Bob Gibson

Pack Robert "Bob" Gibson (born November 9, 1935) is a former right-handed baseball pitcher, playing for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1959 to 1975. He was elected 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). Considered to be the best pitcher in Cardinals history (along with Dizzy Dean), Gibson dominated with his fastball, sharp slider, and a slow, looping curveball. He now resides in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue with his wife and son and is a special instructor coach for the St. Louis Cardinals.

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 $3,000 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.

In the eight seasons from 1963 to 1970, he won 156 games and lost 81, for a .658 winning percentage. 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).

In 1967, Gibson made a remarkable recovery from a broken leg to become the premiere pitcher in that year's World Series. Gibson's normal follow-through included landing hard on his right leg. On July 15, he was hit by a line drive off the bat of Roberto Clemente. The broken leg put Gibson on the disabled list until early September, while the Cardinals continued to play exceptionally well, with Nelson Briles who took Gibson's spot in the rotation, reeled off nine consecutive wins. With Gibson back in the lineup, the Cardinals secured the National League pennant on September 18, and won the pennant by 10.5 games.

In the 1967 World Series, Gibson allowed only three earned runs and 14 hits over three complete game victories (Games 1, 4, and 7), the latter two marks tying Christy Mathewson's 1905 World Series record, also hitting a vital home run in Game 7.

The 1968 season became known as "The Year of the Pitcher", and Gibson was at the forefront of pitching dominance. His earned run average was 1.12, which is a live-ball era record, the major league record in 300 or more innings pitched, and was the lowest major league ERA in 54 years (see Dutch Leonard). He threw 13 shutouts, just three behind Grover Alexander's 1916 Major League record of 16, and in one phenomenal stretch allowed only two earned runs in 92 innings (0.20 ERA). Gibson also pitched 47 consecutive scoreless innings, at the time the third longest scoreless streak in Major League history only to Walter Johnson's 56 in 1913, and Don Drysdale's 58 2/3 set earlier during the 1968 season. He also won the National League MVP Award, the last by a National League pitcher to date. With the batting anemic everywhere, Gibson lost 9 games against 22 wins despite his record-setting low 1.12 ERA, for one reason the team couldn't score many runs and he lost five 1-0 games, one of which was Gaylord Perry's no-hitter on September 17. He was never "knocked from the box" in 34 starts.

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.

Gibson's 1968 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 from 15" to 10". 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 shutouts and 28 complete games may never be repeated by anyone again given the heavier emphasis on pitch counts, relief pitching, and the continuing shift to hitters with newer ballparks having smaller foul areas, shorter distance to the outfield walls, and a smaller strike zone 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.

Gibson achieved two highlights in August 1971. On the 4th of the month, he defeated the San Francisco Giants 7-2 at Busch Stadium for his 200th career victory. Ten days later, he no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-0 at Three Rivers Stadium. Three of his 10 strikeouts in the game were to Willie Stargell, including the game's final out. The no-hitter was the first in Pittsburgh in more than 60 years; none had been pitched in the 62-year (mid-1909 to mid-1970) history of Three Rivers Stadium's predecessor, Forbes Field.

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 was César Gerónimo of the Cincinnati Reds. (Gerónimo would also become Nolan Ryan's 3,000th strikeout victim, in 1980.)

Gibson was also a good hitting pitcher and was sometimes used by the Cardinals as a pinch-hitter. In 1970, he hit .303 for the season, which was over 100 points higher than his teammate, shortstop Dal Maxvill. For his career, he batted .206 (274-for-1,328) with 44 doubles, 5 triples, 24 home runs (plus two more in the World Series) and 144 RBIs, plus stealing 13 bases and walking 63 times for a .206/.243/.301 line. 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 (Bob Lemon, who had broken into the majors as a third baseman, is the other at .232).

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.

The constant pounding on Gibson's right knee took its toll, eventually inflicting knee injuries that contributed to Gibson losing his effectiveness. In his final season 1975 he went 3-10 with a 5.04 ERA, and announced his retirement earlier that season. In his final appearance, Gibson was summoned as a reliever in a 6-6 game against the Cubs and gave up the game-winner to an unheralded player, most well known for his odd name and being the son of TV personality, Peter Marshall. "When I gave up a grand slam to Pete LaCock," Bob Gibson said later, "I knew it was time to quit."

The Cardinals honored him with a 'Day' in his honor in early September.

Bob Gibson #45
Pitcher