Gehrig to Gibson's Ruth, hit the only home run in Homestead's 11-5 victory.

Yankee Stadium took a break from the double-headers in order to host the second 1939 East-West game. In a 10-2 drubbing, the East crushed the West. Gibson's line reads one hit in three at bats. While it was only one hit, it was a big one. In the 8th the East was up by a score of 6-2. The bases were loaded as Josh strode to the plate, and they were empty when he cruised into third. He would then score the final run to put the game completely out of reach.

The first four double-headers had set the stage for the championship game. Baltimore with three wins would play Homestead with two. Lefty Gaines started for Baltimore, while Roy Partlow twirled for the Grays. Both pitchers shut down the opposition for the first six innings. In the bottom of the seventh, Moore roped a one-out double. The Gray's third-sacker then was slow on a bunt, allowing both the runner to move up and the batter to reach first. On the next play to third the fielder bobbled the ball and Moore scored. After a walk to the next batter, Roy Campenella came to the plate and brought in a second run with a single. Partlow then settled down, but it was too late. Although Gaines was dominant that day, he ran out of steam with two outs in the 8th. With a man on first he walked Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard, prompting the Giants to bring Willie Hubert in from the bullpen. Hubert was able to coax a popout out of Tom Parker to end the threat. The Giants would win by a score of 2-0 and claim the Ruppert Cup. Gibson would end the contest 0 for 2. To complete the double header, an amalgam of the two teams would play a minor league all-star team. In this second game the minor leaguers were able to tie the combined team by a score of 1-1 in seven innings. In this second game, Josh went 0-3.

In 1939 Josh had played a total of 5 games in Yankee Stadium, more than half the output of the first 9 years of his career. However, he was by no means stellar. He accounted for two hits in 15 at bats, with three runs scored and no home runs. That would be the last that Josh would see of Yankee Stadium for quite a while. In 1940 he once again jumped from the Negro Leagues, this time to Venezuela. That league collapsed mid-season, so Josh found his way to Veracruz of the Mexican League. Josh returned to Mexico the following year to win the homerun and RBI crowns. However, after two years south of the border, health and legal problems drew Gibson back to the States. By playing the 1941 season in Veracruz, Josh had breached a contract with the Grays. Management went to court and had a $10,000 lien placed upon Josh's house. In exchange for dropping the claim, the owners got Gibson's name on a two-year contract.

Nearly three years after his last appearance, Josh Gibson once again visited Yankee Stadium in 1942. World War II acted in two ways to make this possible much more often. With African-Americans dying on distant shores for freedom abroad, racism in this country was scrutinized even more than it was before. A more cynical reason is that with the best white talent in the military, the Yankees had to find alternative sources of income, and that the Negro Leagues provided much-needed cash. In any case, Josh made his first appearance in a double-header in late May. The Yankees and the Grays split, with the outstanding play of the day being "Chin" Green's catch of Gibson's drive to the flagpole in center, followed by a quick throw to the infield for a double play. Josh would combine for 1 for 6 on the day with no home runs.

In June the Grays would play the Philadelphia Stars in Yankee Stadium in the front half of a four team double-header. In this game Gibson hit a home run off of Barney Brown, but no details of this shot are given. The Grays would win 3-2, while in the second game the Elite Giants would bow to the Cuban Stars 3-2.

The Negro World Series would be played in Yankee Stadium in 1942, after an absence of many years. The Kansas City Monarchs would face the Homestead Grays. In front of many notables, including Mayor LaGuardia, the Monarch took apart the Grays. After taking the first two games in Washington DC and Pittsburgh, the Monarchs defeated the Grays 9-3 in Yankee Stadium. The Grays scored two quick runs off of Satchel Paige, but then the Monarchs exploded offensively to put the game out of reach. After a disputed fourth game, the Monarchs won the fifth game to "sweep" the series 4-0. Josh hit .200 with no home runs in the World Series, and even then was beginning to suffer frequent headaches. They were portents of the brain tumor that would eventually kill him.

During the off-season between 1942 and 1943 Josh Gibson gave an interview where he listed his greatest thrills in his baseball career. Interestingly, he listed his winning the MVP trophy in the 1941 Puerto Rican league as his greatest moment. It has been suggested that this is because the Negro Leagues never had any types of awards other than the East-West game, and that this was one of the few times that Josh was given official recognition. Also in the article, Josh discussed some of his long home runs. Yankee Stadium is not mentioned. It would be hard to imagine Josh Gibson surpassing Ruth and Gehrig by hitting a ball out, and yet not mentioning it amongst his other great home runs.

Josh would not play in Yankee Stadium in 1943, and in 1944 played but two dates. The first was in early May, one of the first games of the season. The Gray's opponents were the New York Black Yankees, a team descended from the old Lincoln Giants, who had hosted the Grays in Gibson's first visits. Terris McDuffie pitched for the Yankees, and gave up a homer to Buck Leonard and four singles to Josh. The Grays won by a score of 15 to 3. In the second game of the double-header, Dolly King came in for Gibson at catcher, and had three doubles. The Grays blanked the Yankees by the score of 6-0. After the Negro League World Series, the Birmingham Black Barons and Grays met for a double-header in Yankee Stadium. The first game featured a four-hitter by the Baron's Johnny Huber. One of the 4 hits was a three-run homer by Josh in the 6th, giving them the victory. They also took the second game by a score of 8-4, but Josh's contributions are unknown.

In 1945 the Grays played twice in Yankee Stadium, once in May and once in June. In the May game rain played a big part, but Josh was able to hit a 430-foot homer in the first inning. The Grays would get credit for a 4-1 win. The June encounter featured a split between the Black Yankees and the Grays. Here Josh also showed some clout; according to the Chicago Defender, "In the first game Josh Gibson of the Grays poled one of the longest homers ever hit in the Stadium, the ball travelling 430 feet into the center field bleachers."

Just before the 1946 season, Homestead owner Cum Posey died. Homestead's level of play dropped. That fact, combined with Jackie Robinson's arrival in Montreal, made the Grays a rarity in the sports pages. Gibson's last year is by far his least documented. The only Yankee Stadium game mention in the Baltimore Afro-American was a May matchup. Neither the Chicago Defender nor the Pittsburgh Courier has Josh in New York that year. It looks like Josh wanted to go out with a bang. "Josh Gibson clouted a 440-foot homer in the first game of the attraction... Gibson's blow, which scored Dan Wilson, was hailed as one of the longest ever hit in Yankee Stadium, the ball going into the far-away centerfield stands." The Afro-American goes on to state that three days earlier he had hit one to straight-away center in Forbes Field, a 457-foot blast.