Bob Gibson, legendary Hall of Fame baseball player and North Omaha native, dies at age 84
By: Vivian Caniglia
Bob Gibson 1935- 2020
Bob Gibson, famed baseball player and North Omaha native, passed away at age 84 on October 2, 2020. Gibson, the most accomplished Nebraska-born athlete in Major League Baseball to date, died after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer.
While Gibson was a man of privacy, and did not always love being called a legend, his athletic accomplishments led him to become one. He grew up living in the Logan Fontenelle Housing projects and lost his father before he was born. He was raised by his mother and lived with his six siblings, facing years of health issues such as pneumonia. Despite his medical limits, his athletic career was not stopped.
Gibson attended Tech High for school, excelling at baseball, basketball, and track. He went on to attend Creighton University and played for a year with the Harlem Globetrotters. After making the St. Louis roster, he focused on baseball and joined the Cardinals in 1957, receiving his acclaimed No. 45 jersey, which has now been put into the The National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Gibson’s career as a pitcher for the Cardinals was legendary. In 1968, he had a total of 268 strikeouts, 13 shutouts, and 22 wins for the team. He received the honor of the National League Cy Young Award twice in his time and in 1968, was given the National League MVP honors. He was a nine-time Gold Glove Award winner and nine-time National League All-Star, ending his career with an ERA (earned run average) of 2.91. The Hall of Famer received the MLB Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
After retiring, he still supported and communicated with his fellow players.
A photo of Bob Gibson, left, and Tim McCarver, both members of the 1967 St. Louis Cardinals champion team. Here they celebrate the 50th anniversary of the win on May 17, 2017.
(Photo: AP archive)
Beyond his remarkable athletic achievements, Gibson was acclaimed for being a heart-felt teammate. After retiring, he still supported and communicated with his fellow players. He advocated for equality in the athletic field. When speaking with Leo Biga for an interview in 2010, Gibson spoke of his respect for Jackie Robinson:
The article explained “To Gibson’s dismay, media coverage of the Robinson anniversary has focused on the paucity of blacks filling managerial roles in baseball and not on the larger issue – that 50 years later blacks continue facing widespread discrimination. He feels it’s hypocritical to make baseball a scapegoat for what’s a systemic problem” (Biga, 2010).
Gibson was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2019 and passed away in hospice care this year, leaving behind a remarkable career.
For a more in depth read on Gibson’s impactful career and life, visit Biga’s article Bob Gibson, A Stranger No More (from my Omaha Black Sports Legends series, Out to Win: The Roots of Greatness).
SOURCES:
https://www.mlb.com/news/bob-gibson-named-lifetime-achievement-honoree-c288678270
https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/gibson-bob
*Music heard in the interview interview comes from Culxr House