#tbt: Paige(ing) Another Legend

Hopefully you will enjoy these Black History Month segments this month as there seemed to be some modest responses to the idea.

In addition to the Homestead Grays, the Pirates have paid tribute to another Negro League team throughout the years, the Pittsburgh Crawfords.

The Pirates have worn this uniform once each year since 2012.

It features a gray uniform with purplish pinstripes and red piping along the edges in addition to the numbering and lettering.

While I am not aware of any cards of Cutch being produced wearing this uniform, there have been a few relics produced where the uniform is clearly from an old Crawfords jersey.

This 2016 Gypsy Queen is my favorite as it has the purple like pin stripes and the red Majestic logo worn along the sleeve.  I will show more swatches of this jersey in future posts along with other Pittsburgh Crawfords legends.

One of the first stars that the Pittsburgh Crawfords saw rise to prominence was Hall of Fame pitcher, Satchel Paige.

I don't have nearly enough cards of the former Negro players.

Satchel had a rough childhood even landing himself in reform school before gaining the attention as a teenager and signing a contract to play for $250 a month.

Soon after that initial contract, Satchell began to sign on and play for anyone who would be willing to pay for his electric arm.

Satchel is still the oldest player to make his MLB debut at the age of 42 years old when he began his career with the Cleveland Indians in 1947.

There are many urban myths about Satchell including my personal favorite where he had his team sit down on the field with bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th and clinging to a one run game.  Naturally as the story goes, Paige struck the batter out.

He is to this day considered one of the greatest pitchers of all time.

He was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.

If you have 30 minutes to spare, I strongly suggest you listen to this video called Black Diamonds: The Satchell Paige Story.
The YouTube video is below.

It is essentially an interview with Satchell.  Truly worth the listen if you love baseball and the history of the game.  There is an interesting segment where Satchell talks about how Jackie Robinson wasn't even on the starting roster for the Kansas City Monarchs.  He would go on to say that any Negro League team could have beaten a team in the majors because those players in the Negro Leagues were tops in the country.

#tbt: Black History Month remembers Josh Gibson

With Tom Brady winning his 6th Super Bowl this past Sunday, he has been heralded the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time).  Few can really argue the point as he finds ways to win despite not being the most athletic of the quarterbacks in the league.

Other sports have players with 1 or 2 guys at the top of the list (Jordan vs LeBron debate anyone?).

Baseball is a sport though where so many players come to mind when discussing the greatest to ever play the game.  Sure there are cases to be made for guys like Ruth, Mays, Mantle, Bonds, Bench, Griffey Jr, Jeter, Aaron, among many others, but there is no definitive face that pops in one's mind for Greatness.

Topps recently produced an insert set called Greatness Returns.  It's good.  The checklist is questionable though.

Sadly.

One name is omitted from that list.

Josh Gibson, the Black Babe Ruth, was the greatest hitter of the early Negro Leagues as recalled by many.

There have been many articles written, but only a few people outside of the baseball knowledge realms discuss of what Josh Gibson was able to do.

Gibson was born in Georgia, but moved to Pittsburgh at an early age so his father could work on a steel mill.  Gibson would go on to later work with his father so that he could join that company's Negro League team and participate in the sport he loved, baseball.

Gibson began as a third baseman, but moved to behind the plate due to his bulking size.  Some said no one was stupid enough to try and steal home against him.

After his wife passed away at an early age giving birth to twins, Gibson devoted his life to the game of baseball giving full custody of his children to the in-laws.

Gibson would go on to appear in the All-Star game every year in the Negro Leagues.

He was ultimately diagnosed with a brain tumor, but continued to play through all the pain he endured.  When the Dodgers were looking at breaking the color barrier there was discussion of Gibson being chosen, but ultimately it was decided they should use a younger player.

Larry Doby, the man who broke the color barrier in the American League for the Cleveland Indians, went on record to say "Jack(ie) Robinson wasn't the best player. Josh Gibson was"

A few months before Robinson broke the color barrier and helped to change the American culture and history, Josh Gibson passed away at the young age of 35 years old.


In 2018 Topps continued their tradition of the Salute insert series looking at players wearing alternative uniforms (Mother's Day, Throwback, Negro League, Memorial Day, etc) style uniforms.

Josh Gibson wore a uniform similar to this while he was a member of the Homestead Grays.  As you can read on the back, McCutchen had a really good day at the plate while wearing the former catcher's old style uniform.

I have shown other images of Cutch wearing the old Homestead Grays uniform in the past.  Maybe I can do this every Thursday (#tbt) in February to show off Black History Month.

Anyone want to learn about Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, Smokey Joe, etc every Thursday this February?

I would really love to add some more Josh Gibson cards to my collection, but originals from the 30s and 40s are ridiculously expensive.