Bob Gibson pitching during the ninth inning of the first game of the 1968 World Series at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, October 2, 1968.Photograph from AP
Rest in Peace
My hero. RIP, Gibby.
Gibson and Seaver: two of the greatest pitchers in my lifetime. Gibson owned the plate in an era when throwing at the chin was the norm. And he was a great hitter for a pitchr snd sometimes used as a pinch hitter.
Gibson passed away on the 52nd anniversary of one of his greatest performances – a 17-strikeout effort against the Tigers in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series.
And on a night wen the Cardinals were eliminated from the National League playoffs.
He was one of the best of the best.
Jay Johnstone, who just passed away a couple of days ago himself, said that he hit a homerun off Gibson in his last at bat against him. (Gibson was retiring at the end of that season.)
Ten years later, he faced Gibson in an old-timers game and Gibson drilled him.
“That’s for that homer ten years ago,” Gibson said.
Scully said Gibson was the luckiest pitcher; every time he was on the mound the other team was having a bad day.
RIP. One of the best.
(I wish Satchel Paige had been allowed to make it to the majors.)
Truly great pitcher. When I was growing up it was Koufax, Gibson, Marichal, Jenkins, young Seaver, Carlton, Palmer and short time sensation McLain. Gibson wrote a fine book that covered one of his great games, an enrire book on the thought process and strategy and physical trials of pitching one game. It was very enlightening. Really great pitcher, known for having the personality of a rattlesnake when he was on the mound.
Greatest righthander I ever saw. Dominating. Lou will be at the gate to greet him.
Amazing. A black guy named Bob
Damn. That guy had a look that could freeze water. Can’t imagine facing him. One of the best of the best. RIP.
Gibson was one of the greatest of all time, including the time he pitched on a broken leg in 1968. While rehabbing the leg, he taped an “interview” for the media to his locker for when he wasn’t there. The interview consisted of one of the three following answers:
1) The leg is coming along fine. I hope to be back pitching again as soon as possible.
2) I have confidence that the Cardinals will continue winning even as I am recuperating.
3) None of your damn business.
Yes, one of the great ones. A class act. RIP
RIP.
Awesome pitcher and competitor. Remembered from the days of my youth. Eternal Rest for you, Bob.
A great piece on Gibson here:
Bob Gibson pitching during the ninth inning of the first game of the 1968 World Series at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, October 2, 1968.Photograph from AP
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.
Lou and Bob both gone. Thanks for the memories back when baseball was good and not all politics like today.