Shit News Of The Weekend: HOF Pitcher Bob Gibson Diagnosed With Pancreatic Cancer

This sucks.  Bob Gibson is is one of the very greatest pitchers in history.  Hawk Harrelson would always talk about how the greats would be good in any generation; for instance, Ted Williams would be great today.  Sandy Koufax would be great today.  Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and myriad others would be great today.  What’s changed from generation to generation is the depth being as good as it is.  For instance, someone like…. Yolmer Sanchez probably would have been flat out awesome in the 40’s.  Bob Gibson is no different.  If you don’t believe me, take a look at these GIFs:

Fastball inner half:

WIPE OUT slider:

and an explosive “fuck you” fastball down the middle:

They didn’t have great radar guns back then, but he’s humming those fastballs 95+ and pairing it with electric breaking shit.  If you don’t think that kinda stuff plays today, I don’t know what to tell you other than you’re SO fucking wrong.  We talk about angle and depth and pitch sequencing and command ad nauseam on Red Line Radio, and Bob Gibson had all of that in spades and then some.

He’d be a stud today, just as he was in the 60s and 70s for the STL Cardinals.  In 1968, he posted a 1.12 ERA.  One point one two.  INCREDIBLE no matter how you slice it.  It’s still a record to this day, and one that in my opinion will NEVER be broken.

Other noteworthy accomplishments as a player:

– MVP in 1968
– 2 Cy Young awards (’68 and ’70)
– 8 All Star games
– 3,117 Ks (14th all time)
– 81.6 bWAR, 82.3 fWAR (25th and 16th all time)
– 56 complete game shut outs
– 26 consecutive quality starts
– 9 Gold Gloves

Oh, and he struck out 17 hitters in a WORLD SERIES game:

But he was in his prime when racial tensions were HIGH in baseball.  It was a nasty, gruesome time in America and he got the brunt of it.  But he didn’t give a fuck.  He was known for hardly ever smiling and would put a fastball between a hitter’s numbers to exert dominance.  Gibson was a total prick on the field; the ultimate competitor.  My dad has told me a billion stories about watching him pitch and said that guy wanted nothing but to make hitters look stupid.  And he did.

So this news sucks.  Obviously most of us never got to see his greatness, but anytime a baseball immortal like Bob Gibson is proven to be, in fact, very mortal, the news hits baseball junkies like a ton of bricks.  Waking up and seeing this news really sucked for me.  I’d imagine a lot of the 50+ year old Cardinals Fans are completely shook by this.

We all know cancer sucks, especially pancreatic cancer, but if anyone can overcome it, it’s that tough SOB Bob Gibson.  It’s Monday, but baseball fans everywhere should be pouring one out to him tonight for a speedy recovery.