[ad_1]
FILE – In this Oct. 2, 1968, file photo, St. Louis Cardinals ace pitcher Bob Gibson throws to Detroit Tigers’ Norm Cash during the ninth inning of Game 1 of the baseball World Series at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Gibson, the dominating pitcher who won a record seven consecutive World Series starts and set a modern standard for excellence when he finished the 1968 season with a 1.12 ERA, died Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. He was 84.
FILE – In this May 17, 2017, file photo, Bob Gibson, a member of the St. Louis Cardinals’ 1967 World Series championship team, takes part in a ceremony honoring the 50th anniversary of the victory, before a baseball game between the Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox in St. Louis. Gibson, the dominating pitcher who won a record seven consecutive World Series starts and set a modern standard for excellence when he finished the 1968 season with a 1.12 ERA, died Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. He was 84.
FILE – In this March 1968 file photo, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson is pictured during baseball spring training in Florida. Gibson, the dominating pitcher who won a record seven consecutive World Series starts and set a modern standard for excellence when he finished the 1968 season with a 1.12 ERA, died Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. He was 84.
It was the summer of 1963, Bob Gibson was already well on his way to establishing himself as one of the most fearsome, intimidating pitchers in big league history. Pete Rose was a 22-year-old rookie, the cocky Cincinnati kid with a crew cut.
As Rose recalls that night in St. Louis, he was playing second base when Gibson hit a double early in the game.
“So I walk over, I don’t know any better, and I say, ‘What’d ya hit, Gibby?’ He’s bent over, got his hands on his knees, and he don’t say nothing. So I ask him again, ‘What’d ya hit, Gibby?’ Nothing,” the all-time career hits leader said Saturday.
Puzzled, Rose asked his manager about the exchange when the inning ended. Veteran skipper Fred Hutchinson scowled and warned him: “He don’t talk to the opposition during a game.”
The next afternoon, Rose was standing near the cage at Busch Stadium, watching the Cardinals take batting cage and studying the swings of stars Dick Groat, Curt Flood and Stan Musial.
“And here comes Gibson, going to the outfield,” Rose said. “He just walks by and says, ‘It was a slider, rook.‘”
The baseball world and beyond was talking about the great Bob Gibson, a day after the Hall of Fame ace died at 84 in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. He had been ill with pancreatic cancer.
[ad_2]
Source link