During Bob Gibson’s record-setting 1968 season, he hung a sign above his locker that read, “Here comes the judge.” He felt untouchable, he said. The St. Louis pitcher owned the inside half of the plate; he would leer down at batters who feared stepping in the box against him.
Gibson started 34 games that season and went the full nine innings in 28 of them. He had 13 shutouts and 268 strikeouts. In one stretch from June 6 to July 30, he won 11 straight starts — all of them complete games — and allowed only three runs.