A Hall of Fame reputation
Today marks what would have been the 89th birthday of one of baseball’s all-time grittiest competitors.
Talking here about Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson, who during his career garners the reputation that he sooner would knock you down with a fastball humming toward your chin rather than say hello to you.
Funny thing about Gibson’s reputation is that he never hits a lot of batters during the course of a season, averaging only seven plunked batters over a 162-game season during his 17-year career.
In fact, his season-high of 13 hit batters in 1963 does not even qualify among the top 600 single-season hit lists in history.
“My pitching philosophy is simple,” Gibson once says. “I believe in getting the ball over the plate and not walking a lot of men.”
Having a nasty reputation does not hurt, either.
“Have you ever thrown a ball 100 miles an hour? Everything hurts,” Gibson says. “I see pictures of my face and say, ‘Holy shit,’ but that’s the strain you feel when you throw. I had one of those faces you look at it and say, ‘Man, he’s an asshole.’
“Could be,” Gibson says, “depends on if you pissed me off or not.”
After a while, Gibson’s reputation precedes him.
Back in 1972, a young, 23-year-old Dusty Baker – riding a 17-game hitting streak – receives some advice from Atlanta teammate and future Hall of Famer Hank Aaron on how to prepare for Gibson.
“Don’t dig in against Bob Gibson, he’ll knock you down,” Baker says of Aaron’s words to him. “He’d knock down his own grandmother if she dared to challenge him.”
But there is more, Aaron tells Baker.
Hank Aaron, left, with Dusty Baker
“Don’t stare at him,” Aaron tells Baker. “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 celebrate, get in the (dugout) 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?’ ” Baker says. “That was the night it ended.”
Gibson not just ends Baker’s streak, but starts a skid for Baker in which the Braves’ outfielder goes hitless in his next 15 plate appearances.
Ouch.
Hurts worse than actually being hit by one of Gibson’s pitches.