Show son To do that he not only had to undergo Gibson's scrutiny but also pass his muster Their relationship had not started well for him There was from the beginning the: undertow produced by the way that white society in those days with its vision and two-tier- ed val- ue system treated a white schoolboy-athlet- e like McCarver as a local star and hero while a comparable black youth of perhaps even greater ability like Gibson rarely got any journalistic attention or community adulation Nor was that just an ego thing about the vanity of finding old clips in a scrapbook in years to come Rather it had the most direct impact imaginable on a player's price as a bonus baby McCarver—high school hero in Memphis adored and boosted by local sportswriters—signed with the Cardinals for a bonus of $75000 a privileged son of the newer more af- Glory days: Pitching for St Louis Bob Gibson—with Tim McCarver behind the - '- - - 4- plate—struck out 17 in the first game of the 1968 World Series against Detroit setting a World Series record that still stands - -- ': -- - --- 1 - - Y 0 -- ' - - 1 i - — - kf) - - - ' ' - - and McCarver the '60s i N li --10- - or I - gift- 01 - black—never much media attention It as a high school and college athlete He had signed with the Cardinals for a bonus of only $4000 something that always rankled him Their relationship was not without a certain edginess When McCarver came up in 1959 young and unsure of himself he was raw meat for Gibson who artist anyway was a world-claput-o- n an had and Gibson early go at him One in spring training the Cardinals day were about to board their bus and McCarver only 18 years old was sitting there sipping an orange soda "That looks really good" said Gibson as he got on the bus "Can I have a swig?" Gibson knew exactly what he was doing: He was putting on a Southern white boy who had never played with blacks McCarver—who had never shared anything with a black man let alone something as intimate as a soft drink—looked at the soda looked at the deadly serious face of Bob Gibson and mumbled something "What was that?" Gibson asked as if he could not save you some" McCarver hean said Gibby had won that round On the field too there were stan gained - -- - 1:ML: - - - daikk doe - ALI' 241994 PAGE 5 - - and 1 'Intensea singular ss PARADE MAGAZINE - 04 ott it N''''-- - ' 7 - ed -- -- — Below: Gibson in well-dress- - - - - 41 -- t Al k i :- -- -' WIPIMMEL 0 - 1 o f' y - (:- voo Carver and most ed had—in no small part be- cause he was 0 1 - Mc- assuredly as r4 -- son by contrast Just a few years can't hit it" Gibson said Gibson was acutely sen1 sitive to the duality of the worlds he existed in He hated it when white people made assumptions about him—when they noticed his careful dress his jacket and tie and assumed that a black must man that He a lost be minister never that wariness Indeed the more successful he became as a baseball star—and the more others coveted his ' goodwill and his presence —the warier he became because the gap between the treatment accorded a black —-athletic superstar and that given to an ordinary faceless black man became greater For McCarver it was not an easy time in general Like many gifted athletes who had always been the best— in high school and then in the minors—he was no as a major leaguer trying to come to terms with the limits of his talent and accept the fact that he was a good but perhaps not a great ball player a 280 hitter instead of a 330 one At first he had raged against the injustice of this and now he was hay mg to learn how to control his temper In addition he was still having to come to terms with the fact that the way he had grown up playing in loyal the segregated South of the late '50s had not prepared him for the new integrated big leagues There were lessons and cultural habits to be unlearned if he was to win the approval of his black teammates gifted There had been a terrible day in spring training one season one that McCarver long regretted when a young black kid had slipped over the fence and stolen some baseballs and - t fluent world of baseball Gib- older than - tough-mind- ed for the of - - i others—Bob Gibson dards to be met Gibson was an intense wildly competitive man He wanted no was Wolf Tim one to interrupt his rhythm when he was pitching least of all his catcher When McCarver—told by Manager Johnny Keane to slow Gibson down— dared approach the mound he was al- McCarver was Dog— ways waved away by Gibby who yelled at him to get back behind the plate where he belonged "The only thing you know about pitching is that you a violent junkyard dog fearless scrapping for every inch of turf McCarver had yelled something at him Years later McCarver thought he had said "Hey stop that you little cannibal" while Gibson thought he had used the word "nigger" At the time McCarver had realized immediately what his remark meant in human terms on this team and he had looked up to see both Bob Gibson and Curt Flood quietly studying him He had been embarrassed and later he had tried to apologize to Gibson Gibson said that there was no need to apologize to him But continued |