If you’ve ever been to a Major League ballpark, you’ve likely seen the number 42 prominently displayed, generally in that franchise’s ring of honor. Baseball fans will know that that is in recognition of the great Jackie Robinson who wore that number and broke Major League Baseball color barrier in 1947. Exactly fifty years later, on April 15, 1997 the number 42 was retired by MLB to commemorate that momentous occasion, known afterwards as Jackie Robinson Day. But did you know that just three months earlier, arguably the greatest slugger of the Negro Leagues, Josh Gibson passed away in what should have been the peak of his career. He was only thirty-five. Baseball has a mysticism to it unlike most other sports. To be canonized by its hall of fame is to live among the immortal legends of the game. Josh Gibson was a legend long before his entrance to baseball’s hallowed hall. When he began his career, there were many who dubbed him the “Black Babe Ruth.” Before the end, they would be calling Ruth the “The White Josh Gibson.” In one game at Yankee Stadium, Gibson recorded a 580 foot shot to center field and reportedly hit one completely over the left field wall, the only player to do this inside the foul pole. Gibson came into the Negro Leagues in 1930, playing catcher for the Homestead Grays. He would go on to play 16 seasons, all but two of them for the Grays. His lifetime batting average is officially listed at .359, though it is thought to be higher. While his average was good enough to rank third all time, it was his home runs that were truly remarkable, credited with over 800 in his career, though the number is difficult to properly quantify. When discussing the players of the Negro Leagues, the question of statistics is unavoidable. Because Gibson never played in a Major League uniform, it is impossible to measure by any definitive metric what his statistics would translate to over his 16 seasons. Adding to the dilemma is the fact that complete records do not exist for these games, making the numbers impossible to know. Contrarians will also cite that the majority of games played by negro league teams were exhibition or “barnstorming” games. The rub being that the quality of the opponent varied wildly and stats for these games were inconsistently recorded. Even excluding these barnstormers, his league stats are eye-popping. To give some context to why Gibson was so highly revered, consider MLB’s all-time home run king, Barry Bonds. In twenty-two seasons, Bonds hit 762 HR’s in 9847 at bats for an average of about 1 HR every 13 at bats. By comparison, Josh Gibson’s most conservative estimation, counting only league games would be about 15 at bats per HM, while other, more generous statistics put it at one home run every 10.5. Split the difference and you still have a guy who is on par with the owner of baseball’s most prestigious record. Let us not forget, Bonds used Steroids for years. The truth is we will never know how great Gibson could have been in the Major Leagues. In 1943 he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, electing to not have surgery. He played on, suffering debilitating headaches and continued to knock the stitches out of the ball before becoming too ill to play. He suffered a stroke on Jan 20, 1947. Just three months short of Jackie Robinson’s debut.

The dead have their own highways, marked with coffin stones, lychgates, and monoliths. They course for miles in straight lines, undisturbed by the living, save when it is necessary to ferry mortal remains to their final rest. Otherwise these roads are traveled only by luminous corpse candles, floating just off the ground, ranging between the churchyard and the homes of the recently deceased. The origin of the Corpse Roads can be traced to medieval England at a time when a rise in population created intense competition among churches to retain and attract parishioners. This led to increased church building, including lucrative funerary services. As the distances between a church and its flock increased, certain amenities became necessary, such as Corpse Roads. Belief of the day dictated that a straight path must be taken between the home of the deceased and the church yard, lest the spirit become lost. It is also necessary to travel with the feet pointing toward the destination, so that the individual is not tempted to return home. The fear of revenants, or returning spirits was very real, requiring that certain precautionary measures be taken. Lychgates and bridges were common, as these man-made constructions cannot be navigated by the dead without guidance from the living. In Ireland it is said that if an occupied coffin touches the ground for too long, fear gortach or “hungry grass” will grow, installing ravenous hunger in anyone who treads on it. For this purpose, coffin stones were installed at intervals along the path, so that those who couldn’t afford a carriage could set their burdens down and rest. Corpse Roads were lonely places by necessity, requiring their construction to be clear of intersecting roads, farmland, or frequently used public spaces. Should they cross a field of crops or livestock, the plants would wither and the animals sicken. Typically, they would spoke outward from the churchyard toward the various towns or villages, well from oft treaded paths. A closely related phenomenon is that of the corpse candles. They appear as pale blue, glowing lights that float just above the ground and travel in straight lines along the corpse roads. Most reports describe the lights as manifesting at the homes of the recently dead and following just behind or a bit ahead of the funeral procession, along the road and to the cemetery. Alternate versions maintain that the lights are omens, appearing above the homes of those who are soon to die or the site of a grave that has yet to be dug. Today, most of these roads have been lost to the centuries, but not to memory. Consider the folklore surrounding the Feast of Saint Mark. On the eve of the feast, April 24, between the hours of 11pm and 1am, it is tradition to hold a vigil, or watch, at churchyards or corpse roads. It’s said that at this time, the spirits of the recently departed can be seen making their ghostly procession down the road and to the cemetery.

Hiram Revels was the first African American elected into either house of Congress, representing Mississippi in the Senate from 1870-1871. During the Civil War he served as a chaplain in the Army and helped organize two regiments of the United States Colored Troops. I first came across his name while doing research on the Reconstruction and was particularly inspired by his story. In many ways, his struggle to be confirmed to the Senate was one of the last battles of the Civil War. As some one who loves to tell a story, it would be my honor to share his with you, however it is a bit too lengthy for today’s post. Instead, as we approach another election year, I invoke the name of Hiram Revels to remind you that he is one of only ten African Americans to ever sit in the Senate. Of the ten, three are from Illinois, two are from Mississippi, two from Massachusetts, and one each from California, New Jersey, and South Carolina. Conversely there are twenty-two states that have never elected an African American to congress, which include: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Jason Roberts

On This Day February 21

In 1965 Malcom X assassinated, in 1972 Nixon becomes the first US President to visit [...]

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Josh Gibson

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By Jason Roberts|2020-02-19T16:18:04-08:00February 20th, 2020|Uncategorized|

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Robert Smalls, The Slave That Stole a Confederate Warship

In 1861 Robert Smalls was a slave conscripted into the service of the Confederate Navy [...]

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Corpse Roads

The dead have their own highways, marked with coffin stones, lychgates, and monoliths. They course [...]

By Jason Roberts|2020-02-15T15:44:57-08:00February 17th, 2020|Dark Distractions|

On This Day February 14

Oregon and Arizona become states in 1859 and 1912 respectively. In 1849 James Polk becomes [...]

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Madam C.J. Walker, The First African American Woman Millionaire

Sarah Breedlove was born in 1867 in Delta, Louisiana; the first of her family to [...]

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The Apache Wars Part Three Mangas Coloradas

He stood over six-foot-four, a muscular mountain of a man, and was by most accounts, [...]

By Jason Roberts|2020-02-09T14:11:09-08:00February 12th, 2020|Tales of Blood and Gold|

Hiram Revels

Hiram Revels was the first African American elected into either house of Congress, representing Mississippi [...]

By Jason Roberts|2020-02-10T20:20:38-08:00February 11th, 2020|Uncategorized|

Am Fear Liath Mor (Big Grey Man)

On the lonely summit of Ben Macdui in Scotland’s Cairngorm mountains, something lurks in the [...]

By Jason Roberts|2020-02-09T10:15:56-08:00February 10th, 2020|Dark Distractions|

About Jason Roberts