Bob Gibson delivered the most dominant strikeout performance in World Series history on a hot, muggy afternoon in St. Louis on October 2, 1968. The Cardinals right-hander fanned 17 Detroit Tigers in a 4-0 shutout that broke Sandy Koufax's single-game record of 15, set five years earlier to the very day.
Seventeen strikeouts, no reply
The pitching matchup had been billed as baseball's best against best. Detroit's Denny McLain arrived as the first 30-game winner in 34 years, while Gibson carried a microscopic 1.12 ERA and 13 shutouts into the Fall Classic. From the first inning, however, the duel was one-sided.
Gibson struck out seven of the first nine hitters and put at least one K in the scorebook every inning. He fanned the entire Detroit lineup, including future Hall of Famer Al Kaline three times. Twice he victimised Willie Horton, Bill Freehan and Jim Northrup — a trio that had combined for 82 home runs during the regular season.
The Tigers managed only one scoring threat. With runners at the corners in the sixth, Gibson struck out Norm Cash on four pitches, the last a four-seam fastball that Cash swung through.
A slider that broke history
Gibson entered the ninth needing two strikeouts to break Koufax's mark. Kaline swung and missed at a slider for the record-tying out — a fact Gibson learned only when catcher Tim McCarver pointed to the scoreboard. He broke it moments later when Cash fanned on another slider.
The afternoon ended with Horton frozen by a pitch that, Roger Angell wrote, "seemed headed for his rib cage but broke abruptly away under his fists." Gibson told reporters afterwards, "I think I surprised them by throwing so many breaking pitches." The record would stand for more than half a century.
