May 18, 2021 4 min read

Josh Gibson, all-time Negro League great, smacked 238 home runs during his illustrious baseball career.

Only a couple, however, were as prodigious as the one he hit July 24, 1938, at Monessen’s old Page Park.

That day, while playing for the Homestead Grays against the Memphis Red Sox, Gibson hit the second-longest home run of his career out of Page Park.

The hit was measured at an incredible 536 feet. According to published reports, it ricocheted off of mill buildings and nearly landed in the Monongahela River. Monessen’s Mayor Gold measured the home run with the game officials.

To honor Gibson and his rare feat, The City of Monessen – with the help of Major League Baseball – will permanently honor the event with a historical marker. That marker will be dedicated and placed in downtown Monessen once it is completed later this year.

To get the home run officially recognized, it took a 10-year effort by Monessen resident Frank Lopresti, more recent help from Mayor Matt Shorraw and guidance from MLB and the Josh Gibson Foundation.

“It was a good 15 years ago I was reading a historical book, written by Cassandra Vivian of Monessen, that mentioned the home run,” said Lopresti, a 43-year-old Monessen resident. “I asked her about it, and she couldn’t remember about the home run.

“We couldn’t find much about it through a lot of research. I contacted the Pirates, who at the time were doing work with (representatives) of the former Negro Leagues and its players.”

Lopresti ended up discussing the milestone moment with Gibson’s grandson (Sean), and through his research, in conjunction with MLB, we were finally able to confirm the date and the specifics of the game.

“It’s a historical moment and I always felt it should be recognized. That’s the field where my (recently deceased) father (Frank) played on as well. Not to make more out of it than it is, but I am excited for the dedication of the marker.”

In Monessen, the city’s former minor league field sat between Page’s Wire Mill and Pittsburgh Steel. The field has been gone for decades, but the access tunnel – which is blocked off – still remains.

Page Park hosted numerous local baseball teams in the early-to-mid-20th century, including Negro League games. In the 1930s, it was also home to Monessen’s minor league team, the Monessen Indians, which was affiliated with the Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals.

Gibson, a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, is a legendary catcher known for his power hitting.

Gibson, who died in 1947 at age 35, had a career batting average of .359 and slugging percentage of .648.

In addition to playing for the Grays, Gibson played for the Pittsburgh Crawfords, and for Ciudad Trujillo in the Dominican League and Rojos del Águila de Veracruz in the Mexican League.

“We give a huge thanks and shoutout to the MLB and its executive team I’ve been working with,” Shorraw said. “Because of them, baseball legend Josh Gibson will be permanently honored in Downtown Monessen with a historical marker.

“MLB has agreed to donate the full cost for the marker. Also, a huge thank you to Sean Gibson as well as the representatives of the Pittsburgh Pirates for their support on this project.”

Shorraw added that all involved exchanged a number of emails and held a Zoom meeting.

“I pitched the idea of a marker,” he said. “It took some time, but it wasn’t hard. Everyone had to run it through the chain of command, just a lot of back and forth. I thought it was important to recognize the home run and that it happened in Monessen.”

Shorraw also credited city resident Daniel Zyglowicz, and the Greater Monessen Historical Society for their research and for helping verify the home run and date it happened.