Bob Gibson was a renowned American baseball pitcher, celebrated for his fierce competitiveness and remarkable career with the St. Louis Cardinals, amassing 251 wins and two Cy Young Awards. After making his Major League Baseball debut with the St. Louis Cardinals on April 15, 1959, Bob Gibson went on to establish himself as one of baseball’s most dominant pitchers across a celebrated 17-year career.

His profound impact was immediately recognized as the Cardinals retired his uniform number 45 the same year. Beyond his on-field achievements, Gibson, alongside teammates Bill White and Curt Flood, played a pivotal role in challenging and ultimately ending segregation in baseball clubhouses, impacting the sport significantly before the Civil Rights Act of 1964. His extraordinary legacy was further cemented with his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1981, and he was later selected to the prestigious Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.