Jim Bibby

American baseball player (1944–2010)

James Blair Bibby (October 29, 1944 – February 16, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball right handed pitcher. During a 12 year baseball career, he pitched from 1972 to 1984 with the St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, and Pittsburgh Pirates, with whom he was a member of its 1979 World Series champions. In 1973, Bibby pitched a no hitter against the Oakland Athletics. Also, in 1981, as a member of the Pirates, he missed out on a perfect game by just one hit, allowing a lead off single, before retiring the next 26 batters he faced.

Bibby attended Fayetteville State University on a basketball scholarship, and also pitched for its varsity baseball team. His professional career began when he was signed by the New York Mets as an undrafted free agent after his junior year on July 19, 1965. With Fayetteville State having discontinued its baseball program in the late 1970s, he was the only player from the university to reach the major leagues. After appearing in thirteen games and posting a 2–3 record with an 11.25 ERA with the Marion Mets in 1965, he spent the next two years on active duty with the United States Army as a truck driver in Vietnam. On his return to baseball, Bibby moved up the organization's minor league system, first with the Raleigh Durham Mets in 1968 before splitting time with the Memphis Blues and Tidewater Tides in 1969.

Bibby never got to pitch for New York because he was part of an eight player transaction on October 18, 1971, when he, Art Shamsky, Rich Folkers and Charlie Hudson were sent to St. Louis for Chuck Taylor, Chip Coulter and two players who would help the Mets capture the National League pennant in , Jim Beauchamp and Harry Parker. Bibby earned a promotion to the Cardinals late in as the Tulsa Oilers' top hurler at 13–9, with a 3.09 ERA, 13 complete games and 208 strikeouts. He made his major league debut at age 27 as the starter in the second game of a Labor Day doubleheader at Busch Memorial Stadium on September 4. Despite surrendering four runs in 6 1/3 innings, Bibby picked up the win in the 8–7 triumph over the Montreal Expos. He made five more starts to finish the season, but lost three of them. The trade was made at the urging of Whitey Herzog who, prior to becoming the Rangers manager, was the Mets director of player development. On July 30, Bibby no hit the defending and eventual repeat World Champion Oakland Athletics 6–0 at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, the first no hitter in the franchise's history. Despite issuing six walks and relying almost exclusively on his fastball, After he fanned in the ninth inning, Oakland's Reggie Jackson commented on the strike three pitch, "That's the fastest ball I ever saw. Actually I didn't see it. I just heard it." Bibby, whose salary was $15,000 that year, earned a $5,000 raise from team owner Bob Short as a result of the achievement. On a ballclub that finished with the worst record in the majors at 57–105 and fired Herzog with 24 games remaining in the campaign, Bibby was its winningest pitcher despite a 9–10 record. When the Billy Martin managed Rangers became the surprise team of by going 84–76 and vaulting into second place in the American League Western Division, Bibby (19–19) and the newly acquired Ferguson Jenkins (25–12) each made a club record 41 starts to anchor the pitching staff. The nineteen losses, however, are also a club record. The deal was actually the result of a feud between Perry and Indians manager Frank Robinson. Bibby compiled a 30–29 record with a 3.36 ERA in his 2 1/2 years in Cleveland. He was originally expected to be the new closer, replacing Goose Gossage, who had left for the New York Yankees in the offseason. Instead, Bibby became a starter in the five man rotation and had his most productive years with the Pirates, going 50–32 with a 3.53 ERA in five seasons. His only postseason experience was when he helped the Pirates capture the 1979 World Series Championship. Despite not getting a decision in any of his three starts, Bibby pitched effectively with a 2.08 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings. Bibby went 6 1/3 innings and departed Game 4 of the Fall Classic with a 6–3 advantage in the 9–6 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Three Rivers Stadium. When the Pirates clinched the series with a 4–1 win in Game 7 at Memorial Stadium, he lasted four innings, with his only mistake being Rich Dauer's home run to lead off the Orioles' third. Bibby's best year in the majors was in , when he posted a 19–6 record and a league best .760 win–loss percentage. On May 19, 1981, Bibby began a start against the Atlanta Braves by allowing a leadoff single to right to Terry Harper. From that point on, Bibby hurled the equivalent of a perfect game (but actually a one hit game) by retiring the next 27 batters in a 5–0 victory. Bibby also excelled at the plate that night by hitting a pair of doubles (to center off Phil Niekro in the fifth, to left off Rick Mahler in the sixth), driving in a run and scoring another. After missing all of with a shoulder injury, Bibby spent one more season with the Pirates as a spot starter/long reliever. He was granted free agency on November 7, 1983. Bibby was released on June 1. Bibby was the pitching coach for the Carolina League's Lynchburg, Virginia, ballclub from 1985 to 1999. He served the franchise beginning when it was affiliated with the Mets and through parent club/name changes in 1988 (Red Sox both) and 1995 (Pirates/Hillcats). Bibby was honored by the Hillcats in 2002, when his uniform number (26) was the first one retired in the city's baseball history. He spent the 2000 minor league season in the same capacity with the Nashville Sounds, but retired from coaching after his contract was not renewed.

Bibby was an older brother of former NBA players Henry Bibby and uncle of Mike Bibby. He was married to Jacqueline Ann (Jordan) Bibby and had two daughters, Tamara Bibby of Washington, D. C., and Tanya Bibby (McClain) of Charlotte, North Carolina. He died in Central Lynchburg General Hospital on February 16, 2010, due to bone cancer.