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RIP Bob Gibson - Printable Version

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RIP Bob Gibson - BostonCard - 10-02-2020

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30026719/hall-famer-bob-gibson-st-louis-cardinals-ace-dies-84

Same day as the Cardinals were eliminated from the playoffs by San Diego.

BC

RE: RIP Bob Gibson - bl82 - 10-02-2020

Gibson's 1968 season was absolutely unreal. 1.12 ERA!?! 13 shutouts! 198 hits allowed in 304 2/3 innings! Best season ever for a pitcher?

RE: RIP Bob Gibson - newguy - 10-03-2020

truly a legend.
may he rest in peace.

RE: RIP Bob Gibson - qwerty49 - 10-03-2020

Back in the day I saw a doubleheader at the 'Stick where the 2nd game was Marichal vs Gibson.  Nothing but zeroes for the first 6 or 7 innings and then Musial went yard against Marichal and they added a few more off the bullpen.  Giants had the Willies, Cepeda, the Alous, Ed Bailey, Harvey Kuehn, lots of lumber that year but Gibson was amazing with a complete game shutout.  He set the tone early by plunking Cepeda and Jim Ray Hart.  I remember Hart going down because it was like one of his first MLB ABs and Gibson got him right between the shoulder blades on the very first pitch.  Welcome to the big leagues, indeed.  Hart went down like a sack of potatoes and it took a long time for him to get up.  

I think Gibson's great season a few years later in 1968 was the primary reason they lowered the mound 5 or 6 inches the next year.

RE: RIP Bob Gibson - Embo - 10-03-2020

(10-03-2020, 02:05 AM)qwerty49 Wrote:  I think Gibson's great season a few years later in 1968 was the primary reason they lowered the mound 5 or 6 inches the next year.

1968 was the year of the pitcher.  Yes, Gibson's ERA was otherworldly.  But other pitchers were dominant as well, which led to the mound lowering. Back then, people were following Denny McLain's performances as he inexorably headed toward a 30 win season.  He ended up with 31.  Marichal was close behind - it was a little like McGwire and Sosa of 1998.  Marichal ended up 26-9 IIRC.

BTW, I just remembered another big example. The 1968 All-Star game. I watched it, in part because I was a youngster and also because back then the players played hard to win. That game ended 1-0 in favor of the NL. The only run was by Willie Mays, who singled, went to second on a errant pickoff throw, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a double play. That was it - not even a single RBI the entire game.

RE: RIP Bob Gibson - Mick - 10-03-2020

(10-03-2020, 02:05 AM)qwerty49 Wrote:  Back in the day I saw a doubleheader at the 'Stick where the 2nd game was Marichal vs Gibson.  Nothing but zeroes for the first 6 or 7 innings and then Musial went yard against Marichal and they added a few more off the bullpen.  Giants had the Willies, Cepeda, the Alous, Ed Bailey, Harvey Kuehn, lots of lumber that year but Gibson was amazing with a complete game shutout.  He set the tone early by plunking Cepeda and Jim Ray Hart.  I remember Hart going down because it was like one of his first MLB ABs and Gibson got him right between the shoulder blades on the very first pitch.  Welcome to the big leagues, indeed.  Hart went down like a sack of potatoes and it took a long time for him to get up.  

That was July 7, 1963.  Would have been great to see that game.  Giants won the first game, 4-3 in 15 innings.  Mays went 0 for 6 and got picked off 2nd.  Mays went 2 for 3 with a walk in game 2.  Gibson hit Hart, also hit Cepeda.  Marichal took the loss to drop him to 13-4.

RE: RIP Bob Gibson - qwerty49 - 10-03-2020

(10-03-2020, 01:55 PM)Mick Wrote:  
(10-03-2020, 02:05 AM)qwerty49 Wrote:  Back in the day I saw a doubleheader at the 'Stick where the 2nd game was Marichal vs Gibson.  Nothing but zeroes for the first 6 or 7 innings and then Musial went yard against Marichal and they added a few more off the bullpen.  Giants had the Willies, Cepeda, the Alous, Ed Bailey, Harvey Kuehn, lots of lumber that year but Gibson was amazing with a complete game shutout.  He set the tone early by plunking Cepeda and Jim Ray Hart.  I remember Hart going down because it was like one of his first MLB ABs and Gibson got him right between the shoulder blades on the very first pitch.  Welcome to the big leagues, indeed.  Hart went down like a sack of potatoes and it took a long time for him to get up.  

That was July 7, 1963.  Would have been great to see that game.  Giants won the first game, 4-3 in 15 innings.  Mays went 0 for 6 and got picked off 2nd.  Mays went 2 for 3 with a walk in game 2.  Gibson hit Hart, also hit Cepeda.  Marichal took the loss to drop him to 13-4.

Great research, Mick, I'm glad I didn't just dream it!

Yes, those were the good old days when we had Cepeda and they had Sadecki.  Unfortunately that changed a few years later.

lex24 - lex24 - 10-03-2020

(10-03-2020, 12:48 PM)Embo Wrote:  
(10-03-2020, 02:05 AM)qwerty49 Wrote:  I think Gibson's great season a few years later in 1968 was the primary reason they lowered the mound 5 or 6 inches the next year.

1968 was the year of the pitcher.  Yes, Gibson's ERA was otherworldly.  But other pitchers were dominant as well, which led to the mound lowering. Back then, people were following Denny McLain's performances as he inexorably headed toward a 30 win season.  He ended up with 31.  Marichal was close behind - it was a little like McGwire and Sosa of 1998.  Marichal ended up 26-9 IIRC.

BTW, I just remembered another big example.  The 1968 All-Star game.  I watched it, in part because I was a youngster and also because back then the players played hard to win.  That game ended 1-0 in favor of the NL.  The only run was by Willie Mays, who singled, went to second on a errant pickoff throw, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a double play.  That was it - not even a single RBI the entire game.

MLB had been building to ‘68 for a few years. The Atlantic writer that did the 100 top players (great writer, but he omitted Marichal, which was insane.  But I forgave him.  Barely.  And only cause his stories are fantastic) in his article on Koufax talked about how around ‘64 they changed the strike zone.  To the top of the shoulders and bottom of the knees. (The reason- games were getting too long!) Mounds were higher and generally not regulated. Dodger stadiums mound was the Everest of pitching mounds.  Koufax at Bluehead Stadium went something like 50-10 with about a 1.5 ERA over several years.  Not taking anything away from Koufax, he was incredible. But I found the strike zone part particularly interesting.  Taking away anything over the belt as a strike has had a h.u.g.e.  impact on the game.  And not for the better.



Edit: The Athletic is my go to sports page. Fantastic. The top 100 is worth a years subscription in and of itself. But I truly couldn’t understand how he could leave Juan out - and include guys like Phil Niekro, Blyleven and I believe Mussina. And sorry Stanford fans, there simply was no comparison between Marichal and Mussina. (And Niekro ? Seriously?) Add the fact that he is the Father of the Dominican’s to Major League Baseball (particularly pitchers) and it’s a puzzling omission.

lex24 - lex24 - 10-03-2020

One of Gibson’s losses in ‘68 was to the Giants.  1-0.  Took a Gaylord Perry no-hitter to beat him.Cards got even the next day when Ray Washburn no hit the Giants. Only time in MLB history.

RE: RIP Bob Gibson - sunnyside sudser - 10-03-2020

I had the incredible good fortune of seeing game 1 of the 68 World Series   Gibson vs McLain.  My dad scored the 2 tix from a client and we drove from kc the day before.Gibson was unbelievable that day 17 stikeouts complete game.  My first World Series game at 9 years old and I’ll never forget it.  Busch stadium was electric. 

Only got to see 4 mlb games that year.  The A’s had broken my heart and move to Oakland and the royals made there debut in 69.  My dad was starved for baseball so we flew to Chicago and saw an a’s white Sox series. My mom was so sick of ball park hotdogs by Sunday.

RE: RIP Bob Gibson - BostonCard - 10-03-2020

Your comment about Marichal raised the question: How many players are in the baseball hall of fame?

BC

RE: RIP Bob Gibson - Mick - 10-03-2020

235 former major leaguers are in the HoF.  24 primarily played for the NY or SF Giants (so wouldn't count Hornsby's single year with the Giants).

There are 333 total enshrined in the HoF.  The other 98 are 35 Negro league players, 31 executives, 22 managers and 10 umpires.

lex24 - lex24 - 10-03-2020

(10-03-2020, 06:48 PM)sunnyside sudser Wrote:  I had the incredible good fortune of seeing game 1 of the 68 World Series   Gibson vs McLain.  My dad scored the 2 tix from a client and we drove from kc the day before.Gibson was unbelievable that day 17 stikeouts complete game.  My first World Series game at 9 years old and I’ll never forget it.  Busch stadium was electric. 

Only got to see 4 mlb games that year.  The A’s had broken my heart and move to Oakland and the royals made there debut in 69.  My dad was starved for baseball so we flew to Chicago and saw an a’s white Sox series. My mom was so sick of ball park hotdogs by Sunday.

Great story, thanks for sharing.

RE: RIP Bob Gibson - Giants - 10-03-2020

(10-03-2020, 02:05 AM)qwerty49 Wrote:  Back in the day I saw a doubleheader at the 'Stick where the 2nd game was Marichal vs Gibson.  Nothing but zeroes for the first 6 or 7 innings and then Musial went yard against Marichal and they added a few more off the bullpen.  Giants had the Willies, Cepeda, the Alous, Ed Bailey, Harvey Kuehn, lots of lumber that year but Gibson was amazing with a complete game shutout.  He set the tone early by plunking Cepeda and Jim Ray Hart.  I remember Hart going down because it was like one of his first MLB ABs and Gibson got him right between the shoulder blades on the very first pitch.  Welcome to the big leagues, indeed.  Hart went down like a sack of potatoes and it took a long time for him to get up.  

I think Gibson's great season a few years later in 1968 was the primary reason they lowered the mound 5 or 6 inches the next year.

I remember the game because Hart suffered a broken shoulder.  A photo of the x-ray in the Chronicle the following day revealed a perfectly round break when the ball impacted the bone.

Mays once said that Gibson was the only pitcher he ever feared. Quite a compliment from #24.

Seaver, Brock, Gibson. We have lost some real legends of the game recently......