Elliott: How Jack Lamabe helped Bob Gibson win the MVP

RHP Bob Gibson shakes the hand of C Tim McCarver after winning Game 7 of the 1967 World Series at Fenway Park. Jack Lamabe blew Game 6. Gibson cheered him up by saying “thanks you won the car.” After his third complete game, Gibson earned the MVP award and a Corvette from SPORT magazine.

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

The interview was over.

The notebook was closed.

We were finished discussing his LHP Mike Kusiewicz (Ottawa, Ont.) who was on his way to winning the class-A South Atlantic League as an 18-year-old in 1995.

Ottawa-Nepean Canadians grad LHP Mikey Kusiewicz (Ottawa, Ont.) . He had a 2.06 ERA going 8-4 with 103 strikeouts in 122 1/3 innings.

Jack (Tomatoes) Lamabe and I were in the right field bullpen five hours before first pitch at beautiful McCormick Field, home of the Asheville Tourists.

We talked about ball and other subjects ... “why do they call you Tomatoes?” He laughed “look at my red face.”

Lamabe, an excellent story teller, bounced his way through his seven major league seasons -- 33-41, 4.24 ERA and 16 saves in 285 games -- with the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, Red Sox and Cardinals. He had six saves with the 1963 BoSox and pitched for the triple-A Toronto Maple Leafs for manager Dick Williams in 1965.

Lamabe started 1967 with the Mets and on July 19 was acquired by the Cards and their Hall of Fame general manager Stan Musial.

Lamabe told me about his worst day in the game. In the top half of the seventh inning of Game 6 in the 1967 World Series, Cardinals Bobby Tolan earned a walk pinch hitting for Nelson Briles and Lou Brock homered to deadlock the score 4-4.

Signalled to the mound by St. Louis Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst, a future Hall of Famer, Lamabe retired Elston Howard on a ground ball. Pinch hitter Dalton Jones singled to right and Joe Foy doubled to right scoring Jones. Joe Hoerner relieved and allowed singles to Mike Andrews and Carl Yastrzemski, then Jerry Adair hit a scoring fly ball off Larry Jaster.

Poof the tie game had become an 8-4 Red Sox lead.

“So after the game I am sitting at my locker my head down, head in my hands ... I’d blown it,” Lamabe said emotionally. “I’m in my briefs, I don’t even have the energy to head to the showers.

All of a sudden he felt someone’s presence.

“Thanks,” said the man.

“Thanks?” Lamabe asked. “We lost. I blew it.”

“Like I said ... thanks ... you just won me the car,” Bob Gibson said.

Starting Game 7, Gibson allowed three hits and struck out 10 on his way to a 7-2 win as the Cardinals took the 1967 title. Both Gibson in the fifth inning and Julian Javier the next inning each went deep off Jim Lonborg.

Making three starts Gibson won Game 1, 4 and 7. He pitched 27 innings allowing 14 hits and five walks, while striking out 26.

And afterwards the people from SPORT magazine presented Gibson with a new Corvette which in those days went to the World Series MVP.

Gibson, who won 251 games in 17 seasons with a dominant fastball died Friday of pancreatic cancer in Omaha at age 84. His death came a month after teammate Lou Brock, the Hall of Fame outfielder.