St. Louis Cardinals ace Bob Gibson suffers a broken leg

On July 15, 1967, St. Louis Cardinals ace Bob Gibson suffers a broken leg when he is struck by a line drive hit by another future Hall of Famer, Roberto Clemente. Incredibly, Gibson pitches to two more batters before leaving the game. St. Louis Cardinals will lose the game to Pittsburgh 6 – 3. Gibson will be sidelined until Labor Day.

Roberto Clemente vs Bob Gibson:

“We were ahead 1-0 when my old pal Clemente led off the fourth with the Pirates’ first hit – a line drive off my right shin.

I couldn’t get up right away, and Bob Bauman rushed out to check my leg and spray ethyl chloride on it. I said, ‘I hate to tell you, Doc, but you’re spraying the wrong place.’ He advised me to take a look, and I saw what he saw – a dent in the skin the shape of a baseball. It was odd that I couldn’t feel where I had been struck, but since I couldn’t feel it, I wasn’t particularly worried. I told Doc to put a little tape on it and let me get back to work.

Willie Stargell was the next batter, and I walked him. Then Bill Mazeroski popped out, and the count was three and two on Donn Clendenon when I tried to put a little extra on the payoff pitch and collapsed.

The fibula bone had snapped above the ankle. I was taken to Jewish Hospital, my leg was put in a cast, and I was out of the pennant race for nearly eight weeks..”

Pittsburgh Pirates 6, St. Louis Cardinals 4

Game Played on Saturday, July 15, 1967 (N) at Busch Stadium II

PIT N 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 1 1 - 6 12 3 
STL N 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 - 4 7 0

BOX+PBP
WP: Pizarro (4-6)
LP: Briles (4-3)
SV: Face (11)
HR: Cepeda (13)

Play by Play

PIRATES 1ST: Alou flied out to center; Wills grounded out (first
to pitcher); Clemente grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 0, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 1ST: Brock singled to center; Brock was picked off
first but was safe on an error by Ribant [Brock to third]; Tolan
struck out; Maris tripled [Brock scored]; Cepeda popped to first
in foul territory; McCarver popped to second; 1 R, 2 H, 1 E, 1
LOB.  Pirates 0, Cardinals 1.

PIRATES 2ND: Stargell grounded out (second to first); Mazeroski
flied out to left; Clendenon struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. 
Pirates 0, Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 2ND: Shannon grounded out (third to first); Javier
grounded out (shortstop to first); Bressoud lined to left; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 0, Cardinals 1.

PIRATES 3RD: Alley walked; May walked [Alley to second]; Ribant
forced Alley (pitcher to third) [May to second]; Alou flied to
left in foul territory; Wills popped to third in foul territory;
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Pirates 0, Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 3RD: Gibson grounded out (shortstop to first); Brock
grounded out (pitcher to first); Tolan popped to first; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 0, Cardinals 1.

PIRATES 4TH: Clemente singled to pitcher; Bob Gibson suffered
a broken leg when struck by the line drive; he faced three more
batters; Stargell walked [Clemente to second]; Mazeroski
flied out to center; Clendenon walked [Clemente to third,
Stargell to second]; JACKSON REPLACED GIBSON (PITCHING); Alley
hit a sacrifice fly to center [Clemente scored]; May forced
Clendenon (third to second); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Pirates 1,
Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 4TH: Maris reached on an error by Mazeroski; Cepeda
flied out to center; McCarver singled to pitcher [Maris out at
third (pitcher to second to shortstop)]; Shannon flied out to
right; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 1, Cardinals 1.

PIRATES 5TH: Ribant grounded out (catcher to first); Alou
singled; Wills struck out while Alou was caught stealing second
(catcher to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 1, Cardinals
1.

CARDINALS 5TH: Javier was called out on strikes; Bressoud lined
to left; Jackson popped to catcher in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 1, Cardinals 1.

PIRATES 6TH: Clemente doubled to center; Stargell out on a
sacrifice bunt (pitcher to first) [Clemente to third]; Mazeroski
lined to shortstop; Clendenon singled to right [Clemente
scored]; Alley flied out to center; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. 
Pirates 2, Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 6TH: Brock lined to second; Tolan walked; Maris
grounded out (first unassisted) [Tolan to second]; Cepeda
homered [Tolan scored]; McCarver flied out to right; 2 R, 1 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 2, Cardinals 3.

PIRATES 7TH: May grounded out (third to first); MOTA BATTED FOR
RIBANT; Mota flied out to right; Alou singled to center; Wills
singled to shortstop [Alou to second]; Clemente singled to left
[Alou scored, Wills to second]; Stargell singled to right [Wills
scored, Clemente to third]; WILLIS REPLACED JACKSON (PITCHING);
Mazeroski grounded out (third to first); 2 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. 
Pirates 4, Cardinals 3.

CARDINALS 7TH: MCBEAN REPLACED MOTA (PITCHING); Shannon singled
to left; Javier singled [Shannon to second]; Bressoud singled to
second [Shannon to third, Javier to second]; JOHNSON BATTED FOR
WILLIS; Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to right [Shannon scored,
Javier to third]; PIZARRO REPLACED MCBEAN (PITCHING); Brock
struck out; GAGLIANO BATTED FOR TOLAN; Gagliano was called out
on strikes; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Pirates 4, Cardinals 4.

PIRATES 8TH: JOHNSON STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); BRILES
REPLACED GAGLIANO (PITCHING); Clendenon singled to center; Alley
out on a sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Clendenon to second];
May singled to second [Clendenon to third]; JIMENEZ BATTED FOR
PIZARRO; WOODESHICK REPLACED BRILES (PITCHING); PAGAN BATTED FOR
JIMENEZ; Pagan grounded out (third to first) [Clendenon scored,
May to second]; Alou grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R, 2
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 5, Cardinals 4.

CARDINALS 8TH: FACE REPLACED PAGAN (PITCHING); Maris reached on
an error by Clendenon; Cepeda grounded into a double play
(second to first) [Maris out at second]; McCarver grounded out
(pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 5, Cardinals
4.

PIRATES 9TH: Wills singled to right; Clemente grounded out
(pitcher to first) [Wills to second]; Stargell grounded out
(shortstop to first) [Wills to third]; Mazeroski singled to
center [Wills scored]; Clendenon grounded out (shortstop to
first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 6, Cardinals 4.

CARDINALS 9TH: Shannon grounded out (shortstop to first); Javier
grounded out (second to first); Bressoud walked; Johnson forced
Bressoud (third to second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 6,
Cardinals 4.

Final Totals      R   H   E  LOB
 Pirates          6  12   3    9
 Cardinals        4   7   0    5

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