#19 Bob Gibson

 


Bob Gibson
P
1959-1975
9x All Star, 2x Cy Young, 1968 MVP, 9x Gold Glove
Baseball Hall of Fame 1981
Bob Gibson played before I was born. I saw him on grainy VHS tapes like The Golden Greats of Baseball, and in the Ken Burns documentary that came out when I was in middle school. Watching those clips and reading about him. I assumed he was 6'7 and 240 pounds. He went 6'1 190...but his demeanor and attitude and nastiest made him look like he was much much larger. 

He won 251 games in the major leagues, had a career ERA of 2.91. His 1968 season is maybe the best a pitcher has ever had. He posted a 1.12 ERA that year. That's not a typo. He also had 13 shutouts that year and completed 28 of his 34 starts. 

A blistering fastball and a plus breaking ball, plus the ability to throw inside with no complaint from anyone...I mean who is gonna go out there? Gibson was the top starter for the Cardinals for the better part of a decade. 

In the postseason? 7-2 with a 1.89 and 2 World Series MVP awards. 

Stats? Sure. He's ranked 47th all time in WAR and 25th in Pitcher WAR. He's 14th all time in strikeouts and 13th all time in shutouts. Hell he even clubbed 24 home runs. 

Bob Gibson was the real deal, at any size.


Anthony Leonelli is a 37 year old College Basketball Coach and amateur baseball arguer. If you wanna know how this list came together check here criteria. He thinks that George Brett winning batting titles in 3 decades is pretty awesome. 


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