Josh Gibson honored in my town

[MagSeven]

Playing with the Homestead Grays at Monessen’s Tin Plate Field on July 24, 1938, Gibson hit a 538 foot home run, which is actually the second longest he ever hit. Today, Monessen, MLB, and the Pirates honored that event by unveiling a historical market. His great grandson, Sean, attended the ceremony.

[Bene Futuis]

Very cool! Greatest Negro League hitter of all time.


“You look for his weakness and while you're lookin’ for it, he’s liable to hit 45 home runs.” - Satchel Paige

[madducks]

I will have to drive by there to check that out. Very cool !

[The Feral Slasher]

Playing with the Homestead Grays at Monessen’s Tin Plate Field on July 24, 1938, Gibson hit a 538 foot home run, which is actually the second longest he ever hit. Today, Monessen, MLB, and the Pirates honored that event by unveiling a historical market. His great grandson, Sean, attended the ceremony.

That's really cool. Is Tin Plate Field still around ?

[madducks]

That's really cool. Is Tin Plate Field still around ?

No. It was gone before i was born and grew up in Monessen.

[MagSeven]

Here's a better close up
josh gibson2.jpg

[MagSeven]

Sean Gibson
josh gibson3.jpg

[madducks]

As a kid, i remember the railroad tunnel that led to the former site of the old ballpark. It remained there for several decades after it was closed to traffic.

ETA: I seem to recall some of the local residents parking their boats in that closed tunnel.

ETA: Wow, that tunnel is still there. Or part of it is anyway. The back end is covered over. So, it's more of a spooky looking concrete cave now lol.

[madducks]

I wish baseball was still popular enough for employers to build baseball fields for their workers to play on. Sigh.

[rhd]

Playing with the Homestead Grays at Monessen’s Tin Plate Field on July 24, 1938, Gibson hit a 538 foot home run, which is actually the second longest he ever hit. Today, Monessen, MLB, and the Pirates honored that event by unveiling a historical market. His great grandson, Sean, attended the ceremony.

Very good to hear!

[madducks]

Here's an article about it from MLB.com.

https://www.mlb.com/pirates/news/jos...ed-in-monessen

[madducks]

Here's a video of the ceremony: