Celebrate '68: Gibson Shuts'em Down In Atlanta

            On June 11, 1968, Bob Gibson recorded his ninth complete game of the season with a 6-0 shutout over the Braves in Atlanta. The victory was the first for Gibson over the Braves in two seasons. The shutout was his second in a row. Gibson had not allowed a run in 20 innings and his ERA dropped from 1.52 to 1.40. A dominant stretch of baseball was on the horizon.

The hurler who turned the lights out on the Atlanta lineup received all the runs he would need in the first inning after the Braves starter Dick Kelley walked Lou Brock to start the game.  Kelley followed the walk with an RBI double to Julian Javier. Leftfielder Mike Lum threw wildly into home plate and Javier kept running until he crossed the plate for the second run of the inning.

Kelley was knocked out of the box in the third.  He surrendered a leadoff single to Brock to open the inning. However, Lou was picked off, and Javier was retired on a fly out, before it all unraveled. Curt Flood singled, back-to-back walks were given to Orlando Cepeda and Mike Shannon. Moments later, Tim McCarver cleared the bases with a single to left. One of those runs was not charged to Kelley because Lum committed another error on the play. However, the hurler’s day ended after just two and a third innings of work. The Redbirds were up 5-0.

Meanwhile, Gibson had the Braves lineup under his thumb.  They scattered just five hits against him, all of them being singles. Only three Braves players picked up those singles, who were Felix Milan, Joe Torre, and Felipe Alou. Torre and Milan had two hits apiece. It hardly mattered since nobody else could get past the mighty Bob Gibson.

The Cardinals capped their scoring off in the eighth, with Cecil Upshaw on the bump for the Braves. He surrendered a leadoff double to Flood who moved to third on a ground out by Cepeda, and then he scored when Mike Shannon came through with a single. The score was 6-0 and Gibson would keep it that way. He walked a man in the eighth and surrendered a leadoff single in the ninth, but that was all she wrote for the Atlanta Braves. Gibson was on fire.

The featured article has a quote from the late Red Schoendienst, saying “Gibson looked great. It was the best he’s pitched. He was throwing with a nice and easy motion, no strain. I think he’s over the little arm trouble he had.” Red was a great player, a great manager, and a great man. I dedicate this entry to the memory of the man who donned the number 2 on his back for over six decades with the St. Louis Cardinals. We will never forget you, Red. Generations to come will know the name Schoendienst because legends live forever.

Check out the box score here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL196806110.shtml

Sources included: The Southeast Missourian, The St. Joseph Gazette, The Mount Vernon Register News, and BaseballReference.com