As part of Black History Month and the Washington Nationals’ ongoing community engagement efforts, the Club continues to engage and educate local fans on the history of the Negro Leagues, including their ties to Washington, D.C.
In June, the Club hosted Negro Leagues Night with the Josh Gibson Foundation, featuring a panel that included Josh’s great-grandson and Gibson Foundation President Sean, among others. Following the panel, the Nationals hosted a special on-field pregame ceremony celebrating the legacy of Black baseball players past, present and future. Sean Gibson, as well as former Negro Leagues players Sam Allen and Eddie Banks, stood alongside Nationals players CJ Abrams, Daylen Lile, James Wood and then-player Josh Bell, as well as Scholar Athletes from the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy, reminding fans of baseball’s power to bring people together, break barriers and inspire future generations.
A 12-time All-Star, two-time Negro Leagues World Series champion, three-time Negro National League batting champion, two-time Triple Crown winner and the second Negro Leagues player to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. (1972), Josh Gibson cemented himself as one of the greatest home run hitters and most feared sluggers of any era.
In May 2024, Major League Baseball officially incorporated statistics from the Negro Leagues, which resulted in Gibson becoming MLB’s career leader in multiple offensive categories. With a .372 career batting average, he officially surpassed Ty Cobb (.367) as the all-time career leader in average. Often called the “Black Babe Ruth,” Gibson also overtook Ruth’s records as the career leader in slugging percentage (.718 vs. .690) and on-base plus slugging percentage (1.177 vs. 1.164). He also holds the all-time single-season record in those same categories.
Gibson is immortalized with a statue outside the Home Plate entrance at Nationals Park as well as in the ballpark’s Ring of Honor, where his name sits alongside five other Homestead Grays players.
The Nationals will host Negro Leagues night again this season on Tuesday, June 16, against the Kansas City Royals. In addition to special programming, 20,000 fans will receive a Homestead Grays jersey courtesy of partner AARP.
