RIP Bob Gibson

[Gooseifur]

Pass interference predated Mel Blount.

The rule change instituted by the NFL penalized contact by a defender against a receiver beyond 5 yards from the line of scrimmage. Prior to that players, but Mel Blount in particular would just slam receivers into the ground anywhere on the field prior to the ball being in the air. He was notorious for this and the most effective using this tactic, but certainly NOT the best pass defender.

In fact, once the receiver/pass defender field was made level, Mel Blount as an average to at times an above average pass defender and certainly not the fearsome destroyer of receivers that he was heralded as prior to having to play by "fair rules".

Agreed but they put that rule in because of him. He was the most efficient at it. As far as "fair rules" He was playing by the rules at the time however archaic they were

 

[bluecolt]

TBH, it was not just Gibson. Pitchers, in general, were dominating batters. I think scoring was down and MLB wanted more hitting/scoring so they lowered the mound.

Back to baseball. The mound was lowered after the 1968 season when Bowie Kuhn saw that the batting leader in the American League was Carl Yazstremski at only .301. There were 7 20- game winners in the majors that year with Denny McLain at 31 wins, Juan Marichal at 26 wins and Bob Gibson with a 1.12 ERA. I still don't know how Gibson lost 9 games. Pitching was spectacular that year. Five Al pitchers were super, Luis Tiant with a 1.60 ERA, Sudden Sam McDowell with 1.81, Dave McNally at 1.95, McLain at 1.96 and Tommy John at 1.98. Gibson and McLain both checked in at 300 plus innings. Great year if you were an AL pitcher.
The World Series 1968 Tigers had Willie Horton lead the team with a .285 average with 36 HRS and 85 RBIs. The team hit .235 as a whole. There was not a lot of hitting that year.
The All-Star Game had only 8 hits, 20 Ks and finished 1-0 on a first inning scratch run.

 

[Darts]

I haven't follow MLB this year because late start and it conflicted with the NHL playoffs.

I think they now have a rule where a relief pitcher must face at least 3 batters.

I think they should also get rid of the "Boudreau Shift" next.

 

[drc75]

...and now Joe Morgan.

 

[TeeJay]

I know we are going away from Bob Gibson but leagues have put in rules to combat what they seem as unfair before.

NFL-Holly Roller rule is the that a fumble can't be advanced in the last two minutes of a game due to some shenanigans from the Oakland Raiders in 1978.
NHL-4x4 hockey on coincidental penalties was eliminated due to the success of the Edmonton Oilers.

I'm sure there are more...

NHL removed the penalties in general because of Montreal
Prior to that the penalized players served the entire 2 minutes regardless of how many goals Montreal scored
Now 1 goal and penalty is over, even if you score in 10 seconds

They removed the hanging rule (offsides) because of the Bruins
Used to (literally) park in front of the goalie and wait to score



Gibson was dominant in his era*
And this was a pitchers era to begin with
Someone else mentioned Morris above but Morris never struck out 17 batters in a World Series game and never had an ERA anywhere close to 1.12 in a season
He won two World Series single handily and barely lost the 3rd
Just imagine his highest paid season ever was $175,000
Scary

 

[Darts]

Guys, I started a thread in the Sports Forum about changes we would like to see.

 

[Fun For All]

NHL removed the penalties in general because of Montreal
Prior to that the penalized players served the entire 2 minutes regardless of how many goals Montreal scored
Now 1 goal and penalty is over, even if you score in 10 seconds

They removed the hanging rule (offsides) because of the Bruins
Used to (literally) park in front of the goalie and wait to score



Gibson was dominant in his era*
And this was a pitchers era to begin with
Someone else mentioned Morris above but Morris never struck out 17 batters in a World Series game and never had an ERA anywhere close to 1.12 in a season
He won two World Series single handily and barely lost the 3rd
Just imagine his highest paid season ever was $175,000
Scary

The NHL rule i was talking about is if a player from each team got coincidental penalties, say roughing, they would take a player off from both sides and play 4 on 4....they don’t do that anymore, coincidental penalties and they stay at 5 on 5...Gretzky and his guys used to have a field day on 4 on 4.

 

[TeeJay]

The NHL rule i was talking about is if a player from each team got coincidental penalties, say roughing, they would take a player off from both sides and play 4 on 4....they don’t do that anymore, coincidental penalties and they stay at 5 on 5...Gretzky and his guys used to have a field day on 4 on 4.

No I agreed I just was giving you some more examples of NHL swapping rules because of a dominant team in their era

 

[The Oracle]

Back to baseball. The mound was lowered after the 1968 season when Bowie Kuhn saw that the batting leader in the American League was Carl Yazstremski at only .301. There were 7 20- game winners in the majors that year with Denny McLain at 31 wins, Juan Marichal at 26 wins and Bob Gibson with a 1.12 ERA. I still don't know how Gibson lost 9 games. Pitching was spectacular that year. Five Al pitchers were super, Luis Tiant with a 1.60 ERA, Sudden Sam McDowell with 1.81, Dave McNally at 1.95, McLain at 1.96 and Tommy John at 1.98. Gibson and McLain both checked in at 300 plus innings. Great year if you were an AL pitcher.
The World Series 1968 Tigers had Willie Horton lead the team with a .285 average with 36 HRS and 85 RBIs. The team hit .235 as a whole. There was not a lot of hitting that year.
The All-Star Game had only 8 hits, 20 Ks and finished 1-0 on a first inning scratch run.

Shows you how good of a hitter Yaz was though.......

 

[Darts]

I'm apprehensive about messing with the mound and/or the 60'6" distance to home plate. Let say you are a pitcher and your arm and body have been used to the same mound and distance for 10 years, a change could cause injuries.

BTW: I think McLain's 31 wins will stand for a long long time.