(Updated April 11, 2020)
On April 11, 1967, Bob Gibson pitched nine innings, walked none and struck out 13 in the Cardinals’ season-opening 6-0 victory over the Giants at St. Louis.
Gibson struck out the first five batters _ Ken Henderson, Jesus Alou, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Jim Ray Hart _ before retiring Tom Haller on a pop-up to catcher Tim McCarver. All five went down swinging. Gibson became the third National League pitcher to strike out the first five batters of a game, joining the Dodgers’ Dazzy Vance (1926) and the Giants’ Bob Bolin (1966).
Mays and McCovey each went 0-for-4. McCovey struck out three times and Mays whiffed once.
“My slider was my best pitch, but I had a good fastball, too,” Gibson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Cardinals shortstop Dal Maxvill said, “Gibby was really blowing the ball by them in the first two innings. He’d nip the corners with his great slider and then, when they’d be looking for the slider, he’d run the fastball in on their hands. He was busting the bats right out of their hands.”
Gibson yielded five hits, all singles. The Giants got three in succession in the third inning but failed to score.
With one out, Hal Lanier singled to left and Juan Marichal singled to center, advancing Lanier to second. Henderson followed with a single to short right, loading the bases.
Gibson got out of the jam by inducing Alou to ground into a double play. Alou hit the ball to first baseman Orlando Cepeda, who stepped on first and threw to McCarver, who tagged out Lanier at home plate.
The win was Gibson’s first against the Giants since 1965. He was 0-3 against them in 1966. “I always pitch good against them and get beat,” Gibson said to the Associated Press. “It’s refreshing to beat them.”
St. Louis scored all of its runs against Marichal, who yielded 14 hits. Lou Brock’s three-run home run in the second was the big blow.
“I felt good,” Marichal said. “They were hitting my good stuff.” Boxscore
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The 13 strikeouts by Gibson is still a Cardinal record for opening day. Bob is also one of four pitchers to have three opening day starts and register at least ten strikeouts. He and Marichal squared off against each other seven times with Gibson winning five times.
Good info, thanks. Pretty amazing and impressive that Bob Gibson holds the club record for most strikeouts in a season opener more than 50 years later. In his book “Stranger to the Game,” Gibson called Juan Marichal “a master on the mound whom I regard as the best pitcher of my generation,” but he also said of Marichal, “I wouldn’t have many opportunities to beat him in later years when he began avoiding direct confrontations.”