(Updated Nov. 21, 2024)
In their many duels from 1959-72, Bob Gibson threw brushback pitches to Roberto Clemente to keep him from taking ownership of the plate. The tactic was rooted in a machismo kind of respect, not dislike, and Gibson never hit Clemente with a pitch.
One time, though, Clemente hit Gibson.
The incident became a prominent part of Cardinals lore.
On July 15, 1967, Clemente hit a ball that struck Gibson and fractured a bone in his right leg.
Unaware of the severity of the injury, Gibson remained in the game and pitched to three more batters before collapsing.
Many predicted the injury, which would sideline Gibson for almost two months, would ruin the Cardinals’ championship hopes.
Instead, the Cardinals pulled together and went on to win the 1967 National League pennant and World Series title.
Back off
Clemente, a career .317 hitter, batted .208 (26-for-125) with 32 strikeouts against Gibson.
In his book “Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said of Clemente, “I always threw at him. He swung way too hard against me, flinging himself at the ball and spinning around in the batter’s box like he was on the playground. I had to demonstrate to him I was no playground pitcher. To that end, I made a point of throwing at least one fastball in his direction nearly every time he came to the plate.”
(In the book “Voices From Cooperstown,” pitcher Robin Roberts said of Clemente, “He was the most unorthodox good ballplayer I ever saw … When he swung, he’d lunge and hit bad balls … He really looked less like a ballplayer than anyone I’ve ever seen … The only thing that made him look sensational was the results … but everything he did was an effort. Nothing was graceful or smooth.”
Gibson said he liked Clemente and learned to laugh at his antics.
“It was virtually impossible to ignore him because he was always talking,” Gibson said. “Usually, it was to complain about how much his back or his shoulder or some other thing was hurting him. Then he would step in the batter’s box and swing so hard that the flagsticks on top of the stadium would bend.”
Just tape it
The Pirates went hitless in the first three innings against Gibson on July 15, 1967, in St. Louis. Clemente, leading off the fourth, hit a ball that rocketed straight toward Gibson and struck him on the shin.
“All my weight is on my right foot on my follow through,” Gibson said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “That’s why I couldn’t get out of the way of the ball. I couldn’t even lift my foot because the weight was on it.”
The force of the blow knocked down Gibson. Trainer Bob Bauman rushed to the mound and sprayed ethyl chloride on Gibson’s leg. “He advised me to take a look,” Gibson said. “I saw what he saw _ a dent in the skin the shape of a baseball.”
Clemente’s smash cracked Gibson’s fibula, a bone in the lower part of the leg.
Gibson, though, didn’t feel much pain. “In this type of injury, there is shock immediately and no pain,” said Cardinals team physician Dr. I.C. Middleman.
Said Gibson: “It was odd that I couldn’t feel where I had been struck, but because I couldn’t feel it I wasn’t particularly worried. I told Doc (Bauman) to put a little tape on it and let me get back to work.”
Now it’s broke
Gibson threw some practice pitches and declared himself fit to continue. “While it was true I didn’t surrender easily to pain or injury, at the time I didn’t fully realize what I was doing,” Gibson said. “I assumed I had picked up a hell of a contusion.”
Pirates slugger Willie Stargell told the Atlanta Constitution, “You could hear the leg pop. I knew something was wrong, but Gibson stayed in.”
When play resumed, Gibson walked Stargell and got Bill Mazeroski to fly out to center. The next batter, Donn Clendenon, worked the count to 3-and-2.
“I tried to put a little extra on the payoff pitch,” Gibson said.
As the pitch sailed outside the strike zone for ball four, Gibson collapsed.
“Initially, the bone had been fractured, but not separated,” Gibson said. “It was only when I came down on it so hard (on the last pitch) _ my motion concentrated a lot of weight and spinning momentum on my right leg _ that it broke cleanly in two. If that hadn’t happened, I might have continued the season uninterrupted.”
Said Middleman: “He has a high threshold for pain. You or I would have been writhing from the pain.”
Setting an example
Gibson was taken to a hospital and his leg placed in a cast. “At the hospital, he didn’t even want a shot,” Middleman told The Sporting News. “All we gave him was a little codeine.”
The Pirates won the game, 6-4, cutting the Cardinals’ lead over the second-place Cubs and Reds to four. Boxscore
After witnessing Gibson’s will and determination, Cardinals pitchers who might have complained about minor ailments or tiredness felt inspired to push forward.
The Cardinals were 36-19 during the time Gibson was sidelined. Nelson Briles and Dick Hughes each won seven of nine decisions during Gibson’s absence; Steve Carlton won five of seven.
When Gibson returned to action on Sept. 7, the Cardinals were 87-53, 11.5 games ahead of the second-place Cubs and Giants.
“I felt a little awkward with all the gushy rhetoric that accompanied the incident,” Gibson said, “but if it provided a constructive example for the ballclub, so be it.”
Gibson, 10-6 when injured, won three of four decisions after his return and finished 13-7. The Cardinals completed the season at 101-60, 10.5 ahead of the runner-up Giants.
In the ensuing World Series against the Red Sox, Gibson made three starts and earned wins in all.
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