Bob Gibson (1) (1935–2020)

An account by Cardinals pitching legend Bob Gibson of the first game of the 1968 World Series against Denny McClain and the Detroit Tigers. This was the Year of the Pitcher, in which Gibson set a record 1.12 ERA, and McClain won 31 games, resulting in the lowering of the pitcher's mound the following season. As the title says, this is a pitch-by-pitch account of the game, apparently augmented by watching videotapes of the game and baseball reference books. I'm not quite hardcore enough to be fascinated by a recounting of each single pitch, but fortunately Gibson fleshes out the boilerplate language with anecdotes, musings and history from one of the game's iconic figures. Incidentally, this was a game in which Gibson broke Sandy Koufax's record for strikeouts in a single World Series game. Of more importance to Gibson, however, was the fact that the Cardinals won that first game, although they lost Game Seven, which also saw Gibson pitching.… (mais)

One of baseball's greatest pitchers and one of baseball's greatest hitters - and ones known as great baseball thinkers - sit down and talk about baseball and you have a front row seat. Sounds like a great concept and Gibson and Jackson do tell a lot of great stories and offer some great insight and analysis of the game. Gibson even admits he used a spitball once in a game against the Mets (like he really needed too!). I found the book disappointing though because they seemed to fall back on old cliches and baseball accepted wisdom than really offering a unique perspective. And don't get me started on all the Yankees glurge and Jeter-love (especially from Jackson). I think this book would be better if there was a third person there - someone from outside the game, say, Bill James - to stir things up and keep Gibson & Jackson honest. Good but not great baseball writing, and baseball fans should enjoy reading it and enjoy critiquing it.… (mais)

Two baseball Hall-of-Famers, Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson, talk about how the game should be played, how they approached it, and how the game differs now from their day. Given Gibson's head-hunter reputation, I was a bit surprised to learn that he had fairly rigid conditions for brushing the batter back, and that he would never go for the head. What's not a surprise is that Gibson and Jackson have much the same work ethic about the game, that involves taking their natural gifts and improving them as much as possible through hard work, practice, attention to fundamentals, and thinking intelligently about everything they did. These approaches are often sorely lacking today; Albert Pujols is probably the best proponent of their approach to the game. It's a fascinating book for the baseball fan, especially for a St. Louisan. Interesting to see the mutual respect Gibson and Jackson share, and their regret that the only times they faced each other was in an All-Star game. I'm curious about the format of the book; it follows the form of a conversation, but it's pretty tightly edited, and both authors call up an array of facts and statistics you wouldn't imagine them to have at their fingertips. My guess is that they were e-mailing each other, giving them the opportunity to polish their comments and look up facts and figures. A very interesting baseball book, and I'm grateful to my sister and her husband for snagging me a copy at Gibson's book-signing.… (mais)