#Shortstops: Gibson joins the Big Train

For more than 50 years, Walter Johnson was the only member of the 3,000-strikeout club.

But on July 17, 1974, Bob Gibson joined Johnson in that exclusive fraternity – opening the door that had been closed for half a century.

Across his 17-year career with the St. Louis Cardinals, Gibson served as a driving force in the game of baseball and one of the game’s fiercest competitors. In his next-to-last MLB season, Gibson stood ready to join Johnson – a pitcher whose speed was so legendary that he was known as The Big Train.

Gibson and the Cardinals took on the Cincinnati Reds in front of 28,743 fans at Busch Stadium on July 17, 1974. Entering his 279th consecutive start, Gibson was sitting on 2,999 career strikeouts. He fanned César Gerónimo in the second to become the first player in the National League to reach the 3,000-strikeout club and only the second overall.  Johnson reached this accolade when he struck out Stan Coveleski in 1923. 

Gibson would end the night with 3,003 strikeouts; however, Reds right fielder George Foster doubled two runs home in the 12th inning as the Reds defeated the Cardinals, dampening the celebration of Gibson’s achievement.

The record strikeout ball, which is part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s collection, was manufactured by A.G. Spalding & Bros. 

Over his career, Gibson pitched in 528 games, had 251 wins, 3,117 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.91. He won two World Series titles and was named World Series MVP in 1964 and 1967. He was the recipient of two National League Cy Young Awards. 

“What’s most important to me,” said Gibson in the Jersey Journal, “is being a consistent pitcher over the years, a guy who has given 100 percent every time he has been on the field, who has never quit until the whole thing was over with and who has never been defeated in life. I’ve been down a little bit a coupla’ times, but I came back.” 

Gibson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981 and passed away on Oct. 2, 2020.

Emma Harby is the 2024 public relations intern in the Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Leadership Development