Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson. In a 17-year career that only saw him play for the St. Louis Cardinals, Gibson established himself as one of the crown jewel great Starting Pitchers of the game’s history. If you ask anyone to name their Mount Rushmore of Starting Pitchers, most of them will name Bob Gibson as one of them. 

Career Statistics/Accolades (1959-1975):

251-174 W-L 2.91 ERA 3,884.1 IP 3,117 K 1.188 WHIP 

  • 9x All-Star
  • 9x Gold Glove
  • 2x Cy Young Award Winner (1968 & 1970)
  • 2x World Series Champion/MVP (1964 & 1967)
  • 1968 MVP

Gibson was known as a quick worker on the mound with explosive delivery and for falling toward first base each time after releasing the ball. What made Gibson so dominant was his pinpoint control. His Slider and Two and Four-seam fastball were among his best pitches, in which he released the ball with a low, three-quarter arm angle. His control was so vital to his success, and it was so sharp he only hit 102 batters in his career. Gibson won 20 games five times, as well as putting together seven seasons with an ERA under 3.00. In an era in which pitchers were expected to pitch deep into games, that’s what Gibson did; 14 of his 17 years saw him pitch well over 200 Innings. You can’t talk about Bob Gibson without mentioning 1968 when he won his first Cy Young and the league’s MVP award.

Bob Gibson 1968 Statline (34 Starts):

22-9 W-L 1.12 ERA 304.2 IP 268 K 0.853 WHIP 13 SHO

Yes, Gibson led the league in ERA, SHO, Strikeouts, and WHIP. But in 1968, for those who don’t know he went 7 Innings in his first two starts, then he went 8 or more Innings in each of his last 32 starts that year. That is off the charts insane, but back then, times were different for Starting Pitchers, actually throwing more than 90 pitches like in today’s game. 

Fielding & Hitting

When it came to fielding, Gibson won nine consecutive Gold Glove Awards, which doesn’t come as a surprise because he had many years of having a Fielding Percentage above the league average among pitchers. At the plate, Gibson was not an above-average hitter for a pitcher. He went (274 for 1,328) with a .206 AVG along with 24 HR, 144 RBI, and a .243 OBP. Notably, in 1970, when he won his 2nd Cy Young, he hit for a .303 AVG. 

What made Gibson great was that he delivered big in the big game, meaning the World Series. In his career, Gibson appeared in the World Series three times: 1964, 1967, and 1968, winning and being named MVP in 64 & 67. In nine career starts in the World Series, Gibson was nothing short of excellent. Also, eight of those starts were Complete Games.

7-2 W-L 1.89 ERA 81 IP 92 K 0.889 WHIP

A pitcher should throw, even if it’s just a little bit, to keep the arm loose every day they aren’t pitching. Do you know what Gibson did? He threw from Third to First Base before every game he wasn’t starting. It may sound a little much, but in the case of Bob Gibson, it worked. In 1981, he was voted into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, and rightfully so. In 1999, he ranked #31 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Ballplayers in baseball history.

References:

  1. Bob Gibson via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Gibson#
  2. Bob Gibson Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gibsobo01.shtml