ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A long-time debate among baseball fans has finally been settled thanks and St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson came out on top. His 1968 season has been named the most dominant single-season performance in the Live Ball Era (since 1920).
Gibson, who we've recently learned is doing well in his fight with pancreatic cancer, beat out Babe Ruth's 1923 season in the final. More than 22,000 fans voted, with 55% in favor of Gibson over Ruth.
The bracket was made of up 32 players – 16 pitchers, 16 position players – determined by a panel of MLB.com researchers and analysts as the best performances in the last 100 years of baseball.
Here are some of the highlights from that season, described by MLB:
• Gibson had a 1.12 ERA -- what more really needs to be said? That's by far the best single-season ERA in the Live Ball Era, as no other pitcher has even posted a sub-1.50 ERA over the last 100 years. • He racked up a World Series-record 17 strikeouts in a shutout against the Tigers in that year's postseason. To this day, no other pitcher has registered more than 15 strikeouts in a World Series game.• Gibson allowed one run or fewer in 11 consecutive complete games from June 6-July 30, the longest such streak in Major League history. • Gibson's 1.12 overall ERA is impressive enough, but the right-hander was even better on the road. He went 12-3 with a 0.81 ERA in 16 road starts, while tossing complete games in all but one of those 16 outings.
Gibson wasn't the only Cardinals player on the list. Historic seasons by Stan Musial, Mark McGwire, Albert Pujols and Rogers Hornsby also made the bracket.
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