Gibson’s blast commemorated with plaque
Scott Beveridge
Monessen Mayor Matt Shorraw, center, was joined on July 22 at a ceremony unveiling the historical marker honoring Negro League great Josh Gibson by senior director of Major League Baseball’s Front Office and Field Staff Diversity Pipeline Program Tyrone Brooks, left, and Sean Gibson, the great-grandson of Josh Gibson.
Scott Beveridge
Siblings Nova and Steven Dell share a photo opportunity with the Pirate Parrot in Monessen on July 22.
MONESSEN — It took more than 10 years, but Frank Lopresti and the city of Monessen have finally honored all-time baseball great Josh Gibson and one of his remarkable feats
A historical marker — acknowledging one of Gibson’s home runs — was dedicated on the morning of July 22 on Donner Ave., near the Page Park tunnel and the old Page Park ballfield in the city’s downtown.
The plaque will stand near the site of Page Park, which was originally called Tin Plate Field and hosted minor league, recreational, and Negro League baseball games.
Gibson’s mammoth 538-foot home run was hit July 24, 1938 — 83 years ago — at Tin Plate Field. Measured by game officials and then-Monessen Mayor James Gold, the shot was so long that it actually ricocheted off a nearby steel mill building.
“This is Monessen history,” Monessen Mayor Matt Shorraw said while addressing the crowd, which included a few hundred people. “This is regional history. It is baseball history.
“Once I found out about this home run, some said it was an urban legend, but I learned it was real. I felt it was important to commemorate it.”
Gibson’s 538-foot homerun ranks among the longest hit in baseball history. For measured long balls, the only home runs hit longer are: by Reggie Jackson, Mickey Mantle, and Babe Ruth. Gibson also reportedly hit a 580-foot home run out of Yankee Stadium in 1937, which would likely be the longest ever hit, but that home run was not officially measured.
The dedication was a partnership between Major League Baseball, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Gibson Foundation — all of which were represented at the event. MLB donated the plaque.
Monessen resident Frank Lopresti worked more than 10 years to discover and verify the date of Gibson’s home run and its length. Shorraw worked tirelessly to gain the facts and to bring the dedication to fruition.
He contacted MLB in 2020 in hopes of commemorating Gibson’s historic clout. Shorraw, Lopresti, and Dan Zyglowicz of the Greater Monessen Historical Society, were able to confirm missing information about the home run, and MLB obliged Monessen’s request for a plaque.
Shorraw was joined on the dais by Tyrone Brooks of MLB, Sean Gibson, the great-grandchild of Josh Gibson and Joel Gray of the Pirates.
“This is just great, glad to see it,” Lopresti said.
It was a festive atmosphere on Donner Avenue as several members of Monessen Youth Baseball teams were present as were a handful of members of the Monessen High School baseball team.
“When I was 7-, 8- and 9-years-old in the mid-1960s, the Pirates players were my heroes. I grew up a baseball fan,” said Mark Shire, a Monessen attorney. “This is great for Monessen.
“It’s a connection. I had heard about this Josh Gibson story. To have his great-grandson come here is special. It’s another historical item that Monessen can remember and be happy about.”
Steve Cameron, a baseball enthusiast and historian from Washington, said these are moments to be celebrated and cherished.
“Anytime you get an opportunity to honor a local legend and such an awesome player like Josh Gibson, I think you take advantage of it. Not only is it the distance he hit that home run, but it’s been talked about the last 80-some years. It is an awesome feat and to be mentioned with MLB players like Jackson, Mantle and Ruth… that’s elite company.
“He was an elite player himself, not only as a hitter but he was a great catcher. You have to wonder how the record books would be changed (if the Negro League players would have played in MLB.) Who knows who would be the leaders in the specific categories?
“The Negro Leagues are one of America’s great tragedies (that the players didn’t play in MLB) and one of its greatest treasures.”
Sean Gibson said the marker now being in Monessen and a road being named after his great-grandfather — Josh Gibson Way — is a great thing for a small town and for the Josh Gibson Foundation.
“It connects Josh and Monessen,” Sean Gibson said.
He’s also encouraged by MLB, which is moving toward integrating the statistics from the Negro Leagues from 1920-1948 into the statistics in the MLB.
“That era back then (when his great-grandfather played), people missed a lot of great baseball,” Sean Gibson said. “The guys in the Negro Leagues would have enhanced the (MLB) game, made the game more exciting, made it a lot faster and provided better competition. There would be a lot of changes in statistics and record books. And when they integrate the numbers from 1920-1984, there will still be a lot of changes. Josh is going to be in the top five and at the top of some. Hopefully, society is ready for some African-Americans being on the top of those lists.
Gibson, an all-time Negro League great, smacked 238 home runs during his illustrious career.
That day almost 83 years ago, while playing for the Homestead Grays against the Memphis Red Sox, Gibson hit the second-longest home run of his career out of Page Park.
In Monessen, the city’s former minor league ball field sat between Page’s Wire Mill and Pittsburgh Steel. The field has been gone for decades, but the access tunnel — which is blocked off — still remains.
Page Park hosted numerous local baseball teams in the early to mid-20th century, including Negro League games. In the 1930s, it was also home to Monessen’s Minor League team, the Monessen Indians, which was affiliated with the Cleveland Indians, the Cincinnati Reds, and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Gibson, a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame (1972), passed away in 1947 at age 35. He had a career batting average of .359 and slugging percentage of .648.
In addition to playing for the Grays, Gibson played for the Pittsburgh Crawfords, and also for Ciudad Trujillo in the Dominican League and Rojos del Águila de Veracruz in the Mexican League.