Honoring Bob Gibson, Jackie Robinson

I was having a chat with a man named Thomas who is an MLB rep and an expert on great black ballplayers, and he mentioned how much he admired the great Bob Gibson, and the thought occurred to me that Bob Gibson had not been mentioned in the GLAVstat section of my book The Boys of Shea. This was either a computer glitch or a mental error, like the ones Daniel Murphy makes in Left Field these days. I will investigate the origin of this mistake and fire the computer hamsters involved.

The GLAV stat is one design to rate starters who maintain a low ERA over hundreds of innings in a single season. To set the record straight: Bob Gibson pitched four seasons in which is GLAV stat was over 100, thereby qualifying himself for the illustrious distinction of being inducted into my  “You Gotta Believe It Or Not” Hall of Fame.

In 1966, he gave up 76 earned runs in 280.1 innings for a GLAV stat of 114.62.

In 1968, he gave up 38 earned runs in 304.2 innings for a GLAV stat of 270.4, one of the highest in history.

In 1969 he have up 76 earned runs in 314 innings, for a GLAV stat of 144.1, a very high mark.

In 1972 he gave up, again, 76 earned runs,  in 278 innings, for a GLAV stat of 113.1.

Few pitchers have more than 4 seasons where they pass the 100 mark in GLAV stat, and the 270.5 mark is sensational.

Here’s how that was calculated: for 1968, divide 304.2 by 38 you get one earned run per 8 innings. Then you divide 304.2 by 9 and you get 33.8 “games.” Then multiply the number of games times the number of innings per run (8×33.8) This gives you 270.4.

1968 was the year Gibson was outpitched by “out of nowhere” Tiger pitcher Mickey Lolitch in the seventh game of the World Series, all the more remarkable, as Gibson was at the height of his powers. The new book, The Boys of Shea, includes the transcript of an interview of Mickey Lolitch by Joe Benigno, explaining how he did it.

Glad to see the Mets win at Citifield. Delgado keeps reaching for those tasty ribbies!!!!