(AP Photo, File)It was the summer of 1963, Bob Gibson was already well on his way to establishing himself as one of the most fearsome, intimidating pitchers in big league history.
As Rose recalls that night in St. Louis, he was playing second base when Gibson hit a double early in the game.
“He just walks by and says, ‘It was a slider, rook.‘”The baseball world and beyond was talking about the great Bob Gibson, a day after the Hall of Fame ace died at 84 in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.
Rose, without looking it up, knew he hit .307 lifetime against Gibson, going 35 for 114.
Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer remembered how Baltimore second baseman Dave Johnson would occasionally run in from the mound to “and say give them the Bob Gibson!”“I’d say, there is only 1 Bob Gibson.