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Russ Gibson RIP
July 29, 2008
Russ "Gibby" Gibson, who was part of the 1967 "Impossible Dream" team, died on Sunday. Ironically, he passed at pretty much the same time as Dick Williams was being inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Gibson was never a superstar; in fact, he struggled mightily, most at the plate (but not BEHIND the plate). He often talked about quitting baseball, thinking his MLB days were numbered, but Williams kept him going. He did get to play a few innings in that classic World Series in 1967, but not the whole thing. As I recall, he was very much a part of that bench, though, very much part of that team, living and dying with every pitch. He was New England born and bred, Boston Red Sox through and through, a three-sport star in high school. He was the epitome of the Red Sox. He knew there was no "I" in "team." He was 69 years old. I have his baseball card somewhere, and his autograph. I remember him as a man with a constant smile on his face, waving to the fans when he was in the bullpen warming up the pitchers (especially Dick Radatz, "my man"), and walking with Bill Monbouquette around Fenway. RIP, Gibby. You were a class act.
-ImpossDream67 ~RSM
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