The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #38 Bob Gibson

Hittin’ the list at #38 is Cardinals starter Bob Gibson. Gibson’s legendary performance in the 1964 World Series helped propel the Cardinals over the Yankees in a 7-game thriller, but it was his performance in the 1967 World Series that would solidify him as one of the best big-game pitchers baseball has ever seen. Gibson won all three of his starts yielding just three earned runs over 27 innings. His complete game, 10 strikeout performance in Game 7 propelled the Cardinals to victory.  Gibson’s brilliance over nine World Series starts places him right at the top of the list of greatest postseason pitchers in history. He’s the only pitcher to throw 30 strikeouts in a single World Series, and he did it twice. He also holds the 5th highest single World Series strikeout mark for good measure.  He holds the record for career K/9 innings in the World Series (min. 30 innings) and his eight complete games in the World Series are the most since 1940. He’s the only pitcher since the dead-ball era to average at least nine innings per start in the World Series (min. five starts). Gibson’s heroics weren’t just limited to the postseason. His 1968 Cy Young-winning regular season is arguably the greatest season by a pitcher since the dead-ball era. His 1.12 ERA in ’68 is the lowest single-season ERA by a starting pitcher since the dead-ball era (min. 150 innings). His .853 WHIP in ’68 is the lowest single-season WHIP by a starting pitcher since the dead-ball era (min. 275 innings). It remains the only season in baseball history that yielded 300 innings, a 1.12 ERA, and a .853 WHIP. After winning another Cy Young in 1970, Gibson joined Sandy Koufax as the only two pitchers in history with at least two Cy Youngs, two World Series MVPs, and a regular-season MVP.

Leave a Reply

Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *