Remembering the Negro Leagues

For those of you don't know already, Baseball Reference recently added the Negro League stats to their website.  There's a lot of data missing so it's not entirely complete, but it does give you an idea of some of the great Negro League players.

Pictured below are 2 cards featuring HOF Negro League players.  The Paige is for trade, the Gibson is not.

One of the most famous Negro League players was Josh Gibson (pictured on the card to the right).  Depending on your skin color, he was either the black Babe Ruth or Babe Ruth was the white Josh Gibson.  Gibson played 16 years in the Negro Leagues, was a 10x All-Star, and 2 time Negro League Champion.  He played for the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords.

Depending on which source you used, you see different stats, but in only 510 career games throughout 16 seasons, Gibson hit a remarkable 107-115 HR and drove in 432+ runs while batting at least .350 AS A CATCHER!!!!!

Here's his complete stats from Baseball - Reference  Keep in mind that these stats do not include his Mexican League stats where he played the entire season of 1940 and 1941.  Those were another 44 HR in only 116 games.

Could you imagine if he was able to play 145 games per season with an average of 500 AB per season over the course of a 16 season career at roughly the same pace.
His stats would look like this:
8000 AB (16 year career x 500 AB per season)
476 HR (1 HR per 17AB)
1,864 RBI (1 RBI per 4.29AB)
2,867 hits (1 hit per 2.79AB)

Pretty impressive numbers and certainly HOF worthy which is where he was inducted in 1972.  


Gibson died at a very young age (35) in 1947 after he refused medical treatment for brain tumors.  He suffered 4 years with recurring painful headaches before passing away in Pittsburgh just three months before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. 

He currently has a statue in Nationals Park along with Frank Howard and Walter Johnson.  He was ranked 18th all time in the Sporting News 100 greatest baseball players of all time back in 2000.  That was the highest ranking of a Negro League player.

The card pictured at the top of this page features a Griffith Stadium Seat from Washington DC where Gibson crushed balls out of the stadium while a member of the Grays.  He and Mickey Mantle are reportedly the only players to ever hit a HR over the left field bleacher seats.  Mantle did it once.  Gibson did it twice. 

Maz Monday: Celebrating the greatest defensive 2nd Baseman of all time

What a wild and crazy week I had.  It took the electric company 8 days to restore my power due to the massive flooding, broken poles, and uprooted trees from Hurricane Irene.  Fortunately, all I lost was power and there was very minimal flooding in the basement.  When the power came back on yesterday, it was the best birthday present I could have asked fore as it restored life as I knew it "back to normal".  The aftermath of Irene truly made me appreciate how much I take for granted everyday.  Without phone service, electricity, and having to take many detours on my road just to get into town to work I am truly more grateful for all that life has blessed me.  Thank you to those that sent messages and wished me well during the week.

I have received several trade packages as the post office began delivering mail again and will highlight those in future posts.

Today though I wanted to do something a little different and highlight the birthday of Bill Mazeroski.  Being a young dude, I didn't get a chance to see Maz play obviously.  However, I have seen numerous videos, interviews, and read many articles/books about Maz.

Last year I made the trek from NJ to Pittsburgh to celebrate my birthday and see Bill Mazeroski's statue unveiled on September 5th.  It was an awesome weeked overall, even though the Pirates lost to the Nationals for both games I was out there.  Here's some of the highlights

SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAZ! AND HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO YOUR STATUE

Now for the cards

Above is the relic cards I have of Maz that I previously had not posted.  I really like that Topps Stadium Series Seat card with the iconic image of Maz rounding 3rd after hitting the walk-off homerun in the 1960 World Series.  And because this card is so damn awesome I have reposted the Three Rivers Stadium Seat with Maz, Parker, and Madlock.  I have added a Bill Mazeroski folder to my Picasa photopage. 

On another note I went to my local card store yesterday and picked up a bunch of randomness along with supplies and some Jerome Bettis cards for the PC.  If anyone is interested in anything below, let me know.

NEED SOME HELP FINDING A CARD

So the Pirates lost last night and are now going to a rubber match with the San Fransisco Giants who are 8-1 in rubber matches this year.  Not sure if that statistic really means anything, but I have faith in Jeff Karstens pitching well enough to get the Buccos another win.  BTW, if anyone has or knows where I can find this 2009 SP Authentic Signatures card of Jeff Karstens I would really appreciate it.  I've only seen it pop up once on eBay and sadly I didn't win it.  I need it badly for my PC.

On another note, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite multiplayer cards I have in my Pirates Relic collection.

2004 Topps Best Seat in the House 

Dave Parker, Bill Madlock, Bill Mazeroski 

Three Rivers Stadium Seat Relic

This card is just flat out awesome!  It features the Cobra, Mad Dog, and Maz along with a piece of a Three Rivers Stadium seat.  The thing that I really like most about this card is that it features Dave Parker and Bill Madlock wearing the alternate yellow jersey which looks great with the yellow seat relic.  Perfectly placed in the middle is the man responsible for the most famous HR in World Series history (even though it was done at Forbes Field and not Three Rivers).  This card is permanately in my Pirates PC and was won on eBay last month for about $12 shipped.