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Jim Bibby
James Blair Bibby (October 29, 1944 – February 16, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During a 12-year baseball career, he pitched from 1972 to 1984 with the St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, and Pittsburgh Pirates, with whom he was a member of its 1979 World Series champions. In 1973, Bibby pitched a no-hitter against the Oakland Athletics. In 1981, as a member of the Pirates, he missed out on a perfect game by just one hit, allowing a lead off single, before retiring the next 27 batters he faced.
Bibby attended Fayetteville State University on a basketball scholarship, and also pitched for its varsity baseball team. His professional career began when he was signed by the New York Mets as an undrafted free agent after his junior year on July 19, 1965. With Fayetteville State having discontinued its baseball program in the late-1970s, he was the only player from the university to reach the major leagues.
After appearing in thirteen games and posting a 2–3 record with an 11.25 ERA with the Marion Mets in 1965, he spent the next two years on active duty with the United States Army as a truck driver in Vietnam. On his return to baseball, Bibby moved up the organization's minor league system, first with the Raleigh-Durham Mets in 1968 before splitting time with the Memphis Blues and Tidewater Tides in 1969. His progress was interrupted again in 1970 when a back injury which required a spinal fusion of the first and second vertebrae sidelined him for the entire season and put his career in doubt. Bibby rebounded in 1971 by having his best campaign in the minors, as he led all Tides pitchers with a 15–6 mark.
Bibby never got to pitch for New York because he was part of an eight-player transaction on October 18, 1971, when he, Art Shamsky, Rich Folkers and Charlie Hudson were sent to St. Louis for Chuck Taylor, Chip Coulter and two players who would help the Mets capture the National League pennant in 1973, Jim Beauchamp and Harry Parker. Bibby earned a promotion to the Cardinals late in 1972 as the Tulsa Oilers' top hurler at 13–9, with a 3.09 ERA, 13 complete games and 208 strikeouts. He made his major-league debut at age 27 as the starter in the second game of a Labor Day doubleheader at Busch Memorial Stadium on September 4. Despite surrendering four runs in 6+1⁄3 innings, Bibby picked up the win in the 8–7 triumph over the Montreal Expos. He made five more starts to finish the season, but lost three of them.
After beginning 1973 at 0–2 with a 9.56 ERA, Bibby was acquired by Texas on June 6, 1973, in exchange for Mike Nagy and John Wockenfuss. The trade was made at the urging of Whitey Herzog who, prior to becoming the Rangers manager, was the Mets director of player development. Herzog explained, "Bibby throws harder than anybody in this league except Nolan Ryan when he's on top of his game."
On July 30, Bibby no-hit the defending and eventual repeat World Champion Oakland Athletics 6–0 at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, the first no-hitter in the franchise's history. Despite issuing six walks and relying almost exclusively on his fastball, he still registered thirteen strikeouts and outdueled Vida Blue—himself a no-hit pitcher in 1970. After he fanned in the ninth inning, Oakland's Reggie Jackson commented on the strike three pitch, "That's the fastest ball I ever saw. Actually I didn't see it. I just heard it." Bibby, whose salary was $15,000 that year, earned a $5,000 raise from team owner Bob Short as a result of the achievement.
On a ballclub that finished with the worst record in the majors at 57–105 and fired Herzog with 24 games remaining in the campaign, Bibby was its winningest pitcher despite a 9–10 record. When the Billy Martin-managed Rangers became the surprise team of 1974 by going 84–76 and vaulting into second place in the American League Western Division, Bibby (19–19) and the newly acquired Ferguson Jenkins (25–12) each made a club-record 41 starts to anchor the pitching staff. The nineteen losses, however, are also a club record.
Bibby's inconsistency with his control plagued him again early in 1975 when he went 2–6 with a 5.00 ERA. He was traded along with Jackie Brown, Rick Waits and $100,000 to Cleveland for future Hall-of-Famer Gaylord Perry on 13 June 1975. The deal was actually the result of a feud between Perry and Indians manager Frank Robinson. Bibby compiled a 30–29 record with a 3.36 ERA in his 2+1⁄2 years in Cleveland. More importantly, with the help of pitching coach Harvey Haddix, he worked on improving his delivery to home plate and also added the curveball, slider and changeup to his repertoire.
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Jim Bibby
James Blair Bibby (October 29, 1944 – February 16, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During a 12-year baseball career, he pitched from 1972 to 1984 with the St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, and Pittsburgh Pirates, with whom he was a member of its 1979 World Series champions. In 1973, Bibby pitched a no-hitter against the Oakland Athletics. In 1981, as a member of the Pirates, he missed out on a perfect game by just one hit, allowing a lead off single, before retiring the next 27 batters he faced.
Bibby attended Fayetteville State University on a basketball scholarship, and also pitched for its varsity baseball team. His professional career began when he was signed by the New York Mets as an undrafted free agent after his junior year on July 19, 1965. With Fayetteville State having discontinued its baseball program in the late-1970s, he was the only player from the university to reach the major leagues.
After appearing in thirteen games and posting a 2–3 record with an 11.25 ERA with the Marion Mets in 1965, he spent the next two years on active duty with the United States Army as a truck driver in Vietnam. On his return to baseball, Bibby moved up the organization's minor league system, first with the Raleigh-Durham Mets in 1968 before splitting time with the Memphis Blues and Tidewater Tides in 1969. His progress was interrupted again in 1970 when a back injury which required a spinal fusion of the first and second vertebrae sidelined him for the entire season and put his career in doubt. Bibby rebounded in 1971 by having his best campaign in the minors, as he led all Tides pitchers with a 15–6 mark.
Bibby never got to pitch for New York because he was part of an eight-player transaction on October 18, 1971, when he, Art Shamsky, Rich Folkers and Charlie Hudson were sent to St. Louis for Chuck Taylor, Chip Coulter and two players who would help the Mets capture the National League pennant in 1973, Jim Beauchamp and Harry Parker. Bibby earned a promotion to the Cardinals late in 1972 as the Tulsa Oilers' top hurler at 13–9, with a 3.09 ERA, 13 complete games and 208 strikeouts. He made his major-league debut at age 27 as the starter in the second game of a Labor Day doubleheader at Busch Memorial Stadium on September 4. Despite surrendering four runs in 6+1⁄3 innings, Bibby picked up the win in the 8–7 triumph over the Montreal Expos. He made five more starts to finish the season, but lost three of them.
After beginning 1973 at 0–2 with a 9.56 ERA, Bibby was acquired by Texas on June 6, 1973, in exchange for Mike Nagy and John Wockenfuss. The trade was made at the urging of Whitey Herzog who, prior to becoming the Rangers manager, was the Mets director of player development. Herzog explained, "Bibby throws harder than anybody in this league except Nolan Ryan when he's on top of his game."
On July 30, Bibby no-hit the defending and eventual repeat World Champion Oakland Athletics 6–0 at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, the first no-hitter in the franchise's history. Despite issuing six walks and relying almost exclusively on his fastball, he still registered thirteen strikeouts and outdueled Vida Blue—himself a no-hit pitcher in 1970. After he fanned in the ninth inning, Oakland's Reggie Jackson commented on the strike three pitch, "That's the fastest ball I ever saw. Actually I didn't see it. I just heard it." Bibby, whose salary was $15,000 that year, earned a $5,000 raise from team owner Bob Short as a result of the achievement.
On a ballclub that finished with the worst record in the majors at 57–105 and fired Herzog with 24 games remaining in the campaign, Bibby was its winningest pitcher despite a 9–10 record. When the Billy Martin-managed Rangers became the surprise team of 1974 by going 84–76 and vaulting into second place in the American League Western Division, Bibby (19–19) and the newly acquired Ferguson Jenkins (25–12) each made a club-record 41 starts to anchor the pitching staff. The nineteen losses, however, are also a club record.
Bibby's inconsistency with his control plagued him again early in 1975 when he went 2–6 with a 5.00 ERA. He was traded along with Jackie Brown, Rick Waits and $100,000 to Cleveland for future Hall-of-Famer Gaylord Perry on 13 June 1975. The deal was actually the result of a feud between Perry and Indians manager Frank Robinson. Bibby compiled a 30–29 record with a 3.36 ERA in his 2+1⁄2 years in Cleveland. More importantly, with the help of pitching coach Harvey Haddix, he worked on improving his delivery to home plate and also added the curveball, slider and changeup to his repertoire.