In my head I think I've mostly caught baseball up to the modern day by 1970. Black players have been common for 20 years; the uniforms are getting less baggy and woolen; the events of The Sandlot have already transpired. At Hardball Times Chris Jaffe reminds us that some things were different. Namely, Bob Gibson was a cyborg:
↵↵↵40 years ago today, on August 12, 1970 - back when men were men and so were the pitchers - Bob Gibson threw one of his most impressive games.
↵It wasn't one of his best games. Heck, by Game Score it wasn't even one of his 50 best games. It was, however, a distinctive game.
↵Against the Padres, Bob Gibson on that day threw 14 innings, the longest outing of his career. In fact, it's the longest start by any Cardinal pitcher since September 24, 1944. Gibson faced 52 batters, also the most of his career. With 13 Ks and a pair of walks, a basic pitch count estimator places him at just under 200 pitches thrown.
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Luckily Jaffe isn't the kind of commentator to distend this factoid into a long Pitchers Used To Be Men screed, but it's incredible to think that something like this was happening after baseball games began to be remembered and videotaped in full color. Sometimes I find it hard to believe Mark Mulder threw 10 innings a few years ago, let alone 14.