Book Review: Examining ‘The Year of the Pitcher’ 50 Years Later

For baseball fans, 1968 is a year that will forever live as a defining year in the game’s history and the evolution of America’s pastime. In the tail end of America’s Civil Rights Movement, and just two decades after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier for the Brooklyn Dodgers, racial tensions still played a role in the game both on and off the field. It was also famously labeled ‘The Year of the Pitcher,’ a distinction New York Times columnist Sridhar Pappu examined in his newly-published book as he tells the tale of two pitchers with different personalities that dominated the game and would ultimately meet in the World Series.

Of course, we are talking about Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals and Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers. The two enjoyed their best seasons of their professional careers, ones that will likely remain atop record books in the foreseeable future. It was the latter that won the World Series in seven games in 1968 despite the dominant Gibson on the mound for Game 7 as the Tigers defeated the defending champions on their way to their first title since 1945.

McLain etched his name into the single season record books that year for most wins in the live-ball era (1920-present), sharing the spot with two other pitchers – Jim Bagby, Sr. (1920) and Lefty Grove (1931). With the evolution of today’s game where pitchers only see their start totals in the low 30s, it’s hard to imagine the single season record for wins being contested.

Meanwhile, despite the shortcoming in the 1968 World Series, Gibson had arguably the greatest season of any pitcher in the live-ball era. His 1.12 ERA was the lowest mark since 1906 and Gibson’s 13 shutouts pitched that year were the highest total of any pitcher in the modern era of baseball. For a 10-game stretch that season from June 6 through July 30, he was nothing short of dominant – hurling five consecutive complete game shutouts and allowing only two earned runs over 90 innings while earning a win in each of those starts.

“I wanted to write a book that explored baseball in the context of a year that had great historical significance,” explained Pappu, author of The Year of the Pitcher: Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, and the End of Baseball’s Golden Age. “I love exploring this era of the game just because there have been so many myths established around it and there is some unpacking to do.”

The 1968 season began in despair as racial tensions remained high as the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. happened less than a week before Opening Day. That was preceded just nine months earlier by the 1967 Detroit riot, a five-day period of violent protests against city police, which proved to be one of the deadliest and destructive riots in American history.

“One of the more difficult things that I’ve had to do was deconstruct this myth that the 1968 Tigers, who ended up winning that World Series, reunited ‘black and white’ Detroit a year after the Detroit riot,” suggests Pappu. “People often talk about how much racial healing the city underwent after the team won the the World Series and even the American League pennant when that couldn’t have been further from the truth.”

Pappu referred to Governor of Alabama George Wallace’s 1963 Inaugural Address claiming “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever” and his eventual presidential candidacy in 1968 as setting the tone for the climate of racial relations in the United States and how tense of times it was to be a black American in the 1960s.

“The 1967 Detroit riot was one of the most devastating racial riots in American history up until that point,” he continued. “They weren’t going to be undone by a baseball team winning a World Series. You want to believe that sports has a power that is greater than itself, but it’s important to remember what it’s capable of and what it’s not.”

“In some ways I felt that was my job in the broader sense—to unpack the mythos of the sport and understand its reach, Pappu added. “I wanted to believe baseball, a sport that I care for so deeply, could help ease social tensions, bring calm to a country. But then I was faced with the truth. My mission was to produce an intellectually honest book, a piece of nonfiction that while celebrating the game, illustrated by larger issues that it faces even today. I can only hope that those who love baseball will feel this way as well.”

That 1968 season was signified as the last year that pitchers in both leagues would win both the Cy Young Award and most valuable player in the same season.

“Whether they like it or not, Gibson and McClain will always be linked together,” Pappu suggested. “Baseball is a numbers-driven game. When you talk about Bob Gibson in 1968, the first thing that comes to mind is 1.12, which was his ERA. And when you talk about Denny McLain, the number everyone says is 31 wins.”

“Here you had two men—one black, one white— who couldn’t have been more different and whose 1968 seasons even the most casual baseball fans know about,” said Pappu. “Both were complicated men whose lives in and outside the game are fascinating.”

Pappu observed the polarizing prowess of Gibson and argued his greater connection to baseball’s pastime.

“(Gibson) was DiMaggio in his silence, Ted Williams in his hatred toward the press. But he seemed torn,” Pappu explained. “He wanted both to be left alone and to receive the outside monetary benefits afforded to others of his generation.”

“I’m not the first to say this, but there’s no question he would have gotten them had he not been black, or if he had a different demeanor—one that might have appealed to a white audience,” he continued. “But that never was his way.”

The game and society have both evolved tremendously since that epic year in baseball, which is outlined in Pappu’s book. We will most likely never see another year in baseball like we did in 1968, but it is an era that was critical to the growth of the game. It is fascinating to see how much has changed over the last 50 years. It begs us to ask the question – what will the next 50 bring?