Both men played the game superbly, but whereas Jackie Robinson was honored and recognized in his lifetime for his achievements, both as a baseball player and a civil rights leader, recognition of Josh Gibson came only after his death.
Gibson, along with other greats of the Negro Leagues, was finally admitted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972, a quarter century after he died and a decade after Robinson was admitted. It is tragic that Gibson did not live to see the integration of major league baseball or to enjoy the honors that were due him.