Josh Gibson Jr.

I met Josh Jr on a road trip to Pittsburgh PA. I met him at his home with his wife Gertrude. Josh was a slightly built man as he was a kidney recipient and had a transplant. He had a twin sister and his mother died in during his birth.

We talked for hours about his father Josh Sr who was may be the greatest hitter of all time.

I asked if we could go to the cemetery where Josh Sr was buried, and we went. We drove through the cemetery lookin for the area he remembered where he was buried. There were very few headstones visible. Jr said he remembered the area where he was buried so we searched and finally found his father's marker, with it being so overgrown with weeds, it hit both of us the sadness of this moment, disrespected in life and disrespected in death. Jr and I stood together with tears in our eyes and I hugged him in support. It was a cathartic moment etched in my brain. He told me as a bat boy for his father's team the Homestead Grays and was told if he gets knocked out while stealing a base or some mishap on the basepaths Jr was to reach in his back pocket and safeguard his wallet.