The Greatest Athlete To Wear #45 is St.Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson.

Notable #45’s Pedro Martinez is one of the greatest pitchers of the past 25 years. A future Hall of Famer without question. Tug McGraw was one of the greatest left handed closers in baseball history. Johnny Podres will always be remembered for being the winning pitcher who clinched the Brooklyn Dodgers only World Series title. In football Emlen Tunnell was one of the great defensive backs of the 1950’s with the NY Giants. In the NBA A.C. Green was the Cal Ripken of that league playing 1192 consecutive games. Rudy T-Rudy Tomjanovich was an all-star but will be remembered for being hit by The Punch. Rik Smits had a fine NBA career was a jump shooting 7’4 player.

The Greatest Athlete To Wear #45 is Bob Gibson. Bob Gibson was fearsome. As a kid looking out at him on the mound in person or on television was frightening. I wouldn’t want to get into the batters box even today against him. If the money was on the table the two pitchers I’d have to choose between as who I’d want to hand the ball to- Bob Gibson or Sandy Koufax. Great pitchers who were even greatest under pressure. Bob Gibson’s 1968 stats look like science-fiction. 1:12 ERA? Gibby was a 2 time Cy Young Award winner, he was a 9 time All-Star. He was the MVP in the NL in 1968. The thing I’ve always never understood- with that 1:12 ERA- record setting he had a record of 22-9. How did he lose 9 games that year? Gibson was incredible and one of the great competitors ever in any sport.