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Speaker 1: Hey, what's up you all?

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Speaker 2: This is Questlove, and in honor of Black History Month,

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Speaker 2: on Fridays, we're gonna be releasing episodes of Historical Records,

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Speaker 2: which is my podcast with the story pirates and it's

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Speaker 2: an explosive fusion of hip hop and history, tailor made

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Speaker 2: for music loving kids and families. Yeah, it's something the

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Speaker 2: entire family can listen to and enjoy together. So in

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Speaker 2: this episode, host Nemine learns about Josh Gibson, the greatest

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Speaker 2: power hitter baseball has ever seen, and Broadway star Freggiel

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Speaker 2: Philippe breaks it down in a brand new hip hop

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Speaker 2: track featuring an interview between Bob Kendrick, president of the

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Speaker 2: Negro League Baseball Museum, and a ten year old baseball

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Speaker 2: enthusiast named Peyton. Get your kids, sit back and enjoy

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Speaker 2: Historical Records, the show that proves that in order to

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Speaker 2: make history, you have to make some noise.

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Speaker 1: Keep taking records. I know it's out here somewhere, hey, listeners,

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Speaker 1: Nimity here outside my secret underground layer looking for a

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Speaker 1: time capsule that I buried over ten years ago. It

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Speaker 1: has all kinds of special items from my childhood that

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Speaker 1: I cannot wait to tell you about, Tana.

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Speaker 3: Did you find it yet?

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Speaker 1: How's it going over there? I agree? The ground is

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Speaker 1: way too hard for these shovels. You have a jackhammer, Tina,

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Speaker 1: you buried the lead. Let's get that thing up and

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Speaker 1: run it. This is great. We're gonna find my time

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Speaker 1: capsule in no time. This way, Tina, No, no, no, no,

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Speaker 1: not that way. Where are you going now.

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Speaker 3: Here?

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Speaker 1: Let me try. I appreciate the warning, but I'll be fine.

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Speaker 1: You might be a little too small to run this

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Speaker 1: jackhammer properly. I'll just hop on and then wh.

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Speaker 4: Why am I going?

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Speaker 3: Big way? Why am I going that way? Now? Where

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Speaker 3: am i? God? Like?

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Speaker 1: Well, that jackhammer clearly didn't work right, and we still

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Speaker 1: haven't found my time capsule. What Tina? You have a

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Speaker 1: bobcat digger, go get it. Why were we using shovels?

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Speaker 3: In a jackhammer?

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Speaker 1: We're gonna find this thing.

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Speaker 5: No historical, you are now listening to historical.

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Speaker 1: To make history, you got to have struggles to make history.

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Speaker 1: You got to show pois cannot be quiet loud as

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Speaker 1: a riot to make history. You gotta make some noise,

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Speaker 1: incredible dig right here, Tina. I know I've said this before,

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Speaker 1: but I don't said of this is this fuck? We

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Speaker 1: hit the time capsule, now dig around it.

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Speaker 3: I did it, but not my time.

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Speaker 1: Capsule, and I dug it out. Fair point, Tina, you

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Speaker 1: did play a critical role. Now, listeners, you may be wondering,

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Speaker 1: what does Niminy have in this time capsule that is

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Speaker 1: so important that it's delaying the start of this episode,

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Speaker 1: an episode in which we are going to learn about

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Speaker 1: the great baseball legend Josh Gibson. Excellent question, listeners, to

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Speaker 1: answer it, Let's first drag my time capsule out of

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Speaker 1: this hole. Among the many things I am excited to

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Speaker 1: show you, first up is a red cape that I

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Speaker 1: wore pretty much every day for nearly two years when

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Speaker 1: I was a kid, and opening the look with the

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Speaker 1: key I always keep around my neck. You see, I

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Speaker 1: wanted to be a superhero, so my red cape was critical.

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Speaker 1: Every good superhero needs a good red cap opening the latch. Wait,

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Speaker 1: what it's green? My superhero cape is green? How is

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Speaker 1: that possible? I was certain it was red. I agree, Tin,

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Speaker 1: know that is so strange. Surely the next thing in

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Speaker 1: my time caps sole will match my memory. After all,

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Speaker 1: I have a fantastic memory. You don't know that I

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Speaker 1: see it. The green looks fantastic. This cape is even

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Speaker 1: cooler than I realized.

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Speaker 3: What is it?

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Speaker 1: Tina? Right? Of course, we probably should get started with

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Speaker 1: the episode listeners. We'll get back to going through my

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Speaker 1: time caps a little little later. There's a lot in

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Speaker 1: here you're gonna want to see. But right now we

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Speaker 1: got to dive into today's historical figure, Josh Gibson. And

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Speaker 1: in order to do that, we have to find our

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Speaker 1: historian friend Gabe. WHOA that might be the biggest construction

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Speaker 1: vehicle I have ever seen. It's a giant excavator. Who

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Speaker 1: is driving that thing?

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Speaker 3: Incoming?

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Speaker 4: Watch out? Everybody?

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Speaker 3: Wait? Is that Gabe? Gabe? Is that jo? Hey nimany

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Speaker 3: I can barely see you up there?

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Speaker 4: Come on up, you can use the ladder.

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Speaker 1: Oh wow, yep, okay here come oho, we are really

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Speaker 1: high up. Hey Gabe, there you are. What are you

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Speaker 1: doing with this huge thing?

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Speaker 4: I heard you needed some help digging, so I brought

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Speaker 4: my personal digging machine to help.

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Speaker 3: Oh.

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Speaker 1: I actually found what I was looking for. And did

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Speaker 1: you say that this commercial machine typically used to dig

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Speaker 1: out massive minds? Is yours?

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Speaker 4: That is correct? You see, being a historian and getting

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Speaker 4: the history right often takes a little digging, sometimes literally.

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Speaker 1: That makes a lot of sense.

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Speaker 4: Speaking of digging, should we dig into the life of

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Speaker 4: the great Josh Gibson?

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Speaker 1: Okay, but Gabe, before we go back in time, can

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Speaker 1: I be honest?

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Speaker 3: Please?

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Speaker 4: I actually prefer that you be honest, respectfully.

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Speaker 1: I really don't like that the history simulator looks and

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Speaker 1: feels sounds like a gooey alien pod. It's very uncomfortable

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Speaker 1: to be it.

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Speaker 4: I couldn't agree more, which is why I built my

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Speaker 4: own history simulator.

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Speaker 1: You did, no way, where is it?

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Speaker 4: We're sitting in it. Welcome to the History Excavator nineteen twenty.

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Speaker 3: I know, I love it.

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Speaker 1: Very impressive, you said, History Excavator nineteen twenty. Why nineteen twenty?

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Speaker 4: Oh, that's just where we're headed today. Hold on, niminy

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Speaker 4: a Roaring twenties, here we come.

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Speaker 3: It's so gay.

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Speaker 1: This is about one hundred years.

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Speaker 4: Ago, right nearly to the day, and it was a

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Speaker 4: time of incredible change in the United States.

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Speaker 1: Hey, look at those cool ladies with short bob haircuts

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Speaker 1: and just below the knee lenked stresses.

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Speaker 6: Uh.

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Speaker 4: Yes, those ladies were known as flappers at the time.

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Speaker 4: These dresses were considered by many to be scandalous for

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Speaker 4: being too short.

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Speaker 1: Too short, that looked like formal dresses to me. I

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Speaker 1: guess we really have come a long way or a

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Speaker 1: short way. I don't know.

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Speaker 3: Whoom.

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Speaker 1: Check out that guy wailing on the saxophone.

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Speaker 4: Pretty amazing. Right in the nineteen twenties, there was an

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Speaker 4: explosion of music exploration, including the birth of jazz.

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Speaker 1: Oh and look at that group of men with those

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Speaker 1: ridiculous pinstriped suits. They look away.

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Speaker 3: Its niminy.

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Speaker 4: Be careful, those men are very serious. In fact, they

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Speaker 4: might be gangsters. Gate.

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Speaker 1: You really shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Just

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Speaker 1: because those guys look like cartoon mobsters doesn't mean they are.

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Speaker 1: I bet they have a great sense of humor too.

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Speaker 1: Watch this, hey, sir, your suit is hysterical. You look

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Speaker 1: like a businessman doing an impression of a zebra.

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Speaker 7: I you think I'm funny, You think my suitors are

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Speaker 7: joke usink I'm a zebra business clown sent from the

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Speaker 7: Zuda make your.

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Speaker 1: Lab No, no, no, none of that. It's a very

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Speaker 1: fetching outfit. And we have to go Gate hit it.

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Speaker 4: Here we go down to the South.

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Speaker 3: Who I was.

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Speaker 1: Close, Gabe. Sorry for not trusting your instincts about who

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Speaker 1: is and who is in a gangst. Anyway, thanks for

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Speaker 1: getting us out of there. Speaking of getting out of there, Gabe, Oh,

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Speaker 1: I see our black families packing their things and getting

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Speaker 1: out of town.

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Speaker 4: It was known as the Great Migration. Lots of black

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Speaker 4: folks were moving from the rural south to cities in

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Speaker 4: the north with the promise of safer communities, better jobs,

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Speaker 4: more pay, and a brighter future.

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Speaker 1: And once they got to the north, where would they work.

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Speaker 4: Let's head to the north. Here we are in the North.

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Speaker 4: Often black folks would work in steel factories like that one,

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Speaker 4: in cities like this one Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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Speaker 1: Look over their Gabe, a department store. Can we go in?

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Speaker 1: I want to buy one of those flapper dresses.

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Speaker 4: It's not just any department store. It's Gimbals, which is

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Speaker 4: where Josh Gibson worked.

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Speaker 1: Cool head through the revolving doors and check it out.

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Speaker 1: Oh mah, there are a headspinning amount of flapper dress options.

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Speaker 1: Too many options actually, and suddenly I have no interest

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Speaker 1: in shopping. Hey, did you say Josh Gibson works here?

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Speaker 1: I thought he was a baseball player.

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Speaker 4: He was, but when his family first moved to the North,

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Speaker 4: he wanted to be an electrician. I know it sounds weird,

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Speaker 4: but electricity was still considered a fairly new technology, so

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Speaker 4: it was a great trade to get into. And he

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Speaker 4: started as an elevator operator at Gimbals Gabe.

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Speaker 1: Sorry to interrupt, but who's that teenager over by the

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Speaker 1: old timey elevator.

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Speaker 4: That's actually Josh Gibson. He takes people up and down

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Speaker 4: to different floors in the store.

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Speaker 1: Oh, of course, an elevator operator.

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Speaker 3: Got it.

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Speaker 1: But how does he transition from this to baseball?

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Speaker 4: Well, this department store doesn't just have an irresponsible amount

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Speaker 4: of flapper dress options. They also have an amateur baseball team.

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Speaker 4: They do, Yeah, they do, and it's called the gimbal Ac.

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Speaker 4: And that's how Josh Gibson started playing baseball.

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Speaker 1: He was only sixteen though.

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Speaker 4: That's true, but he took to the sport like a

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Speaker 4: fish to water. Josh knew how to keep his eye

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Speaker 4: on the ball and slam crack knock it out of

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Speaker 4: the park. He was a home run king and in

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Speaker 4: no time at all, other local teams were eyeing this

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Speaker 4: young prospect.

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Speaker 1: So did he quit his job to play baseball, not yet.

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Speaker 1: He kept his job at the department store while playing baseball.

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Speaker 4: He had to keep that job to make ends meet.

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Speaker 4: You see, at the time, there was a different league

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Speaker 4: for black players. It was known as the Negro League,

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Speaker 4: and Josh played for a less official Negro League team,

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Speaker 4: kind of like the minor leagues today.

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Speaker 1: And did he eventually go pro?

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Speaker 4: You bet. His name and his fame grew and he

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Speaker 4: eventually was able to go professional. But it was almost

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Speaker 4: by accident.

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Speaker 1: That sounds like an interest a story.

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Speaker 3: It is.

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Speaker 4: Hold tight. We're headed to the game where it all happened, Gabe.

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Speaker 1: We might be at the wrong baseball game. I don't

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Speaker 1: see Josh Gibson anywhere on the field.

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Speaker 4: That's because he was in the stands.

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Speaker 1: The stands, so he wasn't playing.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it's nineteen thirty and Josh is still playing in

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Speaker 4: the less official leagues, but he was at this major

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Speaker 4: league game as a fan.

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Speaker 1: I see him up there in the stands.

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Speaker 4: Josh and everyone else at the stadium was watching the

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Speaker 4: Homestead Grays, the best Pittsburgh team in the Negro League.

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Speaker 1: Gabe, there are some seats open break behind Josh. Let's

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Speaker 1: watch the game from.

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Speaker 4: There perfect, Hey, where'd you get all that food.

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Speaker 1: At the concession stand, Gabe Warehouse. Don't worry. I got

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Speaker 1: you a hot dog, some peanuts, some nacho's, a cotton candy.

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Speaker 3: And a large drink.

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Speaker 4: Oh, thank you.

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Speaker 1: Here are our seats.

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Speaker 4: This is a lot of food.

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Speaker 1: Okay. The batter is up and I can barely hear

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Speaker 1: the announcer over your chomping. And here comes the bitch

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Speaker 1: swing in a miss.

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Speaker 8: But oh, something's wrong with buck Ewing, the catcher for

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Speaker 8: the Grayes.

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Speaker 4: He seems to have cut the pitch in the wrong

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Speaker 4: way and injured his hand.

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Speaker 8: And I'm pretty sure he's about to start screaming.

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Speaker 3: Ouch my hand.

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Speaker 1: I'm hurt, and I can no longer play baseball today.

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Speaker 8: Wuch Well, buckewing inside a game is day. He is

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Speaker 8: done playing baseball bart today and possibly tomorrow, in the

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Speaker 8: next day, and probably the day after that, if I'm

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Speaker 8: being honest the way he said out, who knows when

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Speaker 8: Buckle play next?

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Speaker 3: Mmmm?

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Speaker 4: Niminy. This cotton candy is amazing, Gabe.

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Speaker 1: Please, I'm trying to watch the game and buck Ewing

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Speaker 1: is out.

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Speaker 8: Making eggs even worse than Grays have no backup catcher

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Speaker 8: what are they going to do.

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Speaker 1: No backup catcher. Well, you can't play baseball without a catcher.

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Speaker 1: Everyone knows that. Wait, the coach for the Grays is

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Speaker 1: walking toward us.

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Speaker 4: That's because there's an eighteen year old sitting in the

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Speaker 4: stands right in front of us that has the reputation

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Speaker 4: of being one of the best hitters.

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Speaker 1: In Pittsburg, Josh Gibson.

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Speaker 3: That's right.

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Speaker 4: The coach is asking him to play.

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Speaker 1: And Josh is saying yes.

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Speaker 8: I actually can't believe what I'm saying. The Grays seemed

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Speaker 8: to have plucked some kid out of the stands and

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Speaker 8: now he's going to play getter and this kid even

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Speaker 8: play Gabe.

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Speaker 1: I can't believe this is how Josh Gibson got his

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Speaker 1: big break.

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Speaker 4: Fortune favors the prepared Nimini.

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Speaker 1: Oh, of course it does. Why do you think I

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Speaker 1: bought so many snacks? So did he play well in

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Speaker 1: the game.

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Speaker 4: Josh had such an incredible game that afterwards the Grays

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Speaker 4: took him on as a full time member of the team.

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Speaker 8: Josh Gibson is up the bat, and.

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Speaker 4: He traveled the country playing baseball.

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Speaker 8: And here's the bitch he can actually going coming.

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Speaker 6: God, Josh Gipson absolutely fashion Harry Cleveland to that balls

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Speaker 6: heads it out of town.

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Speaker 1: Oh game, What an incredible start to a career. What

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Speaker 1: were Josh's career stats like?

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Speaker 4: Well, unfortunately Josh played in a time when black athletes

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Speaker 4: didn't have all of their games recorded, like the professional

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Speaker 4: white teams of the day.

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Speaker 1: What so they don't know how many home runs he hits.

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Speaker 4: They have a decent idea. It's believed that he hit

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Speaker 4: over eight hundred home runs, and two hundred and twenty

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Speaker 4: four of those were against the top Negro league teams.

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Speaker 4: That's incredible, truly. But so much of Josh Gibson's story

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Speaker 4: as tall tales and legends. You remember that ball that

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Speaker 4: he smashed in Cleveland? Yeah, well some say it landed

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Speaker 4: in Cincinnati the next day.

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Speaker 1: Wow.

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Speaker 4: And when history is a little hazy, some of the

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Speaker 4: stories burn brighter than others. Like the legend of what

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Speaker 4: happened in Yankee Stadium?

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Speaker 1: What happened in Yankee Stadium?

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Speaker 4: Let's go watch Welcome to nineteen thirty four left field,

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Speaker 4: Yankee Stadium.

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Speaker 1: Oh, look, Josh is up at the plate.

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Speaker 4: Then we're right on time.

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Speaker 1: There goes the pitch and Josh tick food, big cut. Oh,

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Speaker 1: he got a hold of that.

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Speaker 3: He's the black that thing.

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Speaker 1: The ball is flying to a left field that's going

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Speaker 1: over in the third deck next to the left field

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Speaker 1: pull Pennant a hole right in the stadium.

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Speaker 3: Good left Christ just the.

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Speaker 1: Great Josh Gibson has done it.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 1: He is responsible for the only fair ball ever to

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Speaker 1: be head fully out.

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Speaker 4: Of Yankee stady O Memony. I had no idea you

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Speaker 4: were such a fantastic baseball announcer.

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Speaker 1: I'm a fast learner, I'll say, you know, Gabe, it's

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Speaker 1: awesome that there are all these amazing stories about Josh Gibson,

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Speaker 1: but it's frustrating that his stats weren't tracked the same

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Speaker 1: way white players stats were.

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Speaker 4: It's frustrating, all right, But even without stats, he lives

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Speaker 4: on forever in baseball history. That's how good he was.

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Speaker 1: That's a neat way to think about it.

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Speaker 4: Some people call Josh Gibson the black Babe Ruth. Others

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Speaker 4: called Babe Ruth the white Josh Gibson. I love that

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Speaker 4: he ended his career as the second highest paid player

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Speaker 4: in the Negro League and was eventually inducted into the

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Speaker 4: Baseball Hall of Fame.

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Speaker 1: And I suppose today we are making a historical record

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Speaker 1: of Josh, so one hundred years later he is still

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Speaker 1: being honored. His song won't include tons of statistics, obviously,

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Speaker 1: but it will be an earth shattering hip hop tune

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Speaker 1: that will never.

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Speaker 3: Leave you a head.

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Speaker 4: Shall we head back then?

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Speaker 1: Yes?

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Speaker 3: Please?

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Speaker 1: Thanks Gabe, I got a run.

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Speaker 4: Good luck, Niminy, swing for the fences, I always do.

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Speaker 1: Okay, listener as we're back, and I am walking to

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Speaker 1: the studio like Josh wat from the dugout to the play, excited,

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Speaker 1: confident and ready to make history. Oh that was quick.

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Speaker 1: Here we are at the studio.

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Speaker 3: Oh hy t know?

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Speaker 1: Are the musicians ready? Great time to turn this piece

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Speaker 1: of history into music featuring the incredible actor, rapper and

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Speaker 1: singer Fergie l Philippe.

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Speaker 5: Okay, here's a mention that Josh.

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Speaker 4: Gibson and no one's running off the map.

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Speaker 1: It's a long wall the.

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Speaker 4: Date one field, someone's going going.

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Speaker 6: And smash slam, Another one gone, bashpam, another one gone

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Speaker 6: the cracker of the bat, and another one gone.

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Speaker 4: A tip of the cap because.

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Speaker 1: Another one gone.

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Speaker 4: Wait two twenties ten and six foot.

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Speaker 6: One got a bait at the plate for a big

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Speaker 6: home run Bob pops off the stick elect The shot

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Speaker 6: of a gun is the man is the lecture.

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Speaker 4: It is Josh Gibbson.

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Speaker 6: He's so dynamic, his hits titanic, his swings like magic.

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Speaker 6: See him coming from the dugout of the team might panic.

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Speaker 6: The crowd is ecstatic. The end of so tragic. First

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Speaker 6: we go back to where it all began. Born to

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Speaker 6: Georgia in the twenties, the great, my great Joan took

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Speaker 6: his family north into Pittsburgh, then, where Josh trained to

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Speaker 6: be an electrician. And that's where he might have stayed

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Speaker 6: fixing electronics.

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Speaker 1: All his days.

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Speaker 4: But he got a job at a place.

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Speaker 6: Where the squad and Josh the field, the people were

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Speaker 6: on wants to sharecroppers, but now he snare pop ups.

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Speaker 6: He operated elevators, now he studied hitting. Hated that could

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Speaker 6: be no imitator, because I mean, as an innovator.

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Speaker 4: Ain't nobody great. He's the baseball terminator.

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Speaker 6: Flash slam, another one gone, bash bam, another one gone.

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Speaker 6: The craft good the bat and another one gone a

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Speaker 6: tip bud the capta is another one gone, another one gone,

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Speaker 6: another one gone, another one gone.

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Speaker 4: Here, another one gone.

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Speaker 6: It's seventeen years, he had eight hundred home runs three

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Speaker 6: sixty average lifetime. That ain't o hum canning on picking

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Speaker 6: off the base pathball fun in the Negro League, but

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Speaker 6: the same league with no one black. Babe Ruth was

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Speaker 6: off the description, but many claimed the babe with the

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Speaker 6: white Josh Gibson. So if you have some wisdom, you

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Speaker 6: see he's in position to make the majors. But it's

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Speaker 6: pig man skin his race. Biggats believe it dictates their

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Speaker 6: sale of tickets. They want him to stay in his place.

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Speaker 6: Gibson handles the mistakes with grace, always maintaining the smile

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Speaker 6: upon his.

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Speaker 4: Face, keeps setting records, keeps.

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Speaker 6: Getting hits, falls into love, has a few kids place

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Speaker 6: around the world, from seed to seed. Still they never

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Speaker 6: let the man in the MLB smash slam. Another one gone,

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Speaker 6: bash bam, another one gone the craft good the bat,

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Speaker 6: and another one gone.

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Speaker 1: A tip budd the cat because another.

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Speaker 6: One gone, another one gone, another one gone, who another

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Speaker 6: one gone.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, another one gone.

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Speaker 6: When Josh Gibson was thirty two, he started getting head X,

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Speaker 6: got some X raised, then some bad news the next day.

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Speaker 6: Kept playing for his hometown team, the Homestead Grace, but

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Speaker 6: four years later, Josh Gibbson sadly passed away. There wasn't

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Speaker 6: t because of this, he'd be forgotten. But his game

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Speaker 6: still ILSs. It's hard, and the Moni grace will say

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Speaker 6: his name, top twenty player from back then to this year.

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Speaker 6: Even though another one's gone, He's still here, Yeah, still here,

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00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:51,080
Speaker 6: still here, still here, even though another one's gone. He

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00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:55,399
Speaker 6: here smash slam, another one gone, bash bam, another one's gone.

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00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:57,560
Speaker 4: The crack gout him and another one gone.

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00:19:57,560 --> 00:20:01,320
Speaker 6: A tip budd the cat because another one's gone, another

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00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:06,960
Speaker 6: one gone, another one gone, another one gone, even though

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Speaker 6: another was gone.

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Speaker 9: Skilled here.

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Speaker 1: We'll be right back after a few words for the

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Speaker 1: grown ups. Whoa that someone was amazing. Also, there was

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Speaker 1: a part of that tune that reminded me of another

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Speaker 1: object in my time capsule.

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Speaker 3: Listeners, follow me to.

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Speaker 1: The giant fall in my backyard. Ah here we are, Tina,

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00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:36,679
Speaker 1: do me a favor and dive into my time capsule

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00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:42,840
Speaker 1: and grab that thing that looks like an old recording. Listeners,

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Speaker 1: The last thing I wanted to show you is a

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Speaker 1: recording of a speech I gave at my high school graduation.

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Speaker 1: Now I'm pretty sure the speech was about history. But

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Speaker 1: given that I thought my superhero cape was green, maybe

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Speaker 1: I'm way off data. How are we looking fantastic, Tina,

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00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:03,359
Speaker 1: Let's play a little bit of it and see what

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Speaker 1: eighteen year old me has to say. I imagine I

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Speaker 1: speak for all of us today when I say that

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Speaker 1: these last four years have been a blur. Lots of

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Speaker 1: late nights, lots of early mornings, and plenty of looking

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Speaker 1: for my glasses, only to find that they were on

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Speaker 1: my head the whole time. The truth is so much

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Speaker 1: happened so quickly, it is sometimes hard to parse through

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Speaker 1: our memories of what happened and what actually happened. As

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Speaker 1: the poet An Michael says it, quote, history and memory

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00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,960
Speaker 1: share events. That is, they share time and space. Every

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Speaker 1: moment is two moments end.

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Speaker 3: Quote.

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Speaker 1: Well, I dare say that in these four years of

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Speaker 1: high school, we created memories and history, and now we

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Speaker 1: carry them both proudly as we head off into the world. Ugh.

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00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:55,040
Speaker 1: I barely remembered saying any of that. Thank you, Tina.

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Speaker 1: I guess it was a pretty good speech. Honestly, there

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00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:00,199
Speaker 1: was a lot more to it than I remembered. A

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00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:02,760
Speaker 1: lot like Josh Gibson's story when I think about it,

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00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:06,680
Speaker 1: he was probably a better baseball player than we even realized.

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00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:09,480
Speaker 1: Maybe there's always more to the story than we can

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Speaker 1: remember or even write down. Well, I could think about

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00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:16,879
Speaker 1: that for a long time. Yes, Tina, what is it?

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Speaker 3: Okay?

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00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, No, I'm late as usual. Okay, listeners, let's raise

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Speaker 1: to the room inside my secret underground bunker where I

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00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:29,720
Speaker 1: take all my most important video calls, boot up the computer,

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Speaker 1: the internets, and here we go. Hi, Bob and Peyton,

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00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:37,960
Speaker 1: can you introduce yourselfs.

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Speaker 9: Hi, my name is Bob Kendrick. I'm president of the

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Speaker 9: Negrodics Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, the world's only

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00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:47,919
Speaker 9: museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history of

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00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:52,840
Speaker 9: African American baseball and its profound impact on the social

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00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:54,640
Speaker 9: advancement of America.

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Speaker 1: Hi.

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00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:58,440
Speaker 7: I'm Peyton and I'm ten years old. I just love

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00:22:58,520 --> 00:22:59,800
Speaker 7: baseball all year round.

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00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:06,360
Speaker 1: Peyton, what were you hoping to ask Bob about Josh Gibson?

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00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,040
Speaker 7: So, mister Kendrick, I'm wondering why did it take so

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00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:13,720
Speaker 7: long for the Legro League players to get recognized as

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00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,200
Speaker 7: some of the greatest players of all time?

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00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:21,199
Speaker 9: That is a great question. They toiled, I'd like to

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00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:23,919
Speaker 9: say in anonymity for so long, and I say that

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00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,400
Speaker 9: because there were a lot of people who saw them play,

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00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,399
Speaker 9: they just happened to be black. Later on, as we

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00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,600
Speaker 9: get into the forties, before Jackie Robinson brace to color,

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00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,360
Speaker 9: there there were a lot of white fans who saw

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00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:36,560
Speaker 9: them play too. But there are a lot of people

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00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:39,639
Speaker 9: who still hold to the belief that if it didn't

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00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:42,840
Speaker 9: happen in the major leagues, then it must not have happened.

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00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,720
Speaker 9: And so we've been working so hard over the last

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00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:51,359
Speaker 9: thirty years to make sure that people know who these

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00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:56,040
Speaker 9: ballplayers were and how good they were, and what they

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00:23:56,119 --> 00:23:59,439
Speaker 9: contributed to the game, but just as important, what they

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00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:01,000
Speaker 9: contributed to this country.

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Speaker 7: Is it true Josh Gibson hit eight hundred home runs

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Speaker 7: in the Negro leagues?

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Speaker 9: Honestly, Peyton, he probably hit more than that, And again,

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00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:15,400
Speaker 9: this was against all levels of competition, including the major leaguers.

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00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:20,440
Speaker 9: I personally believe that Josh Gibson was the greatest hitter

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00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:22,560
Speaker 9: this game has ever seen.

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00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,360
Speaker 7: I would like to see more minorities play baseball because

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00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,600
Speaker 7: I'm kind of one of the only African American black

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00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:30,600
Speaker 7: kids on my team.

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00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,720
Speaker 9: We understand that there are just not a lot of

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00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:37,560
Speaker 9: black kids playing our game anymore. And the interesting thing

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00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,119
Speaker 9: about that, Peyton is baseball used to be our sport,

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00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:44,439
Speaker 9: which is why we had a Negro League. You had

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00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,679
Speaker 9: a league that was filled with black players and of

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00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:51,520
Speaker 9: course some brown players because you had Hispanic. But after

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00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:57,439
Speaker 9: baseball integrates and now Jackie Robinson and other black and

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00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:01,000
Speaker 9: brown stars leave the Negro League to go into Major

494
00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:04,960
Speaker 9: League Baseball, that is what ultimately put the Negro leagues

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00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:09,240
Speaker 9: out of business. And then over time there became kind

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00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:13,520
Speaker 9: of this separation, so to speak, from the African American

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00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:17,760
Speaker 9: community and the game of baseball. It became very expensive

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00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:22,040
Speaker 9: to play our sport. All the equipment is expensive, the

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00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,760
Speaker 9: league fees are expensive. Now you'll be playing all these

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00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,080
Speaker 9: travel teams and all of this kind of stuff where

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00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:32,159
Speaker 9: a lot of kids, particularly those kids who are in

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00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:36,080
Speaker 9: the urban court, they can't afford to play anymore. And

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00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:40,159
Speaker 9: so we're working hard with Major League Baseball to do

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00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,960
Speaker 9: everything we can to make sure that urban kids understand

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00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,800
Speaker 9: their place in this game. And so when you walk

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00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,240
Speaker 9: through the Negro League's Baseball museum, what did you see?

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00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:52,680
Speaker 9: You see people who look just like you, who played

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00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:56,320
Speaker 9: this game, and they played it as well as anyone

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00:25:56,800 --> 00:26:01,320
Speaker 9: ever played this game. It's important that you see yourself

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00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:02,639
Speaker 9: in this game.

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00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,040
Speaker 7: Thank you, mister Kendrick for sharing all those great stories

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00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:06,320
Speaker 7: with me.

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00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:09,960
Speaker 9: Payton was my pleasure and I've enjoyed hanging out with

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00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:10,560
Speaker 9: you today.

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00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:19,000
Speaker 1: Wow. Thank you both for this great conversation. Listeners, thanks

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00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:22,440
Speaker 1: for joining in today and witnessing the greatness of Josh

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00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:27,400
Speaker 1: Gibson with me. Thanks so much to today's guests Bob Kendrick,

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00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:32,440
Speaker 1: Fergie Philippe, and Pigton. Remember, parents and teachers. You can

519
00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:36,320
Speaker 1: download a free activity related to today's episode by visiting

520
00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:40,640
Speaker 1: story pirates dot com slash Historical Records. We'll be back

521
00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:44,480
Speaker 1: next week with another episode, another song, and another he route.

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00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:47,280
Speaker 1: But for now, there are a few huge holes in

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00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:49,440
Speaker 1: the backyard of my top secret bunker that I need

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00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:53,760
Speaker 1: to go fill in. Until next time, Remember to make history,

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00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:55,640
Speaker 1: you gotta make some noise.

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00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:07,600
Speaker 3: Bye.

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00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:12,960
Speaker 8: Historical Records is produced in partnership with story Pirate Studios.

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00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 8: Questlove's two one five Entertainment, John Glickman and iHeart Podcasts.

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00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:24,080
Speaker 8: Executive produced by Emir Questlove, Thompson, John Glickman, Lee Overtree

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00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:29,040
Speaker 8: and Benjamin Salka executive produced for iHeart Podcasts by Noel Brown.

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00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:33,440
Speaker 8: Producers for Story Pirate Studios are Isabella Riccio, Sam Bear,

532
00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:38,400
Speaker 8: Eric Gerson, Andrew Miller, Lee Overtree, Peter McNerney and niminy Ware.

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00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:42,320
Speaker 8: Producers for two one five are John G. Britney, Benjamin

534
00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:46,080
Speaker 8: and Sarah Zolman. Hosted by niminy Ware. Our head writer

535
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:50,480
Speaker 8: is Duke Doyle. Our historians are Gabe Pacheco and Lee Polus.

536
00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:54,880
Speaker 8: Music supervision for two one five by Stroe Elliott. Scoring

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00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:58,280
Speaker 8: and music supervision for Story Pirate Studios by Eric Gerson.

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00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:01,280
Speaker 8: Sound design and mixing by Sam Bear at the Relic

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00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:02,520
Speaker 8: Room in New York City.

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00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:04,760
Speaker 4: Song mastering by Josh Hahn.

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00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:08,120
Speaker 8: Theme song by Dan Foster and Eric Gerson and produced

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00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:13,280
Speaker 8: by Eric Erson. Production coordination by Isabelle Riccio, Production management

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00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:16,520
Speaker 8: by Maggie Lee. The line producer for Story Pired Studios

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00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:20,200
Speaker 8: is Glennis Brault. Pr for Story Pired Studios is provided

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00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:24,960
Speaker 8: by Naomi Shaw. Episode artwork by Camilla Franklin. This episode

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00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,520
Speaker 8: was written by Duke Doyle. The song Josh Gibson was

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00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:32,159
Speaker 8: written by Dan Foster and produced by Eric Erson. Vocal

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00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:36,520
Speaker 8: direction by Jack Mitchell special gut Spergie l Philippe, Bob

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00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:41,480
Speaker 8: Kendrick and kid interviewer Peyton. This episode features performances by

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00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:46,560
Speaker 8: Nick Canalis, Peter McNerney, Lee Overtree and Gabe Pachuco. Special

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00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:48,080
Speaker 8: thanks to alex Vespasad