Cardinals Hall of Fame Pitcher Bob Gibson Passes Away

St. Louis Cardinal great and Major League Baseball Hall of Fame member Bob Gibson has passed away at the age of 84. Gibson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981 and is the Cardinals leading pitcher in wins, games started, complete games, shutouts, innings pitched and strike outs along with a 2.91 ERA.

Principal Owner & Chief Executive Officer of the Cardinals William O. DeWitt, Jr. said in a statement, “Bob Gibson was arguably one of the best athletes and among the fiercest competitors to ever play the game of baseball."

Gibson's death comes on the fifty second anniversary of his record breaking 17 strike out World Series game in 1968. The Cardinals say Gibson's 1968 season is the greatest season ever by a pitcher in the modern era. "His 1.12 ERA established an all-time record for 300 or more innings. Gibson posted a 22-9 record with league-leading totals of 13 shutouts and 268 strikeouts. During one stretch, he surrendered merely two earned runs over 95 innings. Gibson was named the N.L. Cy Young Award winner and MVP."

Gibson's record breaking World Series performance in game one of the 1968 World Series en route to a Cardinals 4-0 victory against the Tigers wasn't his only accomplishment. He also pitched two more complete games winning game four by a score of 10-1, and losing game seven 4-1. Gibson struck out 35 in the three games he pitched.

Gibson's relationship with The Cardinals and Major League Baseball continued after his playing career ended. Gibson was the New York Mets pitching coach in 1981, and he held the same position with the Atlanta Braves from 1982-1984. He also was the Cardinals bullpen coach in 1995. Additionally he served as a broadcaster and special instructor for the Cardinals for 20 years starting in 1996. In 2018 the Cardinals celebrated Gibson's 17 year career with the team and his extraordinary life story with fans across multiple generations.

Cardinals fans, I'd love to hear your memories of this baseball great. Feel free to comment below, comment on the Facebook post this article is attached to, or by dropping me a quick email at rob.creighton@townsquaremedia.com. I'd like to share some of your memories in another blog post.

You can read more about St. Louis Cardinal great Bob Gibson on the Cardinals website.

The St. Louis Cardinals Department of Communications contributed to this report.