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Old 08-11-2007, 08:49 AM
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Default Sadaharu Oh and josh Gibson

Posted By: Chad

Oh had some advantages, but the season in Japan is shorter, too. As for Gibson, he hit about 250 official homeruns which may not seem like a lot, but you have to remember:

1.) The Negro League seasons were only about 60 games long.
2.) Most Negro league teams, and especially Josh's home teams played in horrible parks for home run hitters. Old Forbes and Griffith were tough parks to hit HR's in. In one year at Griffith, the Washington Senators as a team hit only 4 balls over the fence in an entire year. That same year, Gibson hit 7 over the fence by himelf for the Grays.
3.) By all accounts, the ball used in Negro League play was mushier and in paly for much longer than the ball in MLB.
4.) Gibson also played against top caliber competition in Cuba and Puerto Rico and Venezuela and Mexico, not to mention barnstorming against MLB players.

I don't know how many HR's Gibson would have hit in MLB. I think he was at least the equal of Jimmie Foxx as a hitter. While the statistics for Josh aren't as exhaustive as for players in MLB, there is enough of a record to show that no matter where Josh played and against whom, he was ALWAYS the best hitter in the league, and often it wasn't even close. His last full year in the Negro League, when he was fat and addicted to heroin, and he was playing against guys like Luke Easter, Monte Irvin, Buck Leonard, Minnie Minoso and so on, he was STILL the best hitter in the league. The man was born to hit as much as anyone who has ever walked the planet.

--Chad

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