Bob Gibson 80 today. Any memories???

[marvymelvin]

Just wanted to shout out to Bob Gibson on his 80th birthday. Any memories to share??

[HOF Auto Rookies]

Went to the National in Chicago a few years ago (2013 I believe) and bought some mid-grade raw rookies beforehand and got them signed in person. Heard he was a dick at shows etc but he was very nice when he signed for me, especially the inscriptions.

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[HRBAKER]

1967 - leg broken by a line drive off the bat of Roberto Clemente.



1964 WS MVP



1967 WS MVP

[Hankphenom]

Met him at the All-Century Team gala in Atlanta in 1999. While he was signing my baseball, I said, "At one time you and my grandfather were the only two pitchers with 3,000 strikeouts." He continued to sign the ball, handed it back to me, and walked away.

[ALR-bishop]

I was 9 and living in St. Louis in 1959 when I opened a pack with Gibson. I was glad to get a Cardinal, but it was a pink card of a guy I was not familiar with who had lousy stats. His 60 card was better looking, but he still had bad stats. He did get a little better though.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Met him at the All-Century Team gala in Atlanta in 1999. While he was signing my baseball, I said, "At one time you and my grandfather were the only two pitchers with 3,000 strikeouts." He continued to sign the ball, handed it back to me, and walked away.

who your grandfather

[HOF Auto Rookies]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

who your grandfather

It doesn't take long to find out


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[Stonepony]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

who your grandfather

[dealme]

Originally Posted by marvymelvin

Just wanted to shout out to Bob Gibson on his 80th birthday. Any memories to share??

Got his autograph at the grand opening of Sherwin Williams Paint in Terre Haute, IN in February, 2001. He seemed very personable and signed a ball as well as a 3x5 picture. He pitched well before my time, but he seemed like a bad dude on the mound.

[scooter729]

At an old-timers game at Fenway in 1988, I had early access into the park through a family connection. I was 14 at the time and politely asked Gibson to sign a ball outside of the locker room as he was standing by himself. He yelled at me to leave him alone.

I stood there looking about to cry. Warren Spahn walked over, said to me to forget about that, and asked if he could sign the ball for me.

HOF or not, it's stuff like that which sticks for me. I have ZERO Gibson cards in my collection. There are many Spahn items in my collection.

[Stonepony]

Originally Posted by scooter729

At an old-timers game at Fenway in 1988, I had early access into the park through a family connection. I was 14 at the time and politely asked Gibson to sign a ball outside of the locker room as he was standing by himself. He yelled at me to leave him alone.

I stood there looking about to cry. Warren Spahn walked over, said to me to forget about that, and asked if he could sign the ball for me.

HOF or not, it's stuff like that which sticks for me. I have ZERO Gibson cards in my collection. There are many Spahn items in my collection.

Yeah, leaves a forever bad taste in your mouth. That's why i have zero Mays cards in my collection

[Head928]

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[HOF Auto Rookies]

Originally Posted by Head928

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Attachment 211356

Try to see if Gibson would sign it, would he so sweet and it's already awesome.


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[Beatles Guy]

Just had him sign for me a couple of weeks ago. Nice guy.

[slipk1068]

One of the first games I ever went to. I was probably 6 or 7 years old. He beat Tom Seaver I believe the score was 1-0. Boring game for a kid who liked high scoring games.

[timn1]

it seems only yesterday that I watched him in the 1967-68 World Series, which were my intro to a life of baseball fandom when I was 8-9. He seemed like a god-

how do you go from dominating the world at 32 to 80? (I know, 48 years pass... but how can that be? I still feel like I'm 8 or 9 most of the time!)

[triwak]

Saw Gibby throw a shut-out in 1968. Lou Brock doubled up a guy off first base, on a line drive hit to left field. I was 7 years old. Hooked!! Later in the mid-70s, saw Gibson get his 2999th strike out. Think he needed ~6 that night for 3000, and came up one shy. In that same game, Hank Aaron got a pinch-hit single during his farewell tour. Great memories.

[tjb1952tjb]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Met him at the All-Century Team gala in Atlanta in 1999. While he was signing my baseball, I said, "At one time you and my grandfather were the only two pitchers with 3,000 strikeouts." He continued to sign the ball, handed it back to me, and walked away.

Really nice.......................

[pclpads]

If you read Gibby's autobio - "Stranger to the Game" - you would have a better appreciation for the indignities he encountered while playing and post career. Those likely go a long way to explaining any brusqueness at signing events. He signed an 8 x 10 for me many years ago at the Labor Day Show in SF. Couldn't have been nicer.

[h2oya311]

I purchased this card raw on eBay in 2013. The seller stated: "I wanted to let you know, this very card was on display earlier this summer when Bob Gibson's statue at Omaha's Werner Park was presented. Bob commented that he only remembered seeing one other and that was many years ago!"

Happy birthday Bob!

[ALR-bishop]

Originally Posted by pclpads

If you read Gibby's autobio - "Stranger to the Game" - you would have a better appreciation for the indignities he encountered while playing and post career. Those likely go a long way to explaining any brusqueness at signing events. He signed an 8 x 10 for me many years ago at the Labor Day Show in SF. Couldn't have been nicer.

Agree with this. He once told a reporter that after he retired he would just be another N (his word) from Omaha. His competitive attitude overcame a lot, but isolated him some. He could be brusque with teammates as well..."McCarver, get back behind the plate, because the only thing you know about pitching is that you can not hit it"....per MCCarver, with respect

He was a pretty good basketball player too

[Jay Wolt]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

He was a pretty good basketball player too

Damn straight! Didn't he play w/ the Harlem Globetrotters during baseball's off season in the late 50's?

[Howe’s Hunter]

but he posted this on Facebook yesterday, and I never knew this about my family....


I was at the game with my dad and granddad on July 15, 1967 when a line drive by Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit him in the shin, breaking his leg. He pitched to 3 more batters before falling from the mound when the leg finally snapped. Made quite an impression on a 15 year old kid!

[jimivintage]

Anyone have a current pic of Gibson?

[slipk1068]

Originally Posted by pclpads

If you read Gibby's autobio - "Stranger to the Game" - you would have a better appreciation for the indignities he encountered while playing and post career. Those likely go a long way to explaining any brusqueness at signing events. He signed an 8 x 10 for me many years ago at the Labor Day Show in SF. Couldn't have been nicer.

It appears he lashes out at the fans who allow him to earn a decent living. I will not add to his bankroll by paying for his autograph or his book. There's no excuse or justification for bad behavior. It''s sad the way he was treated but even sadder that he is angry at the fans who admire him

[Exhibitman]

Just goes to show who he is, David. He was relentless and often brutal even to his teammates when he played. Many thought he had to be like that to focus on the game, when really, he was and is just a mean man. Age apparently hasn't mellowed him much. The one time I got his autograph, at a show around 1988 in SF, he was cordial but not engaging and accommodated my request to use the red sharpie I brought for the signature. That card [1968 Topps] got burgled, unfortunately, around 25 years ago. A few years ago I got this vintage signed team issue that had been used as a PC back in 1969:



Derek, that pre-rookie is fantastic.

[Beatles Guy]

Here he is at the signing a couple of weeks ago. I asked him how he was and he said "if I was any better, I would scare myself".

[brianp-beme]

So far with the anecdotes it sounds like Bob was at his surliest between the late 80's and late 90's. Perhaps he just had a rough decade.

Brian

[Howe’s Hunter]

Having lived in Omaha for the past 11 years, I've often wondered where the ghetto here in town was at that time. From everyone I've spoken to who knew him in high school, at Creighton, etc., he came from a working class family in mid-town. Not exactly what you would call ghetto by any stretch of the imagination.

Guessing the title "From Middle-Class to Upper Crust" wouldn't sell as many books.

[packs]

I got his autograph at a Gloria Rothstein show in the mid 90s. I still have a picture of me standing in front of his table and him looking down at the floor. I was maybe 10 and never liked the guy after that.

But Seaver was there too and he even let me behind the table. To this day I still collect Seaver.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by Head928

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That is pretty awesome. I'd be proud of that, too, if I were Pete.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

who your grandfather

Since nobody has told you yet, Hank's grandfather is the legendary Walter Johnson. Hank himself is the author of a tremendous biography of Johnson.

[timn1]

Have to say I get a little weary of the inevitable "he was mean to me" anecdotes that appear in threads like this one, in reference to ALMOST any and every player. Yeah, a few players are saints who are nice to everybody. And probably only a few are really incapable of being nice to anyone. Overall, athletes are no more or less "nice" than any other group of people. Why should we expect them to be?

But unlike most of us, athletes have to constantly encounter strangers who feel that they know them and who expect to be treated like instant friends. I know that as problems go, this is a far cry from being ill or homeless, but I think (if I were a celebrity) I would find it an unbearable drain on my time and energy, especially as I got older.

You could say, well then former players who feel that way all the time should avoid doing signing shows, and that's reasonable. Probably a lot of the least sociable ones do (or don't get asked).

My guess is that a lot of the ones in between, especially the older guys who played before the huge salaries and could use the money, convince themselves that it won't be so bad and try to have fun at the shows they do. But on a bad day something gets under their skin (like a pushy or obnoxious fan) and things go downhill from there. That is why with most of them (like Gibson, Mays, Mantle, Seaver, etc etc) you will get person A saying "he was mean to me" and person B saying "he was nice to me." A lot depends on the demeanor of the specific fans meeting them too. (I'm not calling anybody out here- more likely it was not how you acted as much as how the people just ahead of you in line acted.)

I guess too that since I have never been interested in talking to players, even ones I really like, I really don't care that much whether they are nice in these brief encounters with individual fans. I think it's more interesting to think about their larger impact on the game and the culture. (Another way to put this: can you see Jackie Robinson being "sweet" and "nice" to every fan he met at a signing show? Neither can I. To some but not all.)

To me Gibson belongs in that pioneering group w/ Jackie. We tend to forget he was only the 2nd black Cy Young winner (1968), and the first black pitcher in the HOF who was fully MLB (after Satchel).

Also, he wasn't the first black Cardinals player, but St Louis was probably the toughest city in MLB for blacks to play at the time. (Check out the autobios of Gibson, Flood, etc. etc. for accounts of this.) He put up with a lot.

IOW, I say honor the man even if he wasn't necessarily "nice" to everybody or to you-

[tachyonbb]

Ed, I grew up in Omaha and still live there. I am a few years younger than Bob Gibson but my brother played against him in high school.
Bob's father died a couple of months before he was born and he was raised by his mother in what we called the "projects". They were built during the depression to provide low income housing and by the 50's they were deteriorating. High density 3 story buildings with very little parking and small rooms. Roofs leaked, the water mains were not buried deep enough and would freeze leaving whole building without water until spring. The place was a dump. It was surrounded by 6 ft. chain link fence with three strands of barb wire on top. That was to keep "those people" away from the neighborhoods to their west. I think they were called the "Logan Fontanelle project" When I was in high school it was where you went to get girls, guns or drugs. When I came back after college it was called "Little Vietnam" and gang violence was rampant. It was torn down in the 90's.
Bob went to Tech High and it was predominantly African American. They would start 4 black kids in basketball and have one token white. If they got behind they would go to 5 black kids at home. On the road they would go 3 blacks and and 2 whites. I remember going to a game at what was then a white school, and the crowd called out the "N" word whenever a black player was shooting a free throw.

[timn1]

Really interesting post!

Originally Posted by tachyonbb

Ed, I grew up in Omaha and still live there. I am a few years younger than Bob Gibson but my brother played against him in high school.
Bob's father died a couple of months before he was born and he was raised by his mother in what we called the "projects". They were built during the depression to provide low income housing and by the 50's they were deteriorating. High density 3 story buildings with very little parking and small rooms. Roofs leaked, the water mains were not buried deep enough and would freeze leaving whole building without water until spring. The place was a dump. It was surrounded by 6 ft. chain link fence with three strands of barb wire on top. That was to keep "those people" away from the neighborhoods to their west. I think they were called the "Logan Fontanelle project" When I was in high school it was where you went to get girls, guns or drugs. When I came back after college it was called "Little Vietnam" and gang violence was rampant. It was torn down in the 90's.
Bob went to Tech High and it was predominantly African American. They would start 4 black kids in basketball and have one token white. If they got behind they would go to 5 black kids at home. On the road they would go 3 blacks and and 2 whites. I remember going to a game at what was then a white school, and the crowd called out the "N" word whenever a black player was shooting a free throw.

[doug.goodman]

He signed this 8 1/2 X 11 magazine cutout for me at Candlestick back in the late 70s or early 80s. I was just some dork hanging out by the visiting dugout, along with however many other people. He was super nice and signed in a great spot.

I haven't asked the people who get paid for their opinions to look at it, so I suppose he could have faked it. Ha!

Doug

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Head928

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Attachment 211356

Hate to spoil the fun, but Gibson's last pitch was a ground out to Don Kessinger after that grand slam.

[HRBAKER]

Hate to spoil the fun, but Gibson's last pitch was a ground out to Don Kessinger after that grand slam

If you can't trust a guy named "LaCock" who can you trust.

[bbcard1]

My son has a 11 x 17 hanging in his room. He's not mean, he's just unusual and very deep. My son is a big Cardinal fan and wanted to have his picture taken with him, but he declined. It's all good.

I recently saw Gibson on a McCarver cable show. He was fascinating. I'll probably get my son his new book for Christmas.

[Head928]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

Hate to spoil the fun, but Gibson's last pitch was a ground out to Don Kessinger after that grand slam

If you can't trust a guy named "LaCock" who can you trust.

Bob may not be the most pleasant guy but he did put on some great charity golf tournaments in Omaha in the late 90's. I got about 10 Sandy Koufax autographs two of those years. Bob did yell at my dad at the dinner reception because he didn't like the way he asked Al Roker a question...But I respect what he did on the mound and still wouldn't want to step in the box against him ...even at 80.

[Delray Vintage]

I grew up watching Gibson pitch games going all the way in less than two hours. Those were the great days of watching baseball. Gibson was not a nice guy and he showed it on the mound in his demeanor towards batters. I had the pleasure of working closely with several greats of that era after they retired, and they were not particularly nice people to fans. I think there is some bitterness of missing out on the financial free agent bonanza. These guys were not treated too well by the owners and struggled to negotiate every dollar. They were blue collar guys trying to make a decent living.

To me Gibson, Koufax, Mays, Mantle, Aaron, etc. were of an era that rewarded fans with stability of rosters, where baseball cards were just for fun, and we could watch world series games played in the daytime. Baseball is still a fun sport but it will never be the same for me as the Gibson era.

[TheBig6]

During the 1972 Season, I was heading out to Gilley's for a night of drinking and dancing . Gibson was pitching against the Astros so I decided to record the game on my Teac Reel to reel. Gibson beat the Astros that night 1-0, Like always.

I loved his tenacity, not scared to bring some high heat. The way he fell off the mound. He was just a great great pitcher.

[Vintageclout]

Originally Posted by packs

I got his autograph at a Gloria Rothstein show in the mid 90s. I still have a picture of me standing in front of his table and him looking down at the floor. I was maybe 10 and never liked the guy after that.

But Seaver was there too and he even let me behind the table. To this day I still collect Seaver.

The thought of Gibson and Seaver brings back fond memories of their 1 hour & 45 minute pitching duels, throwing the next pitch like they were double parked!

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by timn1

Have to say I get a little weary of the inevitable "he was mean to me" anecdotes that appear in threads like this one, in reference to ALMOST any and every player. Yeah, a few players are saints who are nice to everybody. And probably only a few are really incapable of being nice to anyone. Overall, athletes are no more or less "nice" than any other group of people. Why should we expect them to be?

But unlike most of us, athletes have to constantly encounter strangers who feel that they know them and who expect to be treated like instant friends. I know that as problems go, this is a far cry from being ill or homeless, but I think (if I were a celebrity) I would find it an unbearable drain on my time and energy, especially as I got older.

You could say, well then former players who feel that way all the time should avoid doing signing shows, and that's reasonable. Probably a lot of the least sociable ones do (or don't get asked).

My guess is that a lot of the ones in between, especially the older guys who played before the huge salaries and could use the money, convince themselves that it won't be so bad and try to have fun at the shows they do. But on a bad day something gets under their skin (like a pushy or obnoxious fan) and things go downhill from there. That is why with most of them (like Gibson, Mays, Mantle, Seaver, etc etc) you will get person A saying "he was mean to me" and person B saying "he was nice to me." A lot depends on the demeanor of the specific fans meeting them too. (I'm not calling anybody out here- more likely it was not how you acted as much as how the people just ahead of you in line acted.)

I guess too that since I have never been interested in talking to players, even ones I really like, I really don't care that much whether they are nice in these brief encounters with individual fans. I think it's more interesting to think about their larger impact on the game and the culture. (Another way to put this: can you see Jackie Robinson being "sweet" and "nice" to every fan he met at a signing show? Neither can I. To some but not all.)

To me Gibson belongs in that pioneering group w/ Jackie. We tend to forget he was only the 2nd black Cy Young winner (1968), and the first black pitcher in the HOF who was fully MLB (after Satchel).

Also, he wasn't the first black Cardinals player, but St Louis was probably the toughest city in MLB for blacks to play at the time. (Check out the autobios of Gibson, Flood, etc. etc. for accounts of this.) He put up with a lot.

IOW, I say honor the man even if he wasn't necessarily "nice" to everybody or to you-

Well, yes and no.

Yes, Gibson and many others went through some unfair BS, and yes they were all financially exploited, but this is decades later and they are very well paid to be public personalities at events and shows. They don't have to be buddy-buddy with fans on the street if that's not in their natures, but in the context of an event where the players are providing a fee for service, they need to be professionals about it. If not being rude to kids and being polite to the customers and reasonable about their requests as to how you perform that service for which they are paying is just too taxing a way to earn several thousand dollars a day, stay home. Don't deign to work at something that most people would love to work at.

[ls7plus]

Nobody ever danced around the bases, celebrating a homerun hit off Gibson twice! He couldn't keep Frank Robinson from crowding the plate on him, though--he'd knock F. Robby down, and Frank would just get back up and take the very same position in the batter's box--another HOF'er who was mentally tough to the nth degree.

Very interesting thread,

Larry

[timn1]

Hey Adam,
You're a pal and I respect your views, but this is where I have to differ:

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Don't deign to work at something that most people would love to work at.

Maybe you have a higher tolerance for dealing with the public than I would, but I would not "love" to do that (sign and schmooze). Pretty sure I would hate it, and so would a lot of people.

I'm sure a lot of these guys see it this way: being an athlete is my work. Having to chat up random people is not.

You can say then they shouldn't do public shows, and I already agreed that is reasonable. In an ideal world only the sweethearts would do them, and everybody would love it. But I also suggested an explanation for why it doesn't always work out ideally that I think helps to make sense of their behavior.

[ALR-bishop]

Considering authenticity issues and human nature, makes me glad I never got into autos. I have yet to have a piece of cardboard show me attitude. And if one does I could soak it.

[PM770]

Originally Posted by Tabe

Since nobody has told you yet, Hank's grandfather is the legendary Walter Johnson. Hank himself is the author of a tremendous biography of Johnson.

I didn't realize that! I read the book several years ago and enjoyed it very much. Thanks for the great read Hank!

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by PM770

I didn't realize that! I read the book several years ago and enjoyed it very much. Thanks for the great read Hank!

Wow!!! Didn't know that either--thanks for the info! Johnson and Grove--the two best of all time IMHO.

Larry

[dabigyankeeman]

I got Gibson's autograph at a card show and I told him "You broke my heart when you guys beat the Yankees in the world series" and he looked at me with fire in his eyes and said "Somebody had to."

I also remember a story Gibson told about Mantle. Talking with admiration, Gibson said how in that world series Mantle couldnt push off with his back leg due to its being in such bad condition. However, just once, on one pitch from Gibson, Mickey had the fortitude to stay on that bad leg and push off and he hit a home run. Gibson told this story with a lot of admiration for The Mick.