With a tip of the hat to my friends Tim Erblich and Ryan Morgan, I know this one had to hurt. Bob Gibson died this weekend. He was one of the top pitchers of all-time and together with Sandy Koufax dominated hitters in the 1960s. Although I grew up an Astros fan, my father grew up a St. Louis Cardinals fan and up until the day he died could still list the full starting lineup of the Gashouse Gang of 1935. That means my number two team was St. Louis. Behind Stan Musial, Bob Gibson is my favorite Card.
The Cardinals when to three World Series in the 1960s and Gibson was their leader, both spiritually and physically. Gibson won two game 7’s, in 1964 against the Yankees and in 1967 against the Red Sox and lost game 7 in 1968 against the Tigers. According to his New York Times (NYT) obituary, his overall numbers were beyond outstanding. “He won at least 20 games five times and struck out 3,117 batters. He threw 56 career shutouts and captured a second Cy Young Award in 1970. He was an eight-time All-Star, won a Gold Glove award for fielding nine times and pitched a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1971.” He also holds the records for most strikeouts in a World Series game, 17, and in a single World Series, 35, both against the Detroit Tigers in 1968. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, 1981.
But it was his season in 1968 for which he will ever be remembered. Also given 2020 is the worst year in America since 1968, it seems weirdly synchronistic. According to Steve Rushin, writing in a Sports Illustrated piece, entitled The Season of High Heat, “Aflame in the heat of a St. Louis summer, in the stifling cream and cardinal-red flannels of that city’s baseball team, Bob Gibson cut an equally laughable figure that season. The figure was 1.12. It was his ERA, the lowest ever by a big league pitcher with more than 300 innings pitched. A quarter century later, men who are themselves Hall of Fame pitchers have expressed awe at his performance. Drysdale, speaking just a few weeks before his recent death, shook his head as he said, “Bob Gibson with a 1.12 ERA. That’s almost obscene.”
“In one span of 92 innings in June and July, Gibson allowed two runs. One was driven in by a hitter with a full count who fouled off three pitches before hitting a double that landed on the foul line. The other run scored on a wild pitch. Gibson made 34 starts in 1968: He finished 28 of them and was lifted for a pinch hitter in the other six, which means he was never removed from the mound all season.” He went 22-9 for the entire season, with 13 shutouts.
Gibson was one of the toughest and most intimidated hombres around. Even Gibson said, “I was just pissed…all the time.” According to an ESPN article, “Hank Aaron once counseled Atlanta Braves teammate Dusty Baker about Gibson, “Don’t dig in against Bob Gibson; he’ll knock you down,” Aaron said, according to The Boston Globe. “He’d knock down his own grandmother if she dared to challenge him. Don’t stare at him, don’t smile at him, don’t talk to him. He doesn’t like it. If you happen to hit a home run, don’t run too slow, don’t run too fast. If you happen to want to celebrate, get in the tunnel first. And if he hits you, don’t charge the mound, because he’s a Gold Glove boxer.””
How tough was Gibson? Consider the following: In 1967, he took a liner from Roberto Clemente off his leg. It fractured Gibson’s “right leg just above the ankle. Before being trundled off the field that day, Gibson pitched to the next three batters. Again: On a broken leg.” I will leave my final thoughts on Gibson to two of his teammates, his catcher Tim McCarver who said, “Nothing that has ever been said about Bob Gibson and his talent has ever been overstated. Everybody embellishes, but with Gibson, there is no way to do so out of the realm of fact.” And the final word to his recently deceased teammate Lou Brock who said, “As I recall, he didn’t make one bad pitch over the plate that year.”
CONVERGE20 will be here on Tuesday. Have you registered yet? I certainly hope so. Did you know that the entire event is free? CONVERGE20 is a pinnacle component of this community, providing two days of inspiration, growth and connection. What makes Convercent’s CONVERGE conference so unique and, indeed, so special? It is the Converge Community who attend the event. This year will be no different as you will have the chance to experience that Converge Community in the most unique way yet presented in a compliance conference.
What are some of the presentations I am looking forward to hearing?
- Lisa Stewart Hughes, Chief Compliance Officer at Endeavor, on Accountability Beyond Diversity and Inclusion.
- Don Sinko, Chief Integrity Officer at the Cleveland Clinic, on Integrity v. Compliance-the Future of Our Profession.
- Hugh Bigwood, General Counsel at EverCare, on Behavioral Science: Why People Don’t Intervene.
- Alyson Van Hooser, Partner at Van Hooser Associates, on Employee Engagement: Are You Prepared for a Gen Z Workforce?
- Ian Foxley, on Whistleblower Protection: The Dawn of the Next Era.
- Guendeline Donde, Director of Research at the Institute of Business Ethics, on Small budget, big impact: Scrappy compliance with limited resources.
- Aaron Narva, SVP at Exiger on Who Owns the Risk? What Social Pressure and an Integrated View of Risk Mean for the Compliance Officer.
In short, there will be something for everyone in the compliance community.
I hope you will join me in attending. I will be speaking and engaging as well. Registration for CONVERGE20 is still ongoing. Need some CLE or CEUs? This will be the place for you. Did I mention the best part? All of this is at NO CHARGE. Yes, CONVERGE20 is free to attend. So, head on over to the Registration page and sign up today.
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