For Gibson, he came into the game at 10-10 for the season, just one year removed from picking up his second Cy Young Award.
But on this day he had everything working for him against the eventual World Champion Pirates, who had a line-up of heavy hitters.
Over the next 2 hours and 22 minutes, Gibson would set the Pirates down one by one, allowing only three walks while striking out 10, while also staked out to an early 5-0 lead in the first inning thanks in part to a three-run home run by Joe Hague.
Joe Torre and Ted Simmons both went 4-for-6 at the plate, while Gibson helped himself as well with a 1-for-4 game with three runs batted in.
He’d go on to finish the year at 16-13, with a 3.04 ERA while leading the league with five shutouts over 31 starts and 245.2 innings of work.
Of note, he also finished the season with 185 strikeouts, the first time he didn’t reach 200 in a non-injury season (1967) since 1961.
Nevertheless, he also collected his seventh Gold Glove that season, while also finishing fifth in the Cy Young Race.
What a career.
