Bob Gibson------Pete Lacock

[cavalier1968]

Watching Studio 42....and if any of you haven't seen it.....It's a interview type show , hosted by Bob Costas. I absolutely love it! Anyway, while he was interviewing the great Rod Carew and the great Tony Gwynn, Costas told the story of Pete Lacock hitting the last pitch Bob Gibson threw for a Grand Slam home run. Ten years later, at an old timers game, GIbson hit Pete Lacock with a pitch.

Later........Costas interviewed Gibson....and questioned him about the incident. GIbson replied," The books must be balanced Robert..."

Is this story true?....I almost fell off the couch laughing....

Cav

[Cowtipper]

Hahahahahaha you said "LaCock"

[deadball-era-rules]

I don't know if it is or not, but it sounds a lot like many other statements I have heard from Gibson.

[BSmile]

I've heard that story repeated a few times over the years. If it was 10 years after he retired, it would have been the mid-1980's...so there might be video of it somewhere.

[Gary Dunaier]

Hahahahahaha you said "LaCock"

Believe it or not, Pete LaCock's father is none other than "Hollywood Squares" host Peter Marshall!

It's true.

If you don't believe me, that's okay... sit down, take a load off your feet, and enjoy a nice, steaming hot bowl of soup...

[ol' aches and pains]

No thanks-too many cocks spoil the broth.

[Dto7]

Don't know about the Pete LaCock incident, But here is Bob Gibson talking about plunking Ron Fairly.

[ipitch]

Don't know about the Pete LaCock incident, But here is Bob Gibson talking about plunking Ron Fairly.

Sometimes when I hear a story like this I like to check and see if it's true. Fairly only had one HBP vs. Gibson in his career, so finding the game was easy. http://www.baseball-reference.com/bo...97107170.shtml
Fairly was indeed 2-2, but one of his hits was a HR. Also, Gibson was never even ON first base in that game, and Torre was not catching that day either! Perhaps the game Gibson was talking about was a Spring training game, but that seems unlikely.

[Victory Faust]

So when Ty Cobb did childish, meanspirted things on the field, he was the "Great Black Mark" on baseball.

When Bob Gibson did childish, meanspirited things on the field, it elicits a chuckle over his "competitiveness."

Gotcha.

[Beady]

Makes perfect sense. We engage in a competitive test of skill and you get the best of me in a fair contest. I retaliate by biding my time for ten years and then committing assault and battery. What could be more reasonable?

[BigRon]

So when Ty Cobb did childish, meanspirted things on the field, he was the "Great Black Mark" on baseball.

When Bob Gibson did childish, meanspirited things on the field, it elicits a chuckle over his "competitiveness."

Gotcha.

Gibson was a great pitcher, but I have limited respect for him. It's been documented that he intentionally threw at hitters, often after they'd had a successful at bat against him. One of the most notorious was in April 1961. Duke Snider hit a 2 run homer off of Gibson to put the Dodgers ahead. Next at bat, Gibson hit Snider in the right elbow, breaking it. Snider was rewarded by being on the disabled list for nearly 2 months. Gibson's reward was that he didn't even get a warning from the umpire.

When Gibson struck batters out, should they have charged the mound with a bat to get revenge? This in essence is what he was doing while he was pitching.

Great pitcher, but, as Victory Faust said, meanspirited, in my opinion.

[nerfan]

Gibson did whatever he could to win. So did Cobb. I don't think I would personally like either, but I certainly respect both as ballplayers. I think the main reason that history treats them differently is because Cobb was born in the wrong part of the country.

[Michael Green]

I am of two minds here.

First, Gibson and others in his era could throw inside, and I mean could in two ways--they had the stuff to do it, and umpires didn't object to them doing it. Flattening a batter or hitting him isn't pretty, but the idea is to induce fear or trepidation. For example, did Gibson hit Snider in the elbow intentionally? Was that where he was aiming? That's a different matter than throwing inside. Pitchers have said that if they wanted to hit someone in the head, they would throw behind him, because the instinct is to fall backward. So "chin music" is different.

But "headhunting" is another matter--throwing at the batter in such a way that he will be hurt. If that's what Gibson did, then ... I guess the answer would have been to make sure Drysdale was pitching against him, eh?

On a related note, one of the classic clips is Nolan Ryan punching Robin Ventura. But I read at the time that most players applauded Ventura for charging the mound, because for years Ryan had been a true "headhunter" and, at least in the AL, got away with not answering for it due to that unspeakable blot on baseball, the designated hitter.

[BigRon]

Flattening a batter or hitting him isn't pretty, but the idea is to induce fear or trepidation. For example, did Gibson hit Snider in the elbow intentionally? Was that where he was aiming? That's a different matter than throwing inside. Pitchers have said that if they wanted to hit someone in the head, they would throw behind him, because the instinct is to fall backward. So "chin music" is different.

But "headhunting" is another matter--throwing at the batter in such a way that he will be hurt. If that's what Gibson did, then ... I guess the answer would have been to make sure Drysdale was pitching against him, eh?
.

I guess we'll never know definitively unless Gibson admitted guilt, but here are the facts: Monday night game at LA, April 17, 1961. Bottom of 3rd, Snider hits a 2 run homer off Gibson to put Dodgers up. Bottom of 5th, Dodgers up 3-2, Gibson gets first 2 outs. Snider comes to plate. Gibson hits Snider on right elbow with first pitch. Snider out nearly 2 months. Gibson pitches 2 more innings until knocked out in bottom of 7th. Draw your own conclusions.

[Macker]

One thing that isn't true -- LaCock didn't hit Gibson's last pitch for a grand slam. LaCock did hit a grand slam, but Gibson then retired Don Kessinger on a groundout to end the inning. Kessinger was the last batter Gibson faced.