Josh Gibson

⭐ Hall of Fame 1972

Born: 12/21/1911 in Buena Vista, GA, USA

Died: 1/20/1947 in Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'1" | Weight: 220 lbs

Full name: Joshua Gibson

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Biography

Josh Gibson, born in 1911, was a legendary position player who played in the Negro Leagues until his retirement in 1946. Widely regarded as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, Gibson's impact on the game extended far beyond the statistics, as he was a pioneer during a time when African American players were excluded from Major League Baseball due to segregation. His prowess in the batter's box and remarkable power earned him the nickname "the Black Babe Ruth," as he was known for hitting long home runs and consistently driving in runs. Despite the lack of official statistics from his playing career, Gibson's legacy was solidified with his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972, recognizing his extraordinary talent and contributions to the sport. His playing style exemplified raw power and an aggressive approach at the plate, characteristics that would influence future generations of players. Gibson's story is emblematic of the struggles and triumphs of African American athletes in the early to mid-20th century, making him a significant figure in baseball history and an enduring symbol of talent and perseverance in the face of adversity.

Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2397.0	2031.0	612.0	855.0	120.0	61.0	198.0	538.0	359.0	30.0	28.0	0.421	0.507	0.833	1.340

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Season	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1930	67.0	58.0	14.0	22.0	2.0	2.0	6.0	5.0	8.0	5.0	0	0.379	0.455	0.793	1.248
1931	6.0	6.0	3.0	4.0	0	0	2.0	0	0	0	0	0.667	0.667	1.667	2.334
1932	36.0	33.0	11.0	11.0	0	1.0	0	1.0	3.0	0	0	0.333	0.389	0.394	0.783
1933	12.0	12.0	5.0	9.0	0	1.0	1.0	0	0	0	0	0.750	0.750	1.167	1.917
1934	20.0	19.0	1.0	5.0	0	0	1.0	2.0	0	0	0	0.263	0.263	0.421	0.684
1935	76.0	72.0	15.0	29.0	2.0	4.0	1.0	4.0	3.0	1.0	0	0.403	0.427	0.583	1.010
1936	241.0	208.0	62.0	85.0	10.0	4.0	22.0	46.0	33.0	0	8.0	0.409	0.490	0.812	1.302
1937	200.0	167.0	65.0	74.0	12.0	8.0	21.0	36.0	33.0	0	2.0	0.443	0.535	0.988	1.523
1938	252.0	212.0	69.0	94.0	16.0	4.0	32.0	45.0	40.0	0	4.0	0.443	0.532	1.009	1.541
1939	178.0	142.0	43.0	59.0	5.0	6.0	17.0	43.0	31.0	1.0	1.0	0.415	0.511	0.894	1.405
1940	9.0	6.0	2.0	1.0	0	0	1.0	2.0	3.0	0	0	0.167	0.444	0.667	1.111
1942	308.0	253.0	80.0	102.0	14.0	3.0	30.0	85.0	57.0	11.0	6.0	0.403	0.516	0.838	1.354
1943	353.0	287.0	105.0	141.0	29.0	9.0	25.0	123.0	65.0	2.0	4.0	0.491	0.583	0.916	1.499
1944	233.0	199.0	54.0	84.0	11.0	7.0	14.0	62.0	35.0	2.0	3.0	0.422	0.509	0.759	1.268
1945	207.0	175.0	41.0	66.0	8.0	8.0	10.0	31.0	31.0	7.0	0	0.377	0.469	0.686	1.155
1946	199.0	182.0	42.0	69.0	11.0	4.0	15.0	53.0	17.0	1.0	0	0.379	0.432	0.731	1.163

Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
766	2768	733	1007	170	72	197	872	44	400	20	0.364	0.446	0.691	1.136	28319.0

Career AVG .364 vs. league average .271 across their career seasons — +34.2% above league average.

Career OBP .446 vs. league average .337 across their career seasons — +32.4% above league average.

Career SLG .691 vs. league average .383 across their career seasons — +80.4% above league average.

Career OPS 1.136 vs. league average 0.720 across their career seasons — +57.9% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1930	MRS	NNL	1	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.500	—	—	—	—	0.0
1930	HG	IND	32	107	20	40	3	2	9	37	0	8	5	0.374	.293 (+27%)	.354 (+19%)	.429 (+61%)	.784 (+42%)	0.0
1931	HG	IND	48	183	39	57	14	4	8	42	0	13	3	0.311	.276 (+13%)	.338 (+7%)	.388 (+45%)	.726 (+27%)	782.8
1932	PC	IND	64	241	46	79	14	6	9	47	1	26	1	0.328	.275 (+19%)	.335 (+18%)	.391 (+40%)	.726 (+30%)	1273.0
1933	PC	NN2	69	243	61	96	15	7	18	75	4	19	0	0.395	.270 (+46%)	.329 (+34%)	.377 (+95%)	.707 (+67%)	2735.1
1934	PC	NN2	65	240	56	76	19	4	15	59	4	30	1	0.317	.278 (+14%)	.340 (+16%)	.392 (+57%)	.733 (+38%)	1607.0
1935	PC	NN2	44	168	48	62	11	4	10	57	10	24	2	0.369	.279 (+32%)	.342 (+31%)	.399 (+65%)	.742 (+49%)	1479.8
1936	PC	NN2	50	175	51	68	7	4	18	66	6	30	0	0.389	.283 (+37%)	.349 (+37%)	.404 (+94%)	.753 (+67%)	2168.6
1937	HG	NN2	39	156	60	65	13	7	20	73	2	25	0	0.417	.276 (+51%)	.342 (+46%)	.398 (+145%)	.740 (+99%)	2658.3
1938	HG	NN2	47	168	54	61	11	4	13	54	3	30	0	0.363	.272 (+33%)	.341 (+35%)	.392 (+80%)	.734 (+59%)	1803.8
1939	HG	NN2	28	104	35	42	5	3	11	40	3	15	0	0.404	.274 (+47%)	.342 (+38%)	.393 (+110%)	.735 (+77%)	1332.8
1940	HG	NN2	2	6	2	1	0	0	1	2	0	3	0	0.167	—	—	—	—	0.0
1942	HG	NN2	62	212	57	72	9	4	14	66	4	51	1	0.340	.253 (+34%)	.323 (+46%)	.349 (+77%)	.672 (+62%)	2435.5
1943	HG	NN2	70	249	93	116	23	9	20	112	4	55	1	0.466	.255 (+82%)	.324 (+74%)	.346 (+152%)	.671 (+114%)	5002.8
1944	HG	NN2	50	180	40	60	8	6	10	50	3	23	0	0.333	.261 (+27%)	.325 (+25%)	.357 (+71%)	.683 (+49%)	1435.7
1945	HG	NN2	47	161	37	56	6	5	8	40	0	33	4	0.348	.260 (+33%)	.328 (+40%)	.354 (+68%)	.683 (+54%)	1545.5
1946	HG	NN2	48	171	34	54	12	3	13	52	0	15	2	0.316	.256 (+23%)	.328 (+13%)	.358 (+81%)	.687 (+48%)	1259.7

Career Pitching Statistics

W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.7	4	4	0	1	0	21.60	0

Career ERA 21.60 vs. league average 4.35 across their career seasons — 397.0% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1935	PC	NN2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.7	4	4	1	0	21.60	—	0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
34	120	22	32	2	1	5	15	24	1	0.267

Playoff Batting by Year

Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1945	NWS	HG	4	14	0	2	1	0	0	1	2	0	0.143
1944	NWS	HG	5	15	3	6	0	0	1	2	7	0	0.400
1943	NWS	HG	7	26	8	5	1	0	0	2	6	0	0.192
1942	NWS	HG	4	13	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	1	0.077
1939	NLC	HG	5	15	3	6	0	0	2	3	5	0	0.400
1939	NLP2	HG	2	6	1	1	0	0	1	2	2	0	0.167
1935	NLC	PC	7	31	5	11	0	1	1	5	0	0	0.355

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	37	33	265	24	10	19
3B	14	8	6	14	3	1
C	637	607	3301	452	78	48
OF	97	86	118	12	7	2
P	1	0	0	0	0	0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1930	MRS	C	1	1	1	1	1	0
1930	HG	C	30	26	166	22	6	2
1930	HG	OF	1	0	2	0	0	0
1931	HG	C	38	38	211	31	3	6
1931	HG	OF	11	10	16	3	1	1
1932	PC	C	36	33	183	23	4	2
1932	PC	OF	34	30	37	4	3	0
1933	PC	1B	4	3	29	2	3	1
1933	PC	3B	4	2	1	2	0	0
1933	PC	C	49	46	279	36	5	9
1933	PC	OF	12	12	15	3	0	1
1934	PC	1B	6	5	45	4	0	3
1934	PC	3B	3	2	2	3	0	0
1934	PC	C	56	54	348	46	10	5
1934	PC	OF	4	4	4	0	0	0
1935	PC	1B	8	7	67	6	3	6
1935	PC	3B	1	0	2	1	0	1
1935	PC	C	34	32	200	31	2	2
1935	PC	OF	3	3	4	0	0	0
1935	PC	P	1	0	0	0	0	0
1936	PC	1B	6	6	36	3	2	5
1936	PC	3B	1	0	0	2	0	0
1936	PC	C	40	38	196	30	10	2
1936	PC	OF	4	4	5	0	1	0
1937	HG	1B	1	1	10	1	0	0
1937	HG	3B	1	0	0	1	1	0
1937	HG	C	36	36	205	23	4	5
1937	HG	OF	1	1	2	0	1	0
1938	HG	1B	2	2	17	2	0	0
1938	HG	3B	3	3	0	3	1	0
1938	HG	C	44	41	215	29	2	2
1938	HG	OF	1	1	1	0	0	0
1939	HG	1B	1	1	7	1	0	1
1939	HG	C	28	27	126	23	1	1
1940	HG	1B	1	1	6	0	1	0
1940	HG	C	1	1	4	1	1	0
1942	HG	1B	2	2	11	1	0	1
1942	HG	C	54	53	272	28	5	2
1942	HG	OF	6	6	10	0	0	0
1943	HG	C	62	58	283	30	5	1
1943	HG	OF	12	10	17	2	1	0
1944	HG	1B	2	1	8	0	0	0
1944	HG	C	43	41	188	29	7	3
1944	HG	OF	6	4	4	0	0	0
1945	HG	1B	2	2	13	4	1	1
1945	HG	C	42	41	221	34	5	2
1945	HG	OF	2	1	1	0	0	0
1946	HG	1B	2	2	16	0	0	1
1946	HG	3B	1	1	1	2	1	0
1946	HG	C	43	41	203	35	7	4