Before ol Henry Aaron
Before ol Willie Mays
A brown-skin man hit homers
Over any wall they could raise
Before ol Jackie Robinson
Before Yasiel Puig
But he never made it out of the Negro League

Ooh, Josh Gibson
They called you the black Babe Ruth
But those who saw you play, called Babe Ruth
The white Josh Gibson
Your name never made the Majors
But in the Hall of Fame it lives on
Ooh, Josh Gibson

Played with the Pittsburgh Crawfords
Played with the Homestead Grays
In the Negro League you had no peer
It was you and Satchel Page
12 weeks before Jackie Robinson
At 35 years of age
They laid you down in Pittsburgh
In an unmarked grave

Bridge:
They only man to ever hit a ball outta
Yankee Stadium
The only one

His plaque over at the Hall of Fame
Claims 800 home runs
They made him into a postage stamp
The 33 cent one
Jackie Robinson was the first
Josh Gibson was the best
They say it was a broken heart
Exploded in his chest

Ooh, Josh Gibson
They called you the black Babe Ruth
But those who saw you play, called Babe Ruth
The white Josh Gibson
Your name never made the Majors
But in the Hall of Fame it lives on
Ooh, Josh Gibson

(lyrics: Dan Bern)