Legendary St. Louis ace Gibson dies

The former Cardinals pitching great, who had a 1.12 ERA in 1968, succumbs to pancreatic cancer at 84.

Hall of Fame pitcher, arguably the most dominant of his era, dies at 84.

Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, the dominating St. Louis Cardinals pitcher who won a record seven consecutive World Series starts and set a modern standard for excellence when he f inished the 1968 season with a 1.12 ERA, died Friday. He was 84.

The Cardinals confirmed Gibson’s death shortly after a 4- 0 playoff loss to San Diego ended their season. He had long been ill with pancreatic cancer in his hometown of Omaha, Neb.

Gibson’s death came on the 52nd anniversary of perhaps his most overpowering performance, when he struck out a World Series record 17 batters in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series against Detroit.

One of baseball’s most uncompromising competitors, the twotime Cy Young Award winner spent his entire 17- year career with St. Louis and 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 and shut down opponents so well that baseball changed the rules for fear it would happen again.

Gibson died less than a month after the death of a longtime teammate, Hall of Fame outfielder Lou Brock. Another pitching great from his era, Tom Seaver, died in late August.

“I just heard the news about losing Bob Gibson and it’s kind of hard losing a legend. You can lose a game, but when you lose a guy like Bob Gibson, just hard,” Cardinals star catcher Yadier Molina said. “Bob was funny, smart, he brought a lot of energy. When he talked, you listened. It was good to have him around every year. We lose a game, we lose a series, but the tough thing is we lost one great man.”

At his peak, Gibson may have been the most talented all- around starter in history, a nine- time Gold Glove winner who roamed wide to snatch up grounders despite a f ierce, sweeping delivery that drove him to the f irst base side of the mound; and a strong hitter who twice hit five home runs in a season and batted .303 in 1970, when he also won his second Cy Young.

Averaging 19 wins a year from 1963 to 1972, he finished 251- 174 with a 2.91 ERA, and was the second pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts.