Presenter
Presented by Mr. Koch
Title
Resolution authorizing the Mayor and the Director of Public Works to rename Ammons Field, located at 2217 Bedford Avenue in the 5th Ward of the City of Pittsburgh, to JOSH GIBSON FIELD.
Body
WHEREAS born in 1911 in Buena Vista, Georgia, Josh Gibson, the son of a poor sharecropper, moved with his family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1921, later to become one of the greatest baseball players of all time; and
WHEREAS at the age of sixteen, Josh Gibson had already excelled through the ranks of Pittsburgh's amateur, African American teams and took a position as catcher on a semi-pro, local team; and
WHEREAS from 1927 through 1929 and from 1932 through 1936, Josh Gibson was catcher for the Pittsburgh Crawfords and would later play the same position with the Homestead Grays from 1930 through 1931 and from 1937 through 1946; and
WHEREAS Mr. Gibson led the Negro National League in home runs for 10 consecutive years, with 962 homers during his 17-season career and a .354 batting average; and
WHEREAS prior to his death in 1947, Josh Gibson became the only baseball player ever to be credited with hitting a ball out of Yankee Stadium, with this, among other career highlights, earning him the honor of becoming one of the first Negro League players to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
Be it resolved that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The Mayor and the Director of the Department of Public Works are hereby authorized and directed to rename Ammons Field, located at 2217 Bedford Avenue in the 5th Ward of the City of Pittsburgh, to JOSH GIBSON FIELD.