Cardinals’ Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson dies at 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.

His death came on the 52nd anniversary of perhaps his most overpowering performance when he set a World Series record that still stands by striking out 17 against Detroit in the 1968 opener.

“Bob Gibson was as fierce a competitor as ever stepped on a major league mound during his 17 seasons with the Cardinals, dominating in his craft in a way that few pitchers have been able to either before or since,” players’ union head Tony Clark said.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner was named the World Series MVP in their 1964 and ’67 championship seasons. The Cards came up just short in 1968, but Gibson was voted the National League’s MVP after posting a 1.12 ERA that season.

Averaging 19 wins a year from 1963-72, he finished 251-174 with a 2.91 ERA,

In nine World Series starts, he was 7-2 with eight complete games, including a 10-inning win over Mickey Mantle and the Yankees.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE – 1968 Bob Gibson, who died Friday, compiled 251 wins and 3,117 strikeouts during his Hall of Fame career with the Cardinals.