Who holds the record for most home runs hit in his career in American baseball?
Your first answer would probably be Hank Aaron because he hit a career 755 homeruns. If Aaron was your answer, go back and read the baseball trivia books once more. You'll discover that the real homerun leader is the powerful catcher, Josh Gibson, who hit a career 962 homeruns.
"Josh who?", you ask.
Josh Gibson was one of the many great black players who played in the Negro Leagues during the first half of the 20th century. Although very few of these great players made it up to the major leagues, many were compared to counterparts in the majors.
For instance, a great Negro League shortstop named John Henry Lloyd was compared to the immortal, Honus Wagner. Lloyd was so good, even Wagner was reported to have said that he considered it a privilege to be compared to Lloyd!
That brings us to another question: What are the Negro Leagues???
During the fledgling years of baseball, more than 70 blacks were playing alongside the whites. However, after many unfortunate incidents, blacks were silently banned from playing major league baseball.
Nevertheless, blacks continued to play baseball by forming their own teams. All the teams "barnstormed", or travelled around, to find competition. At this time, there was no formal league to organize these teams.
It was during the "barnstorming" era that the term, shadowball, came into being. During this time, the New York Lincoln Giants warmed up by playing something called shadow ball. This activity had all the players pretending that they were hitting or pitching a ball. This act, before the games, really amused the crowds.
In 1920, a former pitcher, Andrew "Rube" Foster, formed the first black league, called the Negro National League. Three years later, Ed Bolden formed the Eastern Colored League that rivaled Foster's league. The two leagues operated successfully for many years before falling victim to financial difficulties.
Eventually, two new leagues were organized. A new Negro National League was formed in 1933 and the Negro American League was born in 1937. The champions of both leagues then played in a World Series to decide the real champion. A Negro All-Star game was also played which attracted an unbelievable number of fans. In fact, these two leagues attracted huge crowds, sometimes bigger than their major league counterparts. They continued to go strong until the color line was broken in 1947, when the great Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
From here on, many of the young Negro League stars were attracted towards the major leagues. This, obviously, had a big impact on the attendance. Therefore, the Negro National League folded following the 1948 season and the Negro American League did the same in 1960.