Bob Gibson: 1935-2020

 

Some of my Bob Gibson baseball cards. Note the one on the bottom left, where Gibson is wearing a left-handed glove. I've read that he tried to prank the Topps photographers by posing as a left-handed pitcher, but someone caught the mistake.

Signed photo from the first time I met Bob Gibson. Those black Cardinals hats were pretty cool.

Signed photo from the second time I met Bob Gibson. I love his delivery, and how he almost fell off the mound after every pitch.

Signed photo from the third time I met Bob Gibson. As a batter, I would not look forward to facing that guy.

Bob Gibson was one of the greatest pitchers in the history of baseball. Gibson died on October 2^nd, adding to the list of great players we’ve lost in 2020. Gibson’s list of accolades speaks for itself: 9-time All-Star, 5-time 20 game winner, 2-time World Series MVP, 9 Gold Gloves, 2 Cy Young awards, and 1 NL MVP.

Bob Gibson pitched for only one franchise during his career: the St. Louis Cardinals. Gibson was such a good athlete that he played for the Harlem Globetrotters for an off-season during his minor league career. Gibson wasn’t exactly a late bloomer, but he didn’t get an early start, either. By the time he turned 25 in November of 1960, he had only won 6 major league games. In contrast, Tom Seaver had won 57 games by his 25^th birthday, Steve Carlton had won 47 games, and Jim Palmer had won 59. In 1962 Gibson suddenly blossomed, winning 15 games, throwing 5 shutouts with an ERA of 2.85.

Gibson was known for being one of the most intimidating competitors on the baseball diamond. He didn’t talk to opposing players, ever. He wasn’t afraid to brush hitters back or knock them down to assert himself on the mound. Despite this being such a large part of Gibson’s reputation, he never led the league in either hit by pitch or wild pitches. In fact, his total of 102 hit by pitches, tied for 85^th all-time, is well below the totals of other 1960’s star hurlers like Don Drysdale at 154, and Jim Bunning at 160. It’s also well below more modern-day control experts like Pedro Martinez (141) and Greg Maddux (137).

Gibson wasn’t a mean guy off the mound, though, and it was clear that his animosity was reserved strictly for opposing batters. From what I know about Gibson’s career, and his relationship with the press, it doesn’t seem as though he was portrayed as an “angry Black man,” but merely to be a Black athlete who took his business as seriously as Gibson did during the 1960’s meant that white people often saw you as a threat to the status quo.

The 1964 World Series was when Bob Gibson exploded onto a national stage. The 1964 World Series was the last gasp of the New York Yankees’ dynasty of the 1950’s. Key cogs Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford were still there, but Yogi Berra was now the manager of the team, instead of being behind the plate.

Gibson started three games in the 1964 World Series. He went 8 innings in a Game 2 loss. Of Gibson’s 9 World Series starts, this was the only time when he didn’t pitch a complete game. He won Game 5, pitching 10 innings, and striking out 13 batters. Gibson started Game 7 on just two days’ rest. He won the game 7-5, despite giving up two solo home runs in the top of the 9^th inning. When Cardinals manager Johnny Keane was asked why he kept Gibson in the game, he replied, “He didn’t pitch with only his arm. He pitched with his heart. He’s got lots of heart…I went all the way with him because I was committed to this fellow’s heart.” I think that’s a wonderfully poetic quote. Gibson was named the MVP of the 1964 World Series and was the first Black player to be named a World Series MVP. (The award began in 1955.)

Gibson became a 20-game winner for the first time in 1965, and he repeated the feat the following season. Gibson didn’t win 20 games during the Cardinals’ pennant-winning season of 1967, partly because he missed nearly two months of the season thanks to a fractured leg from a Roberto Clemente line drive. Fun fact: Gibson actually stayed in that game and faced three more batters before leaving! Fortunately for the Cardinals, Gibson was back in top form for the 1967 World Series. Gibson pitched three complete games against the Red Sox, winning them all. This time, Gibson pitched a complete game to win Game 7 on three days’ rest. He was again named World Series MVP.

And then came 1968, the year in which Bob Gibson would have one of the most dominant seasons by a pitcher ever. Looking at Gibson’s won-loss record of 22-9, his dominance is not immediately apparent. But then look at his ERA: 1.12. That’s like a figure from the dead ball era, 50 years previous. When you look at Gibson’s ERA, the question immediately becomes not “How did he win 22 games?” but rather, “How on earth did he lose 9 games?” 8 of his 9 losses were by one or two runs. After throwing a 10-inning shutout against the Reds on September 2^nd, Gibson’s ERA was 0.99. Gibson threw 28 complete games in 1968. 13 of those complete games were shutouts. Gibson led the league with 268 strikeouts, and had a mind-boggling ERA+ of 258, meaning he was 2 ½ times better than the average pitcher in 1968. Gibson deservedly won both the Cy Young Award and the MVP award.

Gibson repeated his pattern of being amazing in the post-season, throwing 3 complete games against the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. In Game 1, Gibson hurled one of the greatest World Series games ever, shutting out the Tigers and allowing just 5 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 17. Gibson’s 17 strikeouts set a record for a World Series game, breaking Sandy Koufax’s record of 15, set in Game 1 of the 1963 World Series. In all likelihood, Gibson’s World Series record for strikeouts will never be broken, as there’s little chance of a starting pitcher being allowed to face enough batters to get within reach of the record. Since Gibson’s record was established, the closest anyone has come is 12 strikeouts, with Tom Seaver of the Mets fanning 12 Oakland A’s in Game 3 of the 1973 World Series, and Orlando Hernandez of the Yankees striking out 12 Mets in Game 3 of the 2000 World Series. Ironically enough, both Seaver’s Mets and Hernandez’s Yankees lost those games.

However, Gibson and the Cardinals lost Game 7, as Mickey Lolich, pitching on 2 days’ rest, allowed only one run for his 3^rd win of the Series. That would be Gibson’s last postseason appearance, and the Cardinals wouldn’t make it back to the playoffs until 1982.

But Gibson still had plenty of gas left in the tank, as he led all NL players in WAR for 3 years in a row: 1968, 1969, and 1970. Gibson led the NL in wins with 23 in 1970 and captured his 2^nd Cy Young Award. Gibson still had excellent seasons in 1972, when he went 19-11 with a 2.46 ERA, and 1973, when he went 12-10 with a 2.77 ERA.

1974 wasn’t the best year for Gibson, his record was 11-13, with a 3.83 ERA and an ERA+ of 94. It was the first time since 1960 when Gibson had finished with an ERA+ below 105. However, Gibson did achieve an important milestone that season. On July 17, 1974, he fanned Cesar Geronimo for the 3,000^th strikeout of his career. Gibson was only the second pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters, after Walter Johnson, who recorded his 3,000^th strikeout in 1923. That gives you some idea of Walter Johnson’s dominance, the fact that it took 50 years for another pitcher to get within 500 strikeouts of his record. (To be fair, Bob Feller would have blown past 3,000 strikeouts if he hadn’t lost almost 4 seasons to WWII service.) Fun fact: Cesar Geronimo was also Nolan Ryan’s 3,000^th strikeout victim in 1980. Ryan was the 4^th pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts, which meant that Geronimo had accounted for 50% of the 3,000^th strikeouts ever.

1975 was Gibson’s last season, and as is so often the case, it wasn’t a great one. Gibby’s ERA ballooned to 5.04, his won-loss record was just 3-10, and in July he was demoted to the bullpen. But he did win his 250^th game on June 27^th.

Gibson was an easy choice for the BBWAA writers, and in 1981 he became a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Gibson was the Cardinals’ star pitcher by the time my favorite baseball player, Steve Carlton, came up from the minor leagues in 1965. Gibson and Carlton pitched together on the Cardinals from 1965 until Carlton was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies during spring training in 1972. I haven’t found a lot of references where one pitcher spoke about the other, but I suspect that Gibson’s focus and demeanor on the mound influenced the young Carlton. Carlton did say during a telecast of a Cardinals game in 2017, “If you can’t learn something from Gibson as a pitcher, then you ain’t paying attention.” Carlton spoke a little more about Gibson’s influence on him during a 2018 Cardinals telecast: “He was a teacher by his presentation on the field…I had to teach myself to be that intense.” Carlton had a similar demeanor as Gibson on the mound: no nonsense, all-business. Gibson and Carlton didn’t focus on the opposing batters. To Gibson, they were enemies; to Carlton, they simply didn’t exist.

I met Bob Gibson three times: when I was a kid, probably around 1990 or so, then again in 2012 and 2017. All three times were at baseball card memorabilia shows. I also saw Gibson pitch in an Old-Timer’s Game at the Metrodome, probably around the same time I met him when I was a kid.

I don’t remember a lot about the first time I met Gibson. I know it was at a card show at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, and Gibson was there with Lou Brock. I know I didn’t say anything to Bob Gibson, because I knew what an intimidating competitor he was, and I was definitely in awe of him.

When I met Bob Gibson in 2012, I actually spoke to him. I told him that I saw him pitch at an Old-Timer’s Game at the Metrodome. Bob said, “No, you didn’t.” I said, “I’m pretty sure I did.” “No, you didn’t.” In my head I was like, “Oh crap, I didn’t talk to Bob Gibson when I was a kid because I was scared of him, and now I’m talking to him and he’s disagreeing with me!” Gibson then clarified what he was saying: “You did not see me pitch in an Old-Timer’s Game, you saw me pitch in a Former Big-League Player’s Game.” There’s no arguing with that. He smiled and shook hands with me. It was clear from the way Gibson interacted with people that he was a friendly guy.

I met Gibson again at a show in 2017. Even though I had already met him twice, I figured it was worth the money to meet a legend one more time. I brought along my almost 3-year-old son Miles, who is a big baseball fan. We got to the show near the end of Gibson’s signing time, and he wasn’t at the table, so one of the guys working there took us behind a curtain to where Gibson was sitting. I told Gibson that I had met him twice before, and I mentioned that I had seen him play in a “Retired Professionals Game.” He gave me a look when I said that—I can’t quite describe it, not quizzical, but perhaps he regarded my phrasing as somewhat eccentric. I explained that when I had met him before I had mistakenly called it an “Old-Timer’s Game.” He said he liked that I had the correct phrasing. I was glad that I had pleased Bob Gibson.

Album Review: Goats Head Soup, by the Rolling Stones (1973, remastered 2-CD edition 2020)

 

Goats Head Soup, by the Rolling Stones, originally released in 1973, remastered in 2020.

The Rolling Stones in 1973. From left to right: Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, and Mick Taylor.

It’s hard to be the work of art that comes after an undisputed classic. This is the role that Goats Head Soup plays in the Rolling Stones’ discography. Released at the end of August 1973, the year after the classic double album Exile on Main Street, Goats Head Soup is an album that is often overlooked in the Stones’ catalogue. Goats Head Soup is usually seen as being close to the moment when the Stones’ “golden era” ended.

Recorded largely at Dynamic Sound Studios in Kingston, Jamaica, Goats Head Soup was the last album that Jimmy Miller produced for the Stones. Miller had been at the controls for the band’s run of classic albums: Beggars Banquet, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main Street.

In September 2020, the Rolling Stones released a remastered edition of Goats Head Soup. It’s available in three different versions: as a single CD, a 2CD Deluxe Edition, and a 3CD Super Deluxe boxed set. I’ll be reviewing the 2CD Deluxe Edition. What often gets lost is that Goats Head Soup is actually a very good album on its own. I’m not going to claim that it’s at the same level as Exile on Main Street, but it’s still quite good, and the album suffers from comparisons to Exile. I’ve found Goats Head Soup to be a grower—the more I listen to it, the more I like it. But on first listen, you might not be that impressed with the eclectic mix of songs on the album.

Goats Head Soup spent four weeks at Number 1 in the US, the same number of weeks that both Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street topped the US charts. Goats Head Soup was the third in a run of eight consecutive studio albums by the Stones that went to Number 1 in the US. In the UK, Goats Head Soup topped the charts for two weeks in 1973, and the 2020 remastered edition entered the UK charts at Number 1, giving the Stones Number 1 UK albums in six different decades.

Here are my thoughts on the 10 songs that make up Goats Head Soup:

“Dancing with Mr. D” has a typical Rolling Stones sound, built upon an ominous guitar riff. It tells the story of Jagger dancing with both the masculine and feminine versions of death in a graveyard. Jagger also lists several ways one might expire, including the esoteric line “a drink of Belladonna on a Toussaint night.” I incorrectly thought Mick was singing “Tuesday night” until I looked up the lyrics. So, what is Mick talking about? Belladonna is a poisonous flower, also known as deadly nightshade. And Toussaint is French for “All Saint’s Day.” The promo video is well worth watching, as it features Jagger at his most glam rock, complete with tons of makeup.

“100 Years Ago” is not the typical Rolling Stones sound or subject matter. It finds Jagger in a nostalgic mood, as he spins a tale of walking through the woods, and how it makes him feel like it was 100 years ago. It’s the kind of song you’d expect more from Ray Davies of the Kinks. The song changes tempo a couple of times, before speeding up for the last 90 seconds and turning into an up-tempo guitar rocker, with a terrific solo, presumably by Mick Taylor. This section is a great indication of how much Charlie Watts’ drumming could propel the band. Like Ringo Starr, I think Charlie Watts is often underrated as a drummer. Like Ringo, Charlie’s style is never about showing off, he plays whatever supports the song the best. Watts has never been a showy drummer, but he’s always in the pocket. “100 Years Ago” seems to me a relevant song in 2020—escaping to nature can make you feel like it’s 100 years in the past, as the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on our sense of time, and made it difficult to remember the days when life was “normal.” Disc two features a piano demo of “100 Years Ago,” with Jagger on piano. I found this version arguably more effective than the original, as it doesn’t have the guitar solo ending, so it keeps the nostalgic mood of the song intact throughout.

“Coming Down Again,” with Keith Richards on lead vocals, is my least favorite song on the album. Sorry, Keith. The song just doesn’t do a lot for me. Clocking in just shy of 6 minutes, it’s simply too long. Lyrically, it’s not terribly clever, as it features the rather obvious metaphor “slipped my tongue in someone else’s pie/tasting better every time.” Oh, Keith, you naughty lad!

“Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)” is one of the Stones’ most underrated singles. Released as a single only in the US, it climbed to number 15 on the charts. It features fuzz guitars, Billy Preston’s wah-wah clavinet, a funky horn riff, and prominent backing vocals. Lyrically, the song tells of police brutality and drug addiction.

“Angie” is the beautiful, haunting ballad that was the lead single from the album. Jagger’s vocals are gorgeous, as they show a vulnerable side of his voice that’s rarely used. I think Mick Jagger is underrated as a vocalist. He’s not a virtuoso like Freddie Mercury or Robert Plant, but he’s an extremely effective vocalist at getting the feeling of the song across. Plus, Jagger has one of those voices where he sings three notes, and you know who it is. “Angie” spent one week at Number 1 in the US and peaked at Number 5 in the UK. Nicky Harrison did the lovely string arrangement.

“Silver Train” is a rollicking blues, featuring slide guitar and Jagger’s harmonica. It’s an excellent song, and an overlooked one, in my opinion. My favorite part of the song occurs about at about 2:40 in, when Jagger’s vocals get seriously intense and he practically screams the lyrics. It’s one of those electric moments when you want to get up and dance.

“Hide Your Love” is another bluesy song, opening with Jagger’s piano playing. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album—I love the loose, ragged quality it has, like it was a late-night jam that just happened to be put on tape.

“Winter” reminds me of “Moonlight Mile” from Sticky Fingers. Sonically, both songs are sprawling ballads with strings. I love the way Jagger sings the line “And I wish I been out in California/when the lights on all the Christmas trees went out.” Specifically, I love the way he drawls out “Cal-eee-fawn-ya.” Nicky Harrison arranged the strings on the song. There’s a kind of beautiful majesty to “Winter” at the end of the song as Jagger sings about the simple desire of wanting to wrap a coat around his companion.

“Can You Hear the Music” is an odd song. It starts off with chimes and a flute, sounding like it would have fit in amongst the psychedelic tunes on 1967’s Their Satanic Majesties Request. But eventually, like so many Rolling Stones songs, “Can You Hear the Music” crystallizes around a riff. There’s a four-note repeated figure that anchors the song throughout. The lyrics concern some of life’s deepest questions: “Love is a mystery I can’t demystify, oh, no/sometimes I wonder why we’re here/but I don’t care, I don’t care.” The Stones may not always have the answers for those questions, though. “Can You Hear the Music” is a song about the power of music, and I’m always a sucker for those. It’s a great example of a song that I totally dismissed the first time I heard it, but now I really enjoy it.

“Star Star” oh dear. One of the most notorious Rolling Stones songs, this tale of a young woman’s sexual adventures was originally titled “Starfucker.” This is a song that repeats the f-word 12 times in each chorus! Incredibly enough, “Star Star” was issued as a single in some European countries!

Understandably, Atlantic Records was rather nervous about putting this song out. There’s foul language, and references to living celebrities, who hopefully wouldn’t decide to sue Atlantic or the Stones. On the original US version, Atlantic tinkered with the mix, splicing in a second vocal line in the hopes to hide the word “pussy,” and adding tons of echo to the line “I’ll make a bet that you gonna get John Wayne before he dies.” I’d be surprised if John Wayne ever heard the song, or if he even knew who the Rolling Stones were.

Also of concern to Atlantic was the line, “Ali McGraw got mad with you for givin’ head to Steve McQueen.” I doubt that Steve McQueen ever thought of suing Atlantic Records or the Rolling Stones. As James Hector writes in his 1995 book The Complete Guide to the Music of the Rolling Stones “The line about ‘giving head to Steve McQueen’ rather tickled the actor, I’m reliably informed.” (p.92) Having a line like that about him in a Rolling Stones song just adds a couple more points to Steve McQueen’s coolness, doesn’t it? As though McQueen needed more cool points in addition to being a handsome movie star with ice-blue eyes who did his own stunts and raced cars and motorcycles in his spare time.

If Atlantic ever contacted McQueen before the record’s release, I’m pretty sure the telephone conversation went something like this.

Cast:

Nigel Smith-Jones: a lawyer for Atlantic Records. British, nervous, played by Eric Idle.

Steve McQueen: American movie star, known for his action roles in movies like The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Bullitt, The Thomas Crown Affair. An icon of masculine cool.

Steve: Hello?

Nigel: Ah, hello, yes, could I speak to Mr. Steve McQueen, please?

Steve: Speaking.

Nigel: Oh, hello Mr. McQueen, I hope you’re doing well today, my name is Nigel Smith-Jones, I’m a lawyer for Atlantic Records.

Steve: Uh-huh.

Nigel: I’m calling with regards to an upcoming record Atlantic is releasing by the band the Rolling Stones. Are you familiar with their work?

Steve: (chuckles) Yeah, I know their songs.

Nigel: Ah, you do, excellent! Well, there’s a song on their new album, it’s called, um, “Star Star,” and it’s about a…young lady that partakes of several…um, amorous adventures in California.

Steve: So, it’s about a groupie?

Nigel: Yes, yes indeed, I believe that is the term these days. So, anyway, there’s a line in the song that refers specifically to you, and I wanted to run it by you in the hopes of obtaining your assurance that you won’t sue the pants off of us. So, the line in the song in question goes like this (clears throat) “Ali McGraw got mad with you for giving head to Steve McQueen.”

Steve: (laughs) That’s it?

Nigel: Yes, and Mr. McQueen, I can assure you that the boys meant nothing harmful by it, you know how these rock and rollers are, always wanting to push the boundaries and such.

Steve: It’s fine with me.

Nigel: It is? Oh, that’s magnificent, Mr. McQueen, thank you so very much! Let me assure you that I very much appreciate your attitude in this matter.  

Steve: No problem. Hey, look, thanks for calling, but I gotta get back to racing cars and motorcycles and I need to study my script for this Towering Inferno movie.

Nigel: Well, you take care, Mr. McQueen, and please give my regards to Mrs. McQueen as well.

Steve: Will do. Bye.

 Disc two adds 10 previously unreleased tracks. The highlights are the three previously unreleased songs: “Scarlet,” a jangly rocker recorded in 1974, featured Jimmy Page on guitar, “All the Rage,” which was originally recorded as “You Should Have Seen Her Ass,” and given new lyrics and a new lead vocal from Jagger, showing how little his voice has changed over all these years, and “Criss Cross,” another groovy rocker.

Disc two also features a piano demo of “100 Years Ago,” which I thought was excellent, an alternate take of “Hide Your Love,” and instrumentals of “Dancing with Mr. D” and “Heartbreaker.” The instrumentals are presumably early backing tracks, and they show how the songs evolved on their way to the album versions. This version of “Dancing” features prominent slide guitar, which was dropped at some point. There are also three “Glyn Johns 1973 mixes” of “Dancing with Mr. D,” “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker),” and “Silver Train,” but honestly, I can’t hear any differences between those mixes and the album versions.

Goats Head Soup is an odd mix of sonic textures and styles, and perhaps that’s one reason why it hasn’t received a lot of critical acclaim over the years. But it’s an excellent album that deserves to be reappraised.