Quote of the Day

Why not stick with a good theme? Here's a great quote to go along with the last post.

"Have you ever thrown a ball 100 miles an hour? Everything hurts. Even your ass hurts. I see pictures of my face and say, 'Holy shit', but that's the strain you feel when you throw. I had one of those faces you look at it, man, and say, 'Man he's an ass-hole.' Could be, depends on if you pissed me off or not."

-Bob Gibson

On This Date in Baseball: July 17

1941 - Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak of 56 games was stopped by Al Smith and Jim Bagby of the Indians. The Yankees still won, 4-3.

1974 - Bob Gibson became the second pitcher in Major League history to record 3,000 strikeouts.

Cardinals from Times of Yore

Bob Gibson 1968 by the Numbers
Since it's the 40th anniversary of his amazing 1968 season, it had to come sometime.

22 wins-9 losses
1.12 ERA
13 shutouts
28 complete-games
47 consecutive scoreless innings
268 strikeouts
NL MVP
NL Cy Young Award

In Game One of the 1968 World Series, he struck out 17 Detroit Tigers to set a World Series record for strikeouts in one game (breaking Sandy Koufax's record of 15 in Game One of the 1963 World Series), which still stands today. His season was so successful that his performance is widely cited in Major League Baseball's decision to lower the pitcher's mound by five inches in 1969. The change had only a slight effect on him; he went 20-13 that year, with a 2.18 ERA.