Bob Gibson, 1935-2020

For a while, it looked like Bob Gibson could even brush Death itself back.

Pack Robert Gibson Jr. was born on November 9, 1935 in Omaha, Nebraska. He would go by "Bob," and would later be known as "Gibby" and "Hoot," after Edmund Richard "Hoot" Gibson, a rodeo champion who was a Western movie star during Bob's youth.

He grew up without a father, as Pack Robert Gibson Sr. died of tuberculosis before Bob was born. Bob revered the father he never knew, but didn't like "Pack," so he legally dropped the name when he was old enough. As a boy, he had rickets and asthma, but recovered, and was guided by his older brother Josh Gibson, no relation to the Negro Leagues legend of the same name.

He starred in baseball, basketball and track at Technical High School. Other notable Omaha Tech graduates include baseball legend Mel Harder; Johnny Rosenblatt, the Mayor whose name went on Omaha's longtime baseball stadium; Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers; basketball players Bob Boozer and Ron Boone; and U.S. Senator Roman Hruska.

Bob wanted to play basketball at Indiana University, which had won NCAA Championships in 1940 and 1953. But he was told their "Negro athlete quota" had been filled. So he stayed in his hometown, and attended Creighton University, and played well there in baseball and basketball.

He was offered a $3,000 bonus to sign with the St. Louis Cardinals. But he was getting married, and the Harlem Globetrotters offered him more money. He played for the Globies for a year. Legend has it that he quit because he didn't like the clowning, but this isn't true: It was the traveling and the doubleheaders he didn't like.

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The Cardinals were still interested, so he signed, and even got to play on the Cardinals' farm team in his hometown of Omaha. He worked his way onto the big-league roster in Spring Training 1959. On April 15, he made his major league debut, in front of 14,491 fans at the Los Angeles Coliseum -- meaning 80,000 empty seats. Wearing Number 58, he pitched the 7th and 8th innings in relief of Larry Jackson, and gave up a home run to Jim Baxes. It didn't matter, because Don Drysdale pitched a shutout, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cardinals 5-0.

He appeared in just 13 games that season, starting 9, and going 3-5. In 1960, wearing Number 31, and then switching to the 45 he would wear for the rest of his career, he struggled again, going 3-6.

On July 6, 1961, Solly Hemus, who had alternated Gibson between starting and relieving, and was accused by the team's black players, Gibson included, of racism, was fired as Cardinal manager. The new manager, Johnny Keane, had managed Gibson in Omaha, and immediately moved him into an exclusive starting role. The other black players took note that Keane's attitude toward them was an improvement, and the Cards got better.

Gibson went 13-12 in 1961, 15-13 in 1962, and 18-9 in 1963, Stan Musial's last season before retiring. 3rd baseman Ken Boyer was named as Captain to replace Musial, and 1964 would be a special season. The Cardinals traded for left fielder Lou Brock, and Gibson went 19-12. Guided by an 8-2 run in late September, and aided by the 1st-place Philadelphia Phillies losing 10 straight, the Cards won the National League Pennant, their 1st in 18 years.

They faced the New York Yankees in the World Series. Gibson lost Game 2, but won Game 5, and was asked to pitch Game 7 at Sportsman's Park on 2 days' rest. He took a 7-2 lead into the 9th inning, but, exhausted, he gave up home runs to Phil Linz and Clete Boyer. With the tying runs on, he got Bobby Richardson for the final out, and the Cards won. Gibson set a new World Series record with 31 strikeouts, and became a baseball legend before his 29th birthday. He was named the Series' Most Valuable Player.

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He went 20-12 in 1965, under new manager Red Schoendienst, and 21-12 in 1966, as the Cards moved from Sportsman's Park on the North Side of St. Louis to the new Busch Memorial Stadium downtown. That year, the Cards acquired slugging 1st baseman Orlando Cepeda. In 1967, they added former Yankee Roger Maris.

On July 15, the Cards faced the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Roberto Clemente hit a line drive off Gibson's right leg. He faced 3 more batters, then limped off the mound. X-rays showed a broken fibula. Gibson had pitched with a broken leg. If anybody had ever questioned his toughness, nobody did after that. He returned on September 7, and the Cardinals ran away with the Pennant.

They faced the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. Fenway Park's close left field wall, the Green Monster, did not faze him. He pitched a complete-game victory in Game 1. In St. Louis, he pitched a complete-game victory in Game 4. The Cards needed just 1 more win. But the Sox won Game 5 at Busch and Game 6 at Fenway.

Jim Lonborg, the American League's Cy Young Award winner that season, won Games 2 and 5. Sox manager Dick Williams asked who was pitching Game 7. He said, "Lonborg and champagne." That became the headline, and Gibson saw it. But, this time, it would be Lonborg pitching on 2 days' rest, while Gibson had 3. Gibson hit a home run off Lonborg, and went the distance, as the Cardinals won 7-2. No pitcher had ever won 2 World Series Game 7s before, and none has since.

For the 2nd time, he was named World Series MVP. He got a men's suit endorsement, and, once it became public knowledge that he was still battling asthma after all these years, he became one of the earliest black athletes to appear in a TV commercial, endorsing Primateme mist.

The 1968 season became known as "The Year of the Pitcher." Denny McLain won 31 games, the majors' 1st 30-win season since 1934, and his Detroit Tigers roared to the AL Pennant. Juan Marichal led the NL with 26 wins. Drysdale pitched 58 2/3rds consecutive scoreless innings for a new record, including 6 straight shutouts. Luis Tiant, then with the Cleveland Indians, had an ERA of 1.60.

Baseball as a whole was just not hitting. All hitters combined had a batting average of .237. Carl Yastrzemski of the Red Sox, who had won the Triple Crown the year before, including a .344 average, was the AL's only hitter above .300, batting .301.

Most amazing of all was Gibson. In June and July combined, he made 12 starts, completing and winning all of them, pitching shutouts in 8 of them. He had a streak of 47 consecutive scoreless innings, then 3rd all-time behind Drysdale's new record and the old one he broke, by 56 Walter Johnson. He finished with an earned run average of 1.12, the lowest ever in the post-1920 Lively Ball Era. The last pitcher with a lower one was Dutch Leonard, who had one of 0.96 in 1914.

Just to show that Gibson wasn't only taking advantage of The Year of the Pitcher, his ERA+ was 258 -- meaning he was 158 percent better at preventing earned runs than the average pitcher of the season, even that season. His WHIP was just 0.853. He also led the NL in strikeouts for the 1st time, with 268.

There was another factor at work: Gibson's intimidating presence. Like Jim Bunning, another Hall of Fame pitcher of the 1960s, his pitching motion resulted in his right leg swinging around, making it look like he was jumping toward the hitter. Gibson was listed at 6-foot-1 and 189 pounds, but this, and the 15-inch height of the pitcher's mound, made him look much bigger. It was very distracting, and, against Bob Gibson, a batter needed as few distractions as he could get.

Much like Ty Cobb and Ted Williams, Gibson could be charming to people he liked; but, once on the field, he played with a snarl. He was known to brush hitters back, to let them know that he owned the plate -- and he had the control to enforce that. "I didn't throw at a lot of guys," he later admitted, "but when I did, I made sure I hit them." Never in the head: He would mess with a player's mind, but wouldn't threaten their career. He hit 102 batters over 17 seasons. Compare that with Drysdale, also known as a "headhunter," who hit 154 in 14 seasons.

Tim McCarver practically built a broadcasting career telling stories about being the catcher for Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton. One time, McCarver went to the mound to talk to Gibson. Gibson told him, "The only thing you know about pitching is that it's hard to hit!" That wasn't completely fair: McCarver's lifetime batting average, over 22 seasons, was .271. But Gibson didn't need a pep talk.

Jim Ray Hart, a 3rd baseman for the San Francisco Giants, told this story about a doubleheader against the Cardinals:

Ya think? Dusty Baker was a rookie with the Atlanta Braves in 1968, and told this story:

In 1964 and 1965, Bob's roommate on roadtrips was 1st baseman Bill White, later a Yankee broadcaster and President of the National League. In 1966, Bill was traded to the Phillies. He knew he would have to face Bob. He did not dig in. Bob brushed him back anyway. "I knew what the message was," Bill later said. "It was, 'We're not roommates anymore.'"

"I'd like to think that the term 'intensity' comes closer to summarizing my pitching style than do qualities like meanness and anger, which were merely devices," Gibson said. "My pitching career, I believe, offers a lot of evidence to the theory that baseball is a mental discipline as much as a physical one."

Gibson's record in 1968 was 22-9. How did he lose 9 games? The Cards weren't really hitting, either. He lost 2 games 1-0, including a game in which the opposing pitcher, Gaylord Perry, pitched a no-hitter. He started 34 games, completed 28, and he was never relieved due to his own failings: All 6 times, Schoendienst removed him for a pinch-hitter in that season in which runs were most at a premium.

Sportswriter Roger Angell, who turned 100 earlier this year, asked Gibson, "Are you surprised at what you do?" Gibson said, "I'm never surprised by anything I do."

And, a quarter of a century before basketball star Charles Barkley faced the question of whether he was, or should be, a role model, Bob Gibson said, "Why do I have to be an example for your kid? You be an example for your own kid."

Gibson and McLain were named their respective League's Most Valuable Players in 1968. This remains the only time both League's MVPs have been pitchers, and not until Clayton Kershaw in 2014 would another pitcher win it in the NL.

It was obvious that Gibson and McLain would be named as starting pitchers in Game 1 of the World Series. On September 29, before the Series began, they were invited to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show. McLain had actually played organ in Las Vegas casino lounges, and Gibson could play guitar, so Sullivan had them perform together. Neither minded, and each said complimentary (if not "nice") things about the other.

Gibson strode to the mound at Busch Stadium on October 2, 1968, and delivered his pièce de résistance. The established record for strikeouts in a World Series game was 15, by Sandy Koufax, 5 years earlier. Gibson mixed in blazing fastballs and devastating sliders. He struck out Al Kaline and Norm Cash 3times each; Jim Northrup, Bill Freehan and Willie Horton twice; and Dick McAuliffe, Mickey Stanley, Don Wert, Eddie Mathews and McLain once each. His 143rd and last pitch was a perfect curveball on the inside corner that froze Horton, for his 17th strikeout of the game. No pitcher has come close to this mark since.

Baserunners? He gave up a single to Stanley in the 1st, a single to Wert in the 3rd, a walk to Freehan in the 5th, a single to McAuliffe and a double to Kaline in the 6th, and another single to Stanley in the 9th. That was it: 5 hits and 1 walk, compared to 17 strikeouts. "We were fastball hitters," Northrup said, "but he blew the ball right by us. And he had a nasty slider that was jumping all over the place."

And McLain? Unlike Gibson, he did not live up to the hype: The Cardinals scored 3 runs off him in the 4th, and Brock added a home run off Pat Dobson in the 7th. Cardinals 4, Tigers 0.

Gibson outpitched McLain again in Game 4 at Tiger Stadium, riding the Cardinal bats to win 10-1. As in 1967, the Cards needed just 1 more win to take the Series. As in 1967, the AL Champs won Games 5 and 6. But this time, Game 7 would be in St. Louis. And Gibson would be matched against Mickey Lolich, who had won Games 2 and 5. Gibson would have 3 days' rest, Lolich 2 -- just like Gibson vs. Lonborg the year before. All signs pointed toward Gibson leading the Cards to a 3rd title in 5 years.

But Gibson was not at his best. A Horton throw from left field nailed Brock at the plate. And Northrup hit a triple over the head of normally sure-fielding center fielder Curt Flood. Lolich went the distance, and the Tigers won, 4-1. Gibson had won 7 straight World Series games, but the streak was over.

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Through little fault of his own, Bob Gibson never appeared in another postseason game. Turmoil within the Cardinal organization, including between some of the players and Gussie Busch, the beer baron who owned the team, broke up the 1960s champions.

Before the 1969 season, Major League Baseball reacted to The Year of the Pitcher by changing some rules. The strike zone was lowered a little, and the pitcher's mound was lowered from 15 inches at its crest to 10 inches. Scoring rose throughout baseball. Suffice it to say, Gibson's 1968 ERA of 1.12 has never been seriously threatened. In 1978, Ron Guidry went 25-3, and his ERA was 1.74. In 1985, Dwight Gooden went 24-4, and his ERA was 1.53.

The changes didn't hurt Gibson much: He went 20-13 with a 2.18 ERA in 1969, 23-7 with 3.12 in 1970 (for his 2nd Cy Young Award), and 16-13 with 3.04 in 1971. On August 14, 1971, he pitched a no-hitter, and his teammates backed him up in an 11-0 pounding of the Pittsburgh Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium.

But he was 36 years old as the 1972 season dawned, and his knee was giving him trouble. He lost his 1st 5 decisions before getting going again. On June 21, he won his 211th game, allowing him to surpass Jesse Haines for most wins by a Cardinal pitcher. (Grover Cleveland Alexander is best remembered as a Cardinal, but of his 373 career wins, only 55 were with St. Louis.) Gibson finished the season with a 19-11 record and a 2.46 ERA.

In 1973, despite an ERA of 2.77, the knee allowed him to make only 25 starts, and he went 12-10. The Cardinals finished a game and a half behind the New York Mets in the National League Eastern Division.

On July 17, 1974, at Busch Stadium, he struck Cesar Geronimo out for his 3,000th career strikeout, making him the 2nd player after Walter Johnson, the 1st National Leaguer, and then the only living human to reach that milestone. But he lost the game to the Cincinnati Reds, 6-4. He finished the season 11-13, with a 3.83 ERA, and the Cards again finished a game and a half out of 1st, this time behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He announced that 1975 would be his last season, and he admitted that he had been using baseball to cope with his divorce from his 1st wife, Charline, the year before. On September 3, against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium, he was brought in to relieve for the 7th inning, and got Bill Madlock, who went on to win the batting title, to fly to left. But he walked Jose Cardenal, gave up a single to Cham Summers, walked Andre Thornton, got Manny Trillo to ground into a force play at home, then threw a wild pitch to let in a run, walked Jerry Morales intentionally, and gave up a grand slam to Pete LaCock. He got Don Kessinger to ground out to end the inning, but told Schoendienst that was it: He would never pitch again.

He finished the year just 3-10. He closed his career with a record of 251-174, an ERA of 2.91, an ERA+ of 127, a WHIP of 1.188, and 3,117 strikeouts. He played in 9 All-Star Games, and won 9 Gold Gloves. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981, in his 1st year of eligibility. The Cardinals elected him to their team Hall of Fame, retired his Number 45, and dedicated a statue of him outside Busch Stadium, which they moved next-door to the new Busch Stadium in 2006.

Gibson was the closest thing baseball had to Jim Brown. No, he didn't quit his sport at the height of his career to go into acting, because he would rather deal with Hollywood producers then deal with the odor of his team. Gussie Busch actually treated him pretty well. He played his game and lived his life on his own term, and got results. He was baseball's John Shaft.

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Gibson returned to Omaha, opened a restaurant, and served on the board of a local bank. In 1979, he married Wendy Nelson, and they became parents of a daughter, Annette, following Bob's sons with Charline, Christopher and Ray.

In 1981, former teammate Joe Torre, then manager of the Mets, offering him the job of his pitching coach. It was weird to see Gibson in any uniform other than that of the St. Louis Cardinals, but especially that of the Mets. In 1992 and 1993, the Mets would have a pitcher named Paul Gibson, a white lefthander, who wore Number 45. He, too, would go into coaching.

Torre and his entire staff were fired after the 1981 season, but they were hired by the Atlanta Braves, and they reached the 1982 NL Championship Series, losing it to, ironically, the Cardinals. Gibson stayed with the Braves through 1984, then went back to St. Louis, hosting pregame and postgame shows on the Cardinals' radio flagship, KMOX, through 1989.

In 1995, he was a pitching coach for the last time, under Torre with the Cardinals. When Torre became Yankee manager in 1996, his pitching coach was the man Gibson outpitched in Game 7 of the 1964 World Series, Mel Stottlemyre. It worked out well, and, besides, it would have been stranger to see Bob Gibson in Yankee Pinstripes than it was even in Met Blue & Orange.

In 1994, with Lonnie Wheeler, who had recently worked with Hank Aaron, Gibson wrote a memoir, Stranger To the Game. In 2016, he published Pitch By Pitch: My View of One Unforgettable Game, meaning Game 1 of the 1968 World Series.

In 2011, he collaborated with Reggie Jackson on Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk About How the Game Is Played. They discussed the mindsets of pitchers and hitters, especially against each other, including how both pitchers and hitters approached different kinds of pitches and different kinds of hitters. As far as I know, it's the only book of its kind, a collaboration between a Hall of Fame pitcher and a Hall of Fame hitter.

Reggie, a career American Leaguer, batted against Bob, a career National Leaguer, in only 1 at-bat: At the 1972 All-Star Game at Atlanta (later Atlanta-Fulton County) Stadium. Gibson started for the NL. Reggie, then with the Oakland Athletics, doubled to right-center in the 1st inning. The NL won it, 4-3.

In 1992, back when there was still an old-timers game the day before the All-Star Game, Gibson, then 56 years old, pitched for the NL in San Diego. Reggie, then 46, batted for the AL. Reggie hit a home run. Reggie rounded the bases at perfectly normal speed, not his usual trot, and looked nervous when he crossed the plate. He looked back at Bob, and Bob glared at him. They did not face each other again in that game.

In 1993, there was a rematch in Baltimore. Reggie remembered. So did Bob. Bob threw a ball a few feet over Reggie's head. It was a message. Reggie was relieved. Bob had the same glare.

In 1999, The Sporting News named its 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and Gibson was ranked 31st. That same year, fans voted him onto the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In his hometown of Omaha, a statue of him stands in Werner Park, and a street outside the old Rosenblatt Stadium was named Bob Gibson Boulevard.

By that point, Pedro Martinez was having his best season, wearing Number 45, and hitting batters on purpose. I could say that Pedro wanted to be Bob Gibson when he grew up, but Pedro never grew up.

One argument against the designated hitter is that it denies an opposing pitcher the chance to hit the pitcher who hit his teammate. Gibson batted .206 with 24 home runs and 144 RBIs, and that doesn't count a home run in the 1967 World Series and another in the 1968 World Series. Don Drysdale, also known for hitting batters, batted just .186, but had 29 home runs and 113 RBIs. You want to retaliate by hitting them? Good luck.

In 2019, Bob Gibson developed pancreatic cancer. Often, this disease works very quickly, killing the victim within weeks. He fought it for over a year, but died yesterday, October 2, 2020, in Omaha, a little short of his 85th birthday.