Bob Gibson is a retired American professional baseball player who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. A right-handed pitcher, Gibson played 17 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1959 to 1975. A nine time All-Star selection, Gibson accumulated 3,117 strikeouts during his career, won two Cy Young Awards, was named the National League's (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1968, and was a member of two World Series championship teams. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Gibson beat a childhood illness to excel in sports as a kid, particularly basketball and baseball. After playing for a short time under contract to both the basketball Harlem Globetrotters team as well as the St. Louis Cardinals MLB team, Gibson decided to only continue to play baseball professionally. Gibson soon became known as a strong competitor and very intense player. Gibson was the starting pitcher in nine World Series games in which he recorded eight complete games and seven wins. Gibson also set a World Series record by posting 17 strikeouts during Game 1 of the 1968 World Series. After retiring as a player in 1975, Gibson later served as pitching coach for his former teammate Joe Torre. At one time a special instructor coach for the St. Louis Cardinals as well, Gibson was later selected for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.