Bullet Points from this Week's War Room

[BruisedOrange]

I remember Dizzy Dean talking about young Bob Gibson. He said something to the effect that Bob was one of the few "modern" players who would have fit in with the ol' Gashouse Gang.

This was back in the early '60s when civil rights for blacks was a hot national issue. That kind of inculsive praise coming from a popular, uneducated, Jim Crow era southerner impacted a lot of people in my neck of the woods. More than once I heard my elders remark on it. To them, having "one of us" (Dean) effectively repeat Martin Luther King's plea to the nation made it okay to speak highly about their own black (then spoken of as "Negro") friends.

Baby steps can lead to great strides. Eventually (it seemed to me) southern men of that generation began to realize that none of the blacks they knew, worked with, and stood alongside at games and events, fit the stereotypes they had been politically resisting.

That's why I hate these efforts to remove our history. If we forget how far we've come, we either lose the will to continue, or we resort to revolution to finish the job. And revolutions just leave dead people on every side.

 

[Big Al Orange]

You nailed it. He was the best MLB pitcher ever.

I can remember seeing him win a World Series game 1 to nothing. He pitched a complete shutout and hit a home run for the cards win.

 

[Tnphil]

Been a Cards fan since the 50's.....Went to games at Sportsman Park..I had the pleasure of seeing Gibson pitch a few times..

McCarver called timeout and headed to the mound....Gibson met McCarver half way and told him....Get back behind the plate, the only thing you know about good pitching is you can't hit it.

 

[SNAFU]

I can remember seeing him win a World Series game 1 to nothing. He pitched a complete shutout and hit a home run for the cards win.

His 1967 Series included a 3-0 run through the Boston Red Sox in which he logged three complete-game victories in the seven-game series. That will never be matched again in this era of baseball.

 

[NighthawkVol]

Most annoying broadcaster ever (IDK I'd throw Mike Shannon in there as well. I was on the road for Thursday's game and had to listen on the radio. I looked everywhere for a ice pick to stick in my eye. I thought it would be less painful than listening to Shannon) but he was a respected Cardinal all the way!

I was Team Deion during that NLCS victory celebration confrontation.

 

[BigDave]

Been a Cards fan since the 50's.....Went to games at Sportsman Park..I had the pleasure of seeing Gibson pitch a few times..

McCarver called timeout and headed to the mound....Gibson met McCarver half way and told him....Get back behind the plate, the only thing you know about good pitching is you can't hit it.

McCarver has told that story many times! And I heard an interview with Gibby and McCarver and they both laughed so hard when telling this story and about Red letting Gibby decide when to come out of a game.

RIP Bob Gibson

GBO - beat the Dawgs!

 

[tennrich1]

I was Team Deion during that NLCS victory celebration confrontation.

That was a classic in American baseball for sure! As McCarver likes to say.." IT'S B-A-S-E-B-A-L-L MAN! He was ok until he started talking about a French opera he attended in 1975. Then it was over. Danny Mc. kept him in order probably about as good as anyone could. And does an expert likeness of McCarver!

 

[tennrich1]

Of course the classic, which is inside the case at Cooperstown with Gibson's hat and glove from the no hitter, was a statement by Vin Scully. "Gibson is pitching like he's double parked"!!!

 

[ButchPlz]

Really good post! You are exactly right about pushing people off the plate. In the Cards/Padres games Thursday night if ANY HITTER regardless of who they were showed as much disrespect and self-centeredness as Tatis and Machado did in that game there was no question at the next plate appearance they were getting knocked down and maybe intentional hit. It was a way to keep the game pure. As a kid who grew up in the 60's and 70's watching and playing baseball, what we see today is a totally different game. Its developed into a home run/strike out display and I miss the pure strategy of the game from then. And life rolls on.

Watch some Japanese baseball. Good stuff.