page_title: George Gibson (baseball)
section_title: Playing career
hierarchical_section_title: George Gibson (baseball) / Playing career
caption_attribution_description: Bain News Service,, publisher. [George Gibson, New York NL (baseball)] [1917] 1 negative&#160;: glass&#160;; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. Notes: Original data provided by the Bain News Service on the negatives or caption cards: Gibson. Corrected title and date based on research by the Pictorial History Committee, Society for American Baseball Research, 2006. Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress). Format: Glass negatives. Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication. Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print General information about the Bain Collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.25202 Call Number: LC-B2- 4318-5
context_page_description: George C. Gibson, nicknamed Mooney, was a Canadian professional baseball player, coach, scout, and manager. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1905 to 1918 during a period in baseball history known as the Dead-ball era. Gibson spent the majority of his athletic career with the Pittsburgh Pirates before serving as a player-coach for the New York Giants for his final two seasons. He later became a minor league manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs before returning to the major leagues as a manager for the Pirates and the Chicago Cubs.
  Gibson was regarded as one of the National League's premier catchers because of his impressive defensive skills and his strong, accurate throwing arm. He was also known for his smart pitch-calling and his ability to hold runners on base. His reputation as a defensive stand out is enhanced because of the era in which he played. In the deadball era, catchers played a huge defensive role, given the large number of bunts and stolen base attempts, as well as the difficulty of handling the spitball pitchers who dominated pitching staffs.
context_section_description: Born a stone's throw away from Tecumseh Park (today's Labatt Memorial Park) in London, Ontario, Gibson gained the nickname "Mooney" as a youngster. Some sources suggest that the nickname was inspired by his round, moon-shaped face, while other sources claim he picked up the nickname because he had played on a sandlot team known as the Mooneys. He began his professional baseball career in 1903 with the Buffalo Bisons of the Eastern League, managed by George Stallings. Numerous sources still associate Gibson with the Kingston Colonials of the Hudson River League but in a 1919 article, journalist Edward F. Balinger discusses this topic. Relaying something said by Gibson days earlier, he suggests that "somebody got him mixed with some other player shortly after he broke into the big league." George spent parts of two seasons playing for the Montreal Royals before his contract was purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates in June 1905.
  Gibson made his major league debut July 2, 1905 at the age of 24. Gibson stood 5'11.5" and weighed 190 pounds, which was considered large for a baseball player of his era. Although he did not provide prolific offensive statistics, he did provide excellent defensive abilities and was a keen student of baseball strategy under the tutelage of Pirates manager Fred Clarke.  The Pirates finished in second place three times in four seasons between 1905 and 1908. During the 1908 season, they were involved in a tight pennant race with the Chicago Cubs and the New York Giants. The Pirates were in first place going into the final day of the season but lost their final game to the eventual National League champion Chicago Cubs. 
  Gibson was in his prime during the 1909 season when he caught in 134 consecutive games, breaking the previous record of 133 consecutive games played as a catcher set by Deacon McGuire in 1895. He set another major league record for games played in a season by a catcher with 150, which was also previously held by McGuire since 1895. His games caught in a season record stood until 1920 when Ray Schalk caught 151 games. His record of 134 consecutive games caught would stand until 1940 when it was broken by Ray Mueller. Gibson hit a double for the final hit in the last game played at Pittsburgh's Exposition Park on June 29, 1909 and the following day had the first hit in the new Forbes Field.
  Gibson had a career-high 52 runs batted in and helped guide the Pirates' pitching staff to finish second in the league in shutouts as well as in earned run average as the team clinched the 1909 National League pennant. He also led National League catchers in fielding percentage, baserunners caught stealing and in caught stealing percentage. Gibson then went on to catch every game in the 1909 World Series as the Pirates defeated the Detroit Tigers in seven games to win the world championship. Gibson held Detroit's Ty Cobb, the premier base stealer of his era, to only one stolen base during the series (Cobb also stole home plate during the series which wasn't charged against Gibson). Arriving back at the train station in his hometown of London, Ontario, on October 27, 1909, after winning the World Series, Gibson found more than 7,000 cheering fans to greet him. At the time, the population of London was approximately 35,000.
  Gibson was a workhorse during his career with the Pirates, leading National League catchers in games played for four consecutive seasons between 1907 and 1910. When Gibson began his major league career, most catchers were large, bulky men, however as baseball progressed during the Deadball era, the decrease in run production placed greater significance on stolen bases and bunts, which in turn emphasized the crucial defensive role played by catchers. As the sport evolved, teams began to field smaller, more agile players as catchers, typified by the emergence of Ray Schalk. A newspaper article of the day referred to Gibson as being part of the "dreadnought" type. He suffered a broken ankle in late-April of 1913 and missed two months of the season. Gibson returned to hit for a career-high
caption: Gibson as a member of the New York Giants.
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