Bob Gibson Dies at 84

St. Louis Today ^ | 10/2/20 | Rick Hummel

[Paul R.]

I think that kind of thing went on probably anywhere within 150 miles of St. Louis.

Funny story: Back in the ‘80’s, Ken Hensley, British rock musician w/ Uriah Heep, left the group, came to the US, bounced around a bit, married, eventually was born again in Christ, beat his cocaine habit, and lived in the St. Louis area for several years. In posts to his fans he’d occasionally talk about having become a Cardinals fan. To paraphrase: “If you want to live around here, you have to become a Cardinals fan!”

[Rummyfan]

Re Bob Gibson in 1968:

Gibson completed twenty-eight of the thirty-four games he started in 1968, and was never removed in the middle of an inning—never knocked out of the box. His 1.12 earned-run average is second only to the all-time low of 1.01, established by the Red Sox’ Hub Leonard in 1914, and it eclipsed the old National League mark of 1.22, set by Grover Cleveland Alexander in 1915. Gibson’s thirteen shutouts are second only to the sixteen that Alexander achieved the following summer. But those very low early figures, it should be understood, must be slightly discounted, for they were established in the sludgy, Pleistocene era of the game, when aces like Leonard and Alexander and Walter Johnson and the White Sox’ Red Faber regularly ran off season-long earned-run averages of two runs or less per game, thanks to the dead ball then in use.

[Rummyfan]

Gibson completed twenty-eight of the thirty-four games he started in 1968, and was never removed in the middle of an inning—never knocked out of the box. His 1.12 earned-run average is second only to the all-time low of 1.01, established by the Red Sox’ Hub Leonard in 1914, and it eclipsed the old National League mark of 1.22, set by Grover Cleveland Alexander in 1915. Gibson’s thirteen shutouts are second only to the sixteen that Alexander achieved the following summer. But those very low early figures, it should be understood, must be slightly discounted, for they were established in the sludgy, Pleistocene era of the game, when aces like Leonard and Alexander and Walter Johnson and the White Sox’ Red Faber regularly ran off season-long earned-run averages of two runs or less per game, thanks to the dead ball then in use.

[Dilbert San Diego]

Yes, I remember that 1968 World Series.

I recall some of the storylines.

Center fielder Mickey Stanley played shortstop during the series, so that the Tigers got Al Kaline’s bat in the lineup. . Stanley replaced the light hitting Ray Oyler at short.

Anticipated pitching duels between 31 game winner Denny McLain and Bob Gibson didn’t materialize. Instead, we saw workhorse Mickey Lolich pitch the deciding 7th game for the Tigers against Bob Gibson. As I recall it was a scoreless tie for 6 innings? Then in the 7th, Jim Northrup’s 2 run triple over the stumbling Curt Flood in center field opened the scoring for the Tigers.

In 1968, The Year of the Pitcher, Bob Gibson had an unbelievable 1.12 ERA.

Good memories of the past.

[packrat35]

Lou and Bob both gone. Thanks for the memories back when baseball was good and not all politics like today.

[packrat35]

That is an awesome photo.

[Dan in Wichita]

Agreed. Amazing stats, CatOwner. Gibson must have been an intimidating pitcher. He sure didn’t need any extra help from a raised mound to get batters out.