1909 World Series Winner
The highlight of Gibson's playing career was winning the best-of-nine- games World Series with Pittsburgh in 1909 by beating Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers five games to two.
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.
On September 9, 1909, Mooney caught his 112th consecutive game, breaking Chief Zimmer's 1890 record. Gibson's streak came to an end at 140 consecutive games behind the plate.
In 1921, Gibson, as manager of Pittsburgh, led the Pirates to his third consecutive first-division finish.
Born a stone's throw away from Tecumseh Park (today's Labatt Memorial Park) in London West, Gibson gained the nickname, "Mooney" early in his career due to his round, moon-like face. (The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) dispute this, saying that Gibson picked up the nickname as a youngster when he played on a sandlot team known as the Mooneys.)
At age 12, Gibson played for the Knox Baseball Club in a church league. In 1901, he played for the West London Stars of the Canadian League and the Struthers and McClary teams of the City League.
Today, there is a commemorative plaque prominently displayed at the entrance to the main grandstand at Labatt Park in Gibson's honour.
Read more about this topic: George Gibson (baseball)
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