RE-name the Baseball MVP Award the "Josh Gibson Memorial Baseball Award"
RE-name the Baseball MVP Award the "Josh Gibson Memorial Baseball Award"
Why this petition matters
UPDATE: Donations to the Josh Gibson Foundation, as well as more information about this incredible organization, can be made here: https://www.joshgibson.org/
UPDATE: The Baseball Writers Association of America has completed the first step in this process, for which we are very thankful. They voted on October 2nd (by an 89% margin!) to remove Kenesaw Mountain Landis's name from the MVP trophy. This is a great first step, and we ask that the BBWAA consider using that space to honor a legendary player who was never given the opportunity to win an MVP award himself because of the racist policies of Landis and his colleagues.
Since 1944, the Baseball MVP Award has been named the Kenesaw Mountain Landis Memorial Baseball Award. This honor was bestowed on the principal defender of racial segregation in Baseball, and 76 years is far too long allow this to go on. It is harmful, and it is racist. Instead, re-name the award after arguably the greatest player of the 20th Century, a player that too few people know about: Josh Gibson.
Born in 1911, Josh Gibson was--by any measure--the best baseball player in America. He was a 12-time All-Star, 2-time Negro League World Series Champion, and a Hall of Famer. His lifetime average is thought to be as high as .384, and he hit over 800 home runs. He was the brightest star of the thriving Negro Leagues, and was never invited to play in the Major Leagues because of Kenesaw Mountain Landis and his racist color line in baseball.
"I played with Willie Mays and against Hank Aaron. They were tremendous players, but they were no Josh Gibson." --Hall of Famer Monte Irvin.
We join Sean Gibson (great-grandson of Josh Gibson and Executive Director of the Josh Gibson Foundation) in supporting this powerful change and act of anti-racism. Josh Gibson surely would have won many a MVP Award had Kenesaw Mountain Landis allowed black players into the Major Leagues. We must no longer honor the racist legacy of Landis, and instead honor America’s greatest and most under-valued player: the legendary Josh Gibson.