St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson dies at 84 after battle with cancer

Famed St. Louis Cardinals pitcher and baseball hall-of-famer Bob Gibson died on Friday at 84 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, ending a life of considerable personal and professional achievement.

Born to a widowed mother and raised during the Great Depression, Gibson suffered numerous health issues as a child but later excelled in sports. After playing basketball at Creighton University, he was signed to the Cardinals in the late 1950s.

Famously taciturn even among his teammates, Gibson received numerous awards over the course of his career, including nine consecutive Gold Glove awards; he maintains the record of most strikeouts during a World Series game, at 17 during Game 1 of the 1968 series.

He pitched a no-hitter in August of 1971, a distinction marking less than one-fifth of one-percent of all Major League Baseball games.