October 2, 1968: Bob Gibson, baseball's most fearsome pitcher, unleashes his pièce de résistance.
The 1968 season became known as "The Year of the Pitcher." Denny McLain won 31 games, the major leagues' 1st 30-win season since 1934, and his Detroit Tigers roared to the American League Pennant. Juan Marichal led the National League with 26 wins. Drysdale pitched 58 2/3rds consecutive scoreless innings for a new record, including 6 straight shutouts. Luis Tiant, then with the Cleveland Indians, had an earned run average (ERA) of 1.60.
Baseball as a whole was just not hitting. All hitters combined had a batting average of .237. Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox, who had won the Triple Crown the year before, including a .344 average, was the AL's only hitter above .300, batting .301. (Pete Rose led the NL with .335.)
Most amazing of all was Gibson. In June and July combined, he made 12 starts, completing and winning all of them, pitching shutouts in 8 of them. He had a streak of 47 consecutive scoreless innings, then 3rd all-time behind Drysdale's new record and the old one he broke, 56 by Walter Johnson in 1913.
He finished with an earned run average of 1.12, the lowest ever in the post-1920 Lively Ball Era. The last pitcher with a lower one was Dutch Leonard, who had one of 0.96 in 1914.
Just to show that Gibson wasn't only taking advantage of The Year of the Pitcher, his ERA+ was 258 -- meaning he was 158 percent better at preventing earned runs than the average pitcher of the season, even that season. His WHIP was just 0.853. He also led the NL in strikeouts for the 1st time, with 268.
There was another factor at work: Gibson's intimidating presence. Like Jim Bunning, another Hall of Fame pitcher of the 1960s, his pitching motion resulted in his right leg swinging around, making it look like he was jumping toward the hitter.
Gibson was listed at 6-foot-1 and 189 pounds, but this, and the 15-inch height of the pitcher's mound, made him look much bigger. It was very distracting, and, against Bob Gibson, a batter needed as few distractions as he could get.
Much like Ty Cobb and Ted Williams, Gibson could be charming to people he liked; but, once on the field, he played with a snarl. He was known to brush hitters back, to let them know that he owned the plate -- and he had the control to enforce that. "I didn't throw at a lot of guys," he later admitted, "but when I did, I made sure I hit them."
Never in the head: He would mess with a player's mind, but wouldn't threaten his career. He hit 102 batters over 17 seasons. Compare that with Drysdale, also known as a "headhunter," who hit 154 in 14 seasons.
Tim McCarver practically built a broadcasting career telling stories about being the catcher for Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton. One time, McCarver went to the mound to talk to Gibson. Gibson told him, "The only thing you know about pitching is that it's hard to hit!" That wasn't completely fair: McCarver's lifetime batting average, over 22 seasons, was .271. But Bob Gibson did not need a pep talk.
Jim Ray Hart, a 3rd baseman for the San Francisco Giants, told this story about a doubleheader against the Cardinals, with advice from Willie Mays:
Between games, Mays came over to me, and said, "Now, in the second game, you're going up against Bob Gibson." I only half-listened to what he was saying, figuring it didn't make much difference. So I walked up to the plate the first time, and started digging a little hole with my back foot... No sooner did I start digging that hole than I hear Willie screaming from the dugout: "Noooooo!"
Well, the first pitch came inside. No harm done, though. So I dug in again. The next thing I knew, there was a loud crack and my left shoulder was broken. I should have listened to Willie.
Ya think? Dusty Baker was a rookie with the Atlanta Braves in 1968, and told this story:
Hank Aaron told me, "Don't dig in against Bob Gibson. He'll knock you down. He'd knock down his own grandmother if she dared to challenge him. Don't stare at him, don't smile at him, don't talk to him. He doesn't like it. If you happen to hit a home run, don't run too slow, don't run too fast. If you happen to want to celebrate, get in the tunnel first. And if he hits you, don't charge the mound, because he's a Gold Glove boxer."
I'm like, "Damn, what about my 17-game hitting streak?" That was the night it ended.
In 1964 and 1965, Bob's roommate on roadtrips was 1st baseman Bill White, later a Yankee broadcaster and President of the National League. In 1966, Bill was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. He knew he would have to face Bob. He did not dig in. Bob brushed him back anyway. "I knew what the message was," Bill later said. "It was, 'We're not roommates anymore.'"
"I'd like to think that the term 'intensity' comes closer to summarizing my pitching style than do qualities like meanness and anger, which were merely devices," Gibson said. "My pitching career, I believe, offers a lot of evidence to the theory that baseball is a mental discipline as much as a physical one."
Gibson's record in 1968 was 22-9. How did he lose 9 games, with a 1.12 ERA? The Cards weren't really hitting, either. He lost 2 games 1-0, including a game in which the opposing pitcher, Gaylord Perry of the Giants, pitched a no-hitter. One if his losses was 1 of Drysdale's 6 straight shutouts, a 2-0 Dodger win.
He started 34 games, completed 28, and he was never relieved due to his own failings: All 6 times, Schoendienst removed him for a pinch-hitter in that season in which runs were most at a premium. Sportswriter Roger Angell once asked Gibson, "Are you surprised at what you do?" Gibson said, "I'm never surprised by anything I do."
And, a quarter of a century before basketball star Charles Barkley faced the question of whether he was, or should be, a role model, Bob Gibson said, "Why do I have to be an example for your kid? You be an example for your own kid."
Gibson and McLain were named their respective Leagues' Most Valuable Players in 1968. This remains the only season in which both Leagues' MVPs have been pitchers, and not until Clayton Kershaw in 2014 would another pitcher win it in the NL. (In the AL, 7 pitchers have won it since.)
It was obvious that Gibson and McLain would be named as starting pitchers in Game 1 of the World Series. On September 29, before the Series began, they were invited to appear together on The Ed Sullivan Show. McLain had actually played organ in Las Vegas casino lounges, and Gibson could play guitar, so Sullivan had them perform together. Neither minded, and each said complimentary (if not "nice") things about the other.
Gibson strode to the mound at Busch Memorial Stadium on October 2, 1968, for Game 1 of the World Series. Unlike other sports, especially college football, baseball has never had a media establishment that previews games as "The Game of the Century." After all, if a Series goes to 7 games, then, theoretically, the aces could face each other 3 times.
Nevertheless, this was the most-hyped starting pitching matchup in World Series history: Gibson with his 1.12 ERA vs. McLain with his 31 wins. WHIPs: Gibson 0.853, McLain 0.905. ERA+'s: Gibson 258, McLain 154.
The established record for strikeouts in a World Series game was 15, by Sandy Koufax, 5 years earlier. Gibson mixed in blazing fastballs and devastating sliders. He struck out Al Kaline and Norm Cash 3 times each; Jim Northrup, Bill Freehan and Willie Horton twice; and Dick McAuliffe, Mickey Stanley, Don Wert, Eddie Mathews and McLain once each. His 143rd and last pitch was a perfect curveball on the inside corner that froze Horton, for his 17th strikeout of the game.
No pitcher has come close to this mark since -- or even to the 15 that Koufax did. Since 1968, the most is 12, by Tom Seaver in 1973 and Orlando "El Duque" Hernández in 2000.
Baserunners? Gibson gave up a single to Stanley in the 1st, a single to Wert in the 3rd, a walk to Freehan in the 5th, a single to McAuliffe and a double to Kaline in the 6th, and another single to Stanley in the 9th. That was it: 5 hits and 1 walk, compared to 17 strikeouts.
"We were fastball hitters," Northrup said, "but he blew the ball right by us. And he had a nasty slider that was jumping all over the place."
And McLain? Unlike Gibson, he didn't have good stuff: The Cardinals scored 3 runs off him in the 4th, and Lou Brock added a home run off Pat Dobson in the 7th. Cardinals 4, Tigers 0.
I wasn't around yet, but from everything I've read, it seems that was the most-hyped pitching matchup of all time, and Gibson lived up to it, and McLain didn't. Or, to put it another way: The guitarist played like Eric Clapton, and the organist played like Linda McCartney.
Gibson outpitched McLain again in Game 4 at Tiger Stadium, riding the Cardinal bats to win, 10-1. As in 1967, the Cards needed just 1 more win to take the Series.
As in 1967, the AL Champs won Games 5 and 6. But this time, Game 7 would be in St. Louis. And Gibson would be matched against Mickey Lolich, who had won Games 2 and 5. Gibson would have 3 days' rest, Lolich 2 -- just like Gibson vs. Lonborg the year before. All signs pointed toward Gibson leading the Cards to a 3rd title in 5 years.
But Gibson was not at his best. A Horton throw from left field nailed Brock at the plate. And Northrup hit a triple over the head of normally sure-fielding center fielder Curt Flood. Lolich went the distance, and the Tigers won, 4-1. Gibson had won 7 straight World Series games, but the streak was over.
Before the 1969 season, Major League Baseball reacted to The Year of the Pitcher by changing some rules. The strike zone was lowered a little, and the pitcher's mound was lowered from 15 inches at its crest to 10 inches. Scoring rose throughout baseball.
Suffice it to say, Gibson's 1968 ERA of 1.12 has never been seriously threatened. In 1978, Ron Guidry went 25-3, and his ERA was 1.74. In 1985, Dwight Gooden went 24-4, and his ERA was 1.53. Pedro Martínez had ERAs of 1.90 in 1997 and 1.74 in 2000. Jacob deGrom was at 1.70 for the 2018 season.
The changes didn't hurt Gibson much: He went 20-13 with a 2.18 ERA in 1969, 23-7 with 3.12 in 1970 (for his 2nd Cy Young Award), and 16-13 with 3.04 in 1971. On August 14, 1971, he pitched a no-hitter, something he hadn't done before the changes; and his teammates backed him up in an 11-0 pounding of the Pittsburgh Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium.
On July 17, 1974, at Busch Memorial Stadium, he struck Cesar Geronimo out for his 3,000th career strikeout, making him the 2nd player after Walter Johnson, the 1st National Leaguer, and then the only living human to reach that milestone. But he lost the game to the Cincinnati Reds, 6-4.
He closed his career in 1975, with a record of 251-174, an ERA of 2.91, an ERA+ of 127, a WHIP of 1.188, and 3,117 strikeouts. He struck out 7.2 batters per every 9 innings pitched, and had 2.33 strikeouts for every walk. He played in 9 All-Star Games, and won 9 Gold Gloves.
He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981, in his 1st year of eligibility. The Cardinals elected him to their team Hall of Fame, retired his Number 45, and dedicated a statue of him outside Busch Memorial Stadium, which they moved next-door to the new Busch Stadium in 2006. He died in 2020, a month short of his 85th birthday.
McLain had another Cy Young season in 1969, going 24-9. But the combination of too many innings too soon bringing about a shoulder injury, and suspensions due to misdeeds, shortened his career. He was passed off by 4 different teams, and last pitched in Spring Training 1973, finishing 131-91, with an ERA of 3.39, an ERA+ of 101, only 1,282 strikeouts, 6.1 K/9 IP, and 3 All-Star berths -- but his career WHIP of 1.163 was actually lower than Gibson's, and his 2.34 K/BB was higher than Gibson's.
At the risk of sounding like Yogi Berra, when he could pitch, he could still pitch. But, by the time of his 29th birthday, he had been released for the last time, as no longer worth the aggravation, to either his shoulder or his team. And things would get worse for him. Amazingly, for all he's done to himself, as of October 2, 2022, he is still alive.
*
October 2, 1968 was a Wednesday. This was also the day of the pre-Olympics Mexico City Massacre. I have a separate entry for that event.
There were no other baseball games. Football was in midweek. The new NHL season was 9 days away; the new NBA season, 13 days. So there were no other scores on this historic day.
Czech tennis player Jana Novotná, who won Wimbledon in 1998, was born on this day.
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