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Bob Gibson

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For other uses, see Bob Gibson (disambiguation).

Template:Mlbretired Pack Robert "Bob" Gibson (born November 9, 1935 in Omaha, Nebraska) is a former right-handed baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1959 to 1975. His record-setting career led to his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. Gibson was a fierce competitor who rarely smiled and was known to throw close fast inside pitches to let batters know who was in charge (similar to his contemporary and fellow Hall of Famer Don Drysdale), although he had good control and hit only 102 batters in his career (fewer than Drysdale's 154). Known by many as the best pitcher in Cardinals history, Gibson dominated with his fastball, sharp slider, and a slow, looping curveball. After retirement, he now resides in Bellevue, Nebraska.

Youth and early career

Born Pack Gibson, after his father who died 3 months before his birth (the Gibson family could not afford a camera, therefore no photographs of his father exist). Gibson changed his name to Robert when he turned 18. Despite a childhood filled with health problems, including rickets, asthma, pneumonia, and a heart murmur, he was active in sports as a youth particularly baseball and basketball. After a standout career in baseball and basketball at Tech High in Omaha, Gibson won a basketball scholarship to Creighton University.

In 1957, Gibson received a $4,000.00 bonus to sign with the Cardinals. He delayed his start with the organization for a year, playing with the Harlem Globetrotters, earning the nickname "Bullet" Bob Gibson (his nickname in baseball was "Hoot", after Hoot Gibson, the cowboy and silent movie star). Although one of the star players on the team--Gibson was famous for backhanded dunks--he resigned from the Globetrotters to play baseball because he could not stand the clowning. In 1958 he spent a year at the triple-A farm club in Omaha. He graduated to the major leagues in 1959 and had the first of nine 200-strikeout seasons in 1962.

The Dominator

In the eight seasons from 1963 to 1970, he won 156 games and lost 81. He won nine Gold Glove Awards, was awarded the World Series MVP Award in 1964 and 1967, and won Cy Young Awards in 1968 and 1970.

In Game 7 of St. Louis's World Series triumph on October 15, 1964, Gibson held on to earn the win despite allowing ninth-inning home runs to New York Yankees Phil Linz and Clete Boyer(brother of the Cardinals' Ken Boyer).

His 1967 World Series performance was also notable. Gibson allowed only three earned runs over three complete game victories (Games 1, 4, and 7), also hitting a vital home run in Game 7. Moreover, he had come back late in that season from having his leg broken earlier in the season from a line drive by Roberto Clemente. The next time he faced Clemente he threw a pitch over Clemente's head which forced Clemente to take a dive into the dirt of the batter's box. Clemente never had another hit off Gibson during the remainder of his career.

His earned run average in 1968 was 1.12, which is a live-ball era record. He threw 13 shutouts, and allowed only two earned runs in 92 straight innings of pitching. Gibson also pitched 47 consecutive scoreless innings, at the time the second longest scoreless streak in Major League history behind only Don Drysdale's 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, which had been set earlier that very season. He also won the National League MVP Yet, because 1968 was known as "The Year of the Pitcher", he somehow managed to lose 9 games despite such eye-opening statistics, finishing with a record of 22-9. In Game One of the 1968 World Series, he struck out 17 Detroit Tigers to set a World Series record for strikeouts in one game (breaking Sandy Koufax's record of 15 in Game One of the 1963 World Series), which still stands today. His season was so successful that his performance is widely cited in Major League Baseball's decision to lower the pitcher's mound by five inches in 1969. The change had only a slight effect on him; he went 20-13 that year, with a 2.18 ERA. Some say that his 13 shutout season may never be repeated by anyone again given the heavier emphasis on pitch counts and relief pitching today.

On May 12, 1969, Gibson struck out three batters on nine pitches in the seventh inning of a 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Gibson became the ninth National League pitcher and the 15th pitcher in Major League history to accomplish the nine-strike/three-strikeout half-inning.

On August 14 1971, at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium in a night game, he pitched his only career no-hitter in an 11-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He was the second pitcher in MLB history (after Walter Johnson) to strike out over 3,000 batters, and the first to do so in the National League. He accomplished this at home, at Busch Stadium on July 17, 1974, the victim being César Gerónimo of the Cincinnati Reds. (Gerónimo would also become Nolan Ryan's 3000th strikeout victim, in 1980.)

Gibson was also one of the best-hitting pitchers of all time. In 1970, he hit .303 for the season (over 100 points higher than teammate Dal Maxvill) and was sometimes used by the Cardinals as a pinch-hitter. For his career, he batted .206 with 24 home runs (plus two more in the World Series) and 144 RBIs. He is one of only two pitchers since World War II with a career batting average of .200 or higher and with at least 20 home runs and 100 RBIs (fellow Hall of Famer and former Major League manager Bob Lemon, who had broken into the majors as a third baseman, is the other).

Gibson was above average as a baserunner and thus was occasionally used as a pinch runner, despite managers' general reluctance to risk injury to pitchers in this way.

Don't mess with 'Hoot'

Gibson was known for pitching inside to batters. Dusty Baker received the following advice from Hank Aaron about facing Gibson:

"'Don't dig in against Bob Gibson, he'll knock you down. He'd knock down his own grandmother if she dared to challenge him. Don't stare at him, don't smile at him, don't talk to him. He doesn't like it. If you happen to hit a home run, don't run too slow, don't run too fast. If you happen to want to celebrate, get in the tunnel first. And if he hits you, don't charge the mound, because he's a Gold Glove boxer.' I'm like, 'Damn, what about my 17-game hitting streak?' That was the night it ended." [1]

Gibson was surly and brusque even with his teammates. When his catcher Tim McCarver went to the mound for a conference, Gibson brushed him off, saying "The only thing you know about pitching is you can't hit it. Get back behind the plate unless you want the medic to carry you back to the dugout."

Gibson maintained this image even into retirement. In 1992, an Old-Timers' game was played at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego as part of the All-Star Game festivities, and Reggie Jackson hit a home run off Gibson. When the 1993 edition of the game was played, the 57-year-old Gibson threw the 47-year-old Jackson a brushback pitch. The pitch was not especially fast and did not hit Jackson, but the message was delivered, and Jackson did not get a hit.

Although a dominating pitcher never known for laughing or smiling during a game, but for a perpetual scowl, Gibson was also a man of great humility. He never claimed to be "the best," just "the hardest working." To this day he claims both Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver are the two best pitchers he ever faced, although both Ryan and Seaver return the compliment, each stating Gibson was the toughest competitor either had ever seen.

Honors

File:Gibson statue.JPG
Statue of Gibson outside Busch Stadium.
Bob Gibson's number 45 was retired by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1975.

His number 45 is retired by the St. Louis Cardinals, and in 1981, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame.

In 1999, he ranked Number 31 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

He has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

In 2004, he was named as the most intimidating pitcher of all time from the Fox Sports Net series The Sports List.

The street on the north side of Rosenblatt Stadium, home of the College World Series in his hometown of Omaha, is named Bob Gibson Boulevard.

Statistics

Seasons G GS CG W L PCT ERA SHO IP H ER HR BB SO
17 (1959-1975) 528 482 255 251 174 .591 2.91 56 3,884.1 3,279 1,258 257 1,336 3,117

See also

References

For a vivid depiction of the man and the times he pitched in, see David Halberstam's October 1964 (ISBN 0-679-43338-4; reprint ISBN 0-449-98367-6).

  • Bob Gibson at the Baseball Hall of Fame
  • Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
  • "photographs". University of Missouri–St. Louis.
  • Audio: Gibson's record-setting 16th strikeout of Norm Cash in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series
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