RIP Bob Gibson

[thomas35forever]

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cardinals-hall-of-famer-bob-gibson-dies-at-84-after-bout-with-cancer/article_90a0dff7-bee3-5a81-9eb0-91663f29fb4d.amp.html?__twitter_impression=true

He retired well before I was born, but I have the ultimate respect for what he did. RIP Bob.

[TDog]

MLB.com is reporting Bob Gibson has lost his fight with pancreatic cancer. What a really horrible year this has been.

I have a baseball in my home office signed by both Bob Gibson and Bob Feller. I had a chance to meet Gibson at a banquet more than a quarter of a century ago. It was a baseball casual thing, but Gibson was wearing a tie with baseballs on it. He would have stood out, though, even if he was in an open collar like everyone else.

I believe he's one of two baseball Hall of Famers to have played for the Harlem Globetrotters.

[Nellie Fox]

Was one of the main reasons the mound was lowered after he posted a 1.12 ERA in 1968. RIP.

[berwyn]

Was one of the main reasons the mound was lowered after he posted a 1.12 ERA in 1968. RIP.

Balls coming at heads off a mountain. He had advantages then that he wouldn't in today's game.

[Chez]

A fierce, intimidating presence on the mound. I saw him pitch once in-person in the late 1960's at Wrigley. All cancers are horrible, but pancreatic cancer is one of the worst. R.I.P.

[TDog]

Balls coming at heads off a mountain. He had advantages then that he wouldn't in today's game.

Knowing how to pitch and not being afraid of hitters would give him an advantage over most pitchers in today's game.

[BigKlu59]

Knowing how to pitch and not being afraid of hitters would give him an advantage over most pitchers in today's game.

TDog you hit the nail on the head. Gibby was one of the most intimidating pitchers of that era. I was always in awe of his dominance of hitters. Rest In Peace Mr. Gibson.

BK59

[LITTLE NELL]

My God, seems like we're losing great stars almost every week who when I was growing up greatly idolized.
What a great pitcher Gibson was, he and Fergie Jenkins had some classic pitching duels. Another pitcher who had great mechanics. RIP Mr. Gibson.

[LITTLE NELL]

Was one of the main reasons the mound was lowered after he posted a 1.12 ERA in 1968. RIP.

Only one player in the American League in 1968 batted .300, that was Yaz coming in at .301. There were 5 in the NL with Charlie Hustle leading the league at .334.
The White Sox in 1968 were 4th out of 10 in the AL with a 2.75 ERA but only won 67 games and finished in 9th place. With the great pitching the Sox had in 1967 leading the league with a 2.45 ERA, if only they had a little better hitting they would have won the Pennant by 5 games. 1967 and 1968 were probably the worst years as far as hitting goes since the dead ball era. The way the ball is flying off the bats in this day and age, maybe it's time to raise the mound back to 1968 levels.

[TDog]

Only one player in the American League in 1968 batted .300, that was Yaz coming in at .301. There were 5 in the NL with Charlie Hustle leading the league at .334.
The White Sox in 1968 were 4th out of 10 in the AL with a 2.75 ERA but only won 67 games and finished in 9th place. 1967 and 1968 were probably the worst years as far as hitting goes since the dead ball era. The way the ball is flying off the bats in this day and age, maybe it's time to raise the mound back to 1968 levels.

The Sox lost 44 one-run games in 1968. I haven't looked to see if that's still a record, but 11 of those one-run losses where what they now call walk-offs. It was a heartbreaking season that didn't really register with me at the time because I was too young to know anything but heartbreaking baseball. I was surrounded by Cubs fans, and I believe Ferguson Jenkins lost five 1-0 games in 1968, despite winning 20 games, so it was heartbreaking for them as well. At least there would be no heartbreak with the lower mound in 1969 ....

Danny Cater had the second-best AL batting average in 1968 at .290. I didn't look that up, but remember it as a trivia question I wrote for my sixth-grade student newspaper. At the time, it seemed the mound had to be lowered, the strike zone shrunk. I was too young to have any sort of valid opinion to the contrary. Looking back, though, expansion in 1969 and 1977 would have increased offense by thinning out pitching. The White Sox were pitching-rich in 1968 but by 1970, they were running out Jerry Crider and the like as their third starters.

Pitching talent is so thinned out now that raising the mound and increasing the strike zone might get the hitters' attention, get them to swing more and move the game along.

Look at Bob Gibson complete-game box scores and check the times of the games.

[LITTLE NELL]

The Sox lost 44 one-run games in 1968. I haven't looked to see if that's still a record, but 11 of those one-run losses where what they now call walk-offs. It was a heartbreaking season that didn't really register with me at the time because I was too young to know anything but heartbreaking baseball. I was surrounded by Cubs fans, and I believe Ferguson Jenkins lost five 1-0 games in 1968, despite winning 20 games, so it was heartbreaking for them as well. At least there would be no heartbreak with the lower mound in 1969 ....

Danny Cater had the second-best AL batting average in 1968 at .290. I didn't look that up, but remember it as a trivia question I wrote for my sixth-grade student newspaper. At the time, it seemed the mound had to be lowered, the strike zone shrunk. I was too young to have any sort of valid opinion to the contrary. Looking back, though, expansion in 1969 and 1977 would have increased offense by thinning out pitching. The White Sox were pitching-rich in 1968 but by 1970, they were running out Jerry Crider and the like as their third starters.

Pitching talent is so thinned out now that raising the mound and increasing the strike zone might get the hitters' attention, get them to swing more and move the game along.

Look at Bob Gibson complete-game box scores and check the times of the games.

I spent 1968 in Vietnam but still managed to follow the Sox with the Stars and Stripes newspaper. I started following the Sox in 1952 and I had a hard time in 68 coping with the first losing season that I've experienced as a Sox fan. I didn't realize they lost 44 one run games that year, you're right, that might be a record. I do remember Hoyt Wilhelm making the front page of the Stars and Stripes in 68 with a picture and caption as he broke the record for most pitching appearances ever.

[PaleHoser]

One of my favorite baseball quotes was Bob Gibson to Tim McCarver when McCarver went to the mound for a conference:

"The only thing you know about pitching is you can't hit it".

If they play All-Star Games in heaven, the National League has added some real studs in Bob Gibson, Lou Brock and Tom Seaver. My condolences to all Cardinals fans.

And for those too young to have seen him pitch, Game 1 of the 1968 World Series is on YouTube. It's a real treat, since you get to see Bob Gibson and hear Harry Caray at their absolute best. Make the time to watch it.

[TDog]

I spent 1968 in Vietnam but still managed to follow the Sox with the Stars and Stripes newspaper. I started following the Sox in 1952 and I had a hard time in 68 coping with the first losing season that I've experienced as a Sox fan. I didn't realize they lost 44 one run games that year, you're right, that might be a record. I do remember Hoyt Wilhelm making the front page of the Stars and Stripes in 68 with a picture and caption as he broke the record for most pitching appearances ever.

Sort of off-topic, but Hoyt Wilhelm was a WWII veteran, being awarded the purple heart from the Battle of the Bulge, hence the Stars and Stripes interest. The only White Sox game I attended in 1968 was at the future site of the Mall of America. That night the White Sox actually beat the Twins 12-8 with a six-run ninth, no home runs, just a bunch of singles and a three-run two-out double that put the Sox ahead. Wilhelm got the save, relieving Wilbur Wood who picked up the relief win. My father, who lived in Minneapolis and was a Twins fan at the time, was complaining about the knuckleballs. It would be nice to add that this was Wilhelm's record-setting game, but had been a week earlier. Of course, the Sox lost Wilhelm in the expansion draft.

[BigKlu59]

You guys are knocking the cobwebs around in my cranium and unearthing some memories with this reminiscing. 1968 was a real heartbreaker on the South side. Coming off 67 the woulda coulda shoulda Pennant, I was crushed they were losing games they seemed to be able to win just a few years removed. Wow, Danny Cater, now that’s a blast from the past.

BK59

[PaleHoser]

I came across this profile of Bob Gibson by Roger Angell from 1980. I thought it worth sharing.