The Greatest Slugger Never To Play In The Major Leagues

As David Ortiz adds to his legend this week—the version that omits any mention of PEDs, of course—let's take a moment to appreciate John Schulian's 2000 :

We know just enough about Josh Gibson now to forget him. It's a perverse kind of progress, a strange step up from the days when the mention of his name drew blank looks. He has been a Hall of Fame catcher since 1972, so that's a start. And you can always remind people that he got the Ken Burns treatment on public television, or that he was a character in an HBO movie, or that he inspired Negro leagues memorabilia harking back to his old ball club, the Homestead Grays. Any of it will do to jog memories. Josh Gibson, sure. Hit all those home runs, didn't he? Then he's gone once more, gone as soon as he's remembered.