Age: 32
10th
season with Cardinals
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’1” Weight: 189
Prior to 1968:
A native of
Omaha, Nebraska, Gibson, who was sickly as a child, grew up playing sports at a
recreation center where his oldest brother was the program director. Moving on
to Omaha Technical High School, he starred on the basketball and track teams
and pitched and played in the outfield on the baseball squad. After high school
he tried for a basketball scholarship to Indiana University but was turned down
because the school indicated it had already filled its quota of black students.
He instead attended Creighton University where he set several school basketball
records and played baseball. As a senior he batted .333 as a
pitcher/outfielder/third baseman and posted a 6-2 pitching record. Recruited to
play for the Harlem Globetrotters following college, Gibson was also signed by
the Cardinals in 1957. Playing for teams at the Class A and AAA levels in ’57
he produced a combined 6-4 record with a 4.02 ERA. Gibson, now concentrating
totally on baseball, played for Class AAA Omaha and Rochester in 1958 and was a
combined 8-9 with a 2.84 ERA and 122 strikeouts over 190 innings, impressing
with his fastball. He bounced between the Cardinals and Class AAA in 1959 and
’60, hindered by the prejudice of St. Louis manager Solly Hemus. With improved
control of his fastball and slider, as well as a new manager in Johnny Keane,
who had confidence in Gibson, he produced a 13-12 record in 1961 with a 3.24
ERA and 166 strikeouts, as well as a league-leading 119 walks. With his control
improving Gibson was an All-Star in 1962 on his way to a 15-13 tally with a
2.85 ERA and 208 strikeouts and 95 walks before his season was cut short in
September by a broken ankle. Off to a slow start in 1963, Gibson still improved
his record to 18-9 with a 3.39 ERA and 204 strikeouts. The Cardinals won the NL
pennant in a close race in 1964 and Gibson contributed a 19-12 record with a
3.01 ERA and 245 strikeouts to the effort. In the World Series victory against
the Yankees he won two more games, against one loss, struck out 31 batters and was
named MVP of the Series. Manager Keane, his mentor, resigned following the
Series and was replaced by Red Schoendienst. The Cards had a lesser season in
1965 although Gibson went 20-12 with a 3.07 ERA and 270 strikeouts. Tall, lean,
intense, quiet and aloof, and a fierce competitor with an intimidating mound
presence who did not fraternize with players from other teams, he improved his
record to 21-12 in 1966 with a 2.44 ERA and 225 strikeouts. The Cardinals got
off to a fast start in 1967 and Gibson had a 10-6 record in mid-July when he
suffered a broken leg when struck by a line drive off the bat of Pittsburgh’s
Roberto Clemente. St. Louis stayed on track to win the pennant and Gibson returned
in September to win three more games, including the pennant-clincher. He
finished with a 13-7 mark and 147 strikeouts over 175.1 innings and a 2.98 ERA.
In the World Series against the Boston Red Sox he won all three of his starts,
including the title-clinching seventh game, which were all complete games. He
had a 1.00 ERA and recorded 26 strikeouts over the course of his 27 innings
pitched and was once again the Series MVP. With both a rising and sinking
fastball, slider, curve, and changeup, and always working at a fast pace, he
came into the 1968 season recognized as one of baseball’s best pitchers.
1968 Season Summary
Appeared in 35
games
P – 34, PR – 1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 34
Games Started –
34 [10, tied with six others]
Complete Games
– 28 [2]
Wins – 22 [2]
Losses – 9
PCT - .710 [3]
Saves – 0
Shutouts – 13 [1]
Innings Pitched
– 304.2 [3]
Hits – 198
Runs – 49
Earned Runs – 38
Home Runs – 11
Bases on Balls
– 62 [18]
Strikeouts – 268
[1]
ERA – 1.12 [1]
Hit Batters – 7
[10, tied with Nelson Briles]
Balks – 0
Wild Pitches – 4
League-leading
shutouts were +5 ahead of runner-up Don Drysdale
League-leading strikeouts
were +8 ahead of runner-up Ferguson Jenkins
League-leading
ERA was -0.87 lower than runner-up Bob Bolin
Midseason
Snapshot: 11-5, ERA - 1.06, SO - 118 in 160.2 IP
---
Most
strikeouts, game – 15 (in 9 IP) vs. Pittsburgh 8/24
10+ strikeout
games – 11
Fewest hits
allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 1 (in 8 IP) vs. LA Dodgers 5/22
Batting
PA – 110, AB – 94,
R – 3, H – 16, 2B – 5, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 6, BB – 7, SO – 32, SB – 1, CS – 1,
AVG - .170, GDP – 1, HBP – 1, SH – 7, SF – 1
Fielding
Chances - 50
Put Outs – 21
Assists – 28
Errors – 1
DP – 2
Pct. - .980
Postseason
Pitching: (World Series vs. Detroit)
G – 3, GS – 3, CG
– 3, Record – 2-1, PCT – .667, SV – 0, ShO – 1, IP – 27, H – 18, R – 5, ER – 5,
HR – 1, BB – 4, SO – 35, ERA – 1.67, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 0
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP:BBWAA
NL Cy Young
Award: BBWAA
NL Pitcher of
the Year: Sporting News
Gold Glove
All-Star
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Bob Gibson,
StL.: 242 pts. – 14 of 20 first place votes, 86% share
Pete Rose, Cin.:
205 pts. – 6 first place votes, 73% share
Willie McCovey,
SF: 135 pts. – 48% share
Curt Flood, StL.:
116 pts. – 41% share
Juan Marichal,
SF: 93 pts. – 33% share
NL Cy Young
voting:
Bob Gibson, StL.:
20 of 20 votes, 100% share
---
Cardinals went 97-65
to win the NL pennant by 9 games over the San Francisco Giants. The pitching
staff led the league in ERA (2.49), shutouts (30), and fewest earned runs
allowed (409). The Cardinals survived a May slump to take control of the NL race on the way to asecond straight pennant. They lost the World Series to the Detroit Tigers, 4 games to 3,
after taking a 3-games-to-1 lead thanks to Gibson’s wins in Games 1 (in which
he struck out a Series record 17 batters) and 4. Detroit LHP Mickey Lolich won
three games, including the decisive Game 7 showdown in a duel with a tiring
Gibson.
Aftermath of ‘68:
Gibson,
nicknamed “Hoot” for movie cowboy Hoot Gibson, or “Gibby”, who received a pay
increase to $125,000, remained solid in 1969, posting a 20-13 record with a
2.18 ERA and 269 strikeouts while topping the NL with 28 complete games,
although the Cardinals were no longer a first place team. The club struggled in
1970 although Gibson had another Cy Young-winning year while producing a 23-7
mark and 3.12 ERA with 274 strikeouts. He slipped to 16-13 in 1971 although he
pitched his only career no-hitter against Pittsburgh. Gibson had his last
All-Star season in 1972, going 19-11 with a 2.46 ERA and 208 strikeouts. The
Cardinals rebounded from a dreadful start in 1973 to move into contention in
the NL East but Gibson suffered a knee injury in August and the Redbirds came
up short. His record was 12-10 with a 2.77 ERA and 142 strikeouts over 195
innings. “Gibby” fell off to 11-13 in 1974, his first losing record since 1960,
as his ERA rose to 3.83. Pitching poorly at age 39 in 1975, he was relegated to
the bullpen and retired in frustration prior to the end of the season. For his
major league career, played entirely with the Cardinals, he compiled a 251-174
record and a 2.91 ERA with 255 complete games, 56 shutouts, and 3117 strikeouts
over 3884.1 innings pitched. Gibson had five 20-win seasons. Pitching in 9
postseason games, he compiled a 7-2 record with 92 strikeouts over the course
of 81 innings that included 8 complete games. His seven wins were consecutive
as well as all of the complete games, and his 17-strikeout performance in Game
1 of the 1968 Series remains the single game World Series record. A good
hitting pitcher he compiled 24 home runs with 144 RBIs over the course of his
career and added two more home runs during World Series play. An excellent
fielder despite an off-balance delivery, Gibson was awarded nine Gold Gloves.
An eight-time All-Star, the Cardinals retired his #45 and he was inducted into
the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. A statue was erected in his honor outside
Busch Stadium. Gibson went into broadcasting for a time following his playing
career and later served as a pitching coach for the Braves under manager Joe
Torre, a former teammate. He also served as a coach and special instructor for
the Cardinals.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of
the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to
present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its
inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league
