Everyone that lived through the career of Bob Gibson always talked about how “mean” he was on the baseball diamond. This bi=ook details what Gibson had to endure to make it to the major leagues. He discusses the media and sports riots along with having to listen to some in management that tried to get him out of baseball.
On the mound, he scared the dickens out of many batters due to his ability and confidence in pitching inside to them. His fastball was zipping right by their heads which allowed Gibby to pysch out the batters. On the other side, he didn’t believe in knockdown pitches but batters were never sure.
In this book, he doesn’t talk about many teammates except for Lou Brock and Stan Musial. He does explain how he would pitch to some of the great hitters like Mays and Aaron along with a host of others. Gibson had great athleticism and was afforded the opportunity to play basketball for the Harlem Globetrotters. But he chose baseball instead.
Gibson is a product of a bygone era where most premium Black athletes pursued baseball and I was curious to hear his story. Oddly enough, it was completed and published in early 1968; in the middle of Gibson’s career and right before his greatest personal season of all, perhaps the regular season that cemented his legacy as one of the great pitchers of all time.
This is a book that should be on everyone’s bookshelf and particularly if you are a St. Louis Cardinals fan.
