RIP Bob Gibson | The Boneyard

RIP Bob Gibson

RIP to the greatest right handed pitcher I ever saw before Nolan Ryan came along. Certainly Gibby was the most competitive. Can we all take a vote to just end 2020 now and be done? #$%K 2020.
 
Bob Gibson & Lou Brock, 2 HOF stars on that great 1964 Cardinal team, both pass away within a month of each other. As a diehard Yankee fan, I watched that series intently as a kid, or at least as much as I could see of the games, running home from school to catch the last few innings. I am feeling very, very old. :(
 
Gibson is responsible for my favorite quote from a baseball player. “I have seven pitches: fastball, curveball, slider, changeup, brushback, knockdown, and hit batsman."

They don’t make them like him any more.
 
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I asked my neighbor, Kurt Bevacqua, who the toughest pitcher he ever faced was and he immediately answered "Bob Gibson." The only thing surprising about that is that I still have neighbors who are willing to talk to me.
 
No one mentioned that Bob Gibson also played for the Harlem Globe Trotters. He was a great athlete.

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oldude said:
Bob Gibson & Lou Brock, 2 HOF stars on that great 1964 Cardinal team, both pass away within a month of each other. As a diehard Yankee fan, I watched that series intently as a kid, or at least as much as I could see of the games, running home from school to catch the last few innings. I am feeling very, very old. :(
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The teachers back then allowed us to listen to the games in class with transistor radios, reception scratchy at best but we listened nevertheless. The evening paper always had a partial score on the front page.
 
Bigboote said:
Gibson is responsible for my favorite quote from a baseball player. “I have seven pitches: fastball, curveball, slider, changeup, brushback, knockdown, and hit batsman.

They don’t make them like him any more.
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You remind me of a story told by Bill White, Gibson’s longtime teammate with the Cardinals. Later in his career White was traded from the Cards to the Phillies. The first time he batted against Gibson, White stepped up to the plate and gave his old friend and teammate a big smile and hello.

Gibson’s first pitch to White drilled him in the back, clearly making the point to White that they were on different teams now.
 
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Here's another quote:

"I've played a couple of hundred games of tic-tac-toe with my little daughter and she hasn't beaten me yet. I've always had to win. I've got to win." Source: The Summer Game (Roger Angell)
 
RSHERMVIKES said:
Bob Gibson had the heart of a lion!
He once finished an inning getting 2 outs after getting his lower leg broken with a ball hit up the middle!
He, Don Drysdale, Sal Maglie, and Nolan Ryan were the "meanest" pitchers of their eras!
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Sal (The Barber) Maglie. Saw him pitch against my Pirates a few times. Had one of the greatest curve balls I've ever seen. Lost a few years when he went down to the Mexican League and they tried to ban him.
 
Bob Gibson was one of the greatest pitchers of my or anyone else's generation. Not only was he one of the greatest pitchers, he was also one of, if not the best, fielding and hitting pitchers ever to take the field. I hated him when he pitched against my Bucs but opposing fans tend to hate the great ones while they are young and grow to appreciate them when they finally get some sense in their heads.
 
Steelerone said:
Bob Gibson was one of the greatest pitchers of my or anyone else's generation. Not only was he one of the greatest pitchers, he was also one of, if not the best, fielding and hitting pitchers ever to take the field. I hated him when he pitched against my Bucs but opposing fans tend to hate the great ones while they are young and grow to appreciate them when they finally get some sense in their heads.
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I hated Gibson when I was a kid. I remember when he drilled both Banks and Santos in a game on WGN, Leo was pissed after the second HBP. The first Cardinal up to bat in the next inning got drilled in the back in retaliation. Back then they didn't throw the pitcher or manager out for retaliation HPB's.
 
Steelerone said:
Sal (The Barber) Maglie. Saw him pitch against my Pirates a few times. Had one of the greatest curve balls I've ever seen. Lost a few years when he went down to the Mexican League and they tried to ban him.
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Love Maglie's nickname. Did Gibson have a nickname? There's probably been a BY nickname thread before but I've never seen one.
 
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Gibby or Hoot were his nicknames. The first one is pretty obvious.
 
To put Bob Gibson, consider the following:

1968-71 Gibson started 134 games, completed 99(!) of them, with 25 shutouts. Had a 2.32 ERA over that time period, won a MVP and 2 Cy Youngs, and had 35.5 WAR (and led the NL - all players - three straight years). And, oh yeah, had 28 hit batters. Perhaps some unintentional.
 
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After the 1968 season MLB lowered the height of the mound from 15" to 10" above the baselines and home plate. Pitchers dominated hitters in '68. Gibson had an ERA of 1.12 and Denny McLain won 31 games.

How would you like to stand 60'6" away from Bob Gibson?
 
I was a young kid following the Red Sox in 1967. Gibson had three complete game wins in the World Series, allowing just 3 runs. He hit a home run to boot.
 
EdSaid said:
After the 1968 season MLB lowered the height of the mound from 15" to 10" above the baselines and home plate. Pitchers dominated hitters in '68. Gibson had an ERA of 1.12 and Denny McLain won 31 games.
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And 13(!) shutouts in 1968. That is not a misprint.
 
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LesMis89 said:
The MLB batting average in 1968 was .237

This is not a misprint
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And the MLB batting average in 2020 was .245. And in 2019 there were 25 shutouts in MLB - total.

Still think 13 shutouts in a season is awfully damn impressive. You have to go back to 1916 and Pete Alexander to find a pitcher with more in a season.
 
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Thanks for the memories and stats. Gibby ate the lunch of my Phillies in the 60s.
 
Another Bob Gibson story.

Boston Globe 10-17-20 by Dan Shaughnessy.

"I bumped into the super-competitive Gibson in an elevator about 30 years ago and told him about a rookie slugger who had homered off Roger Clemens, then asked Clemens to sign the ball. I could see steam coming off the top of Gibson’s head as I told him the story.

I asked Gibson what he would have done in that situation, and he said, “I would have hit him in the head the next time I faced him, then offered to sign his head!”
 
Bob Gibson was also a Harlem Globetrotter, Golden glove boxer, occasional pinch runner and hit 300 one season. When Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken were entered in the hall of fame, they were asked "What pitcher in history would you most like to face". They reponded "You mean least like to face." Bob Gibson
 
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