Carlton pitched longer than Gibson and also wound up in the Hall of Fame. At a reception before his induction ceremony, in 1994, Tim McCarver saluted Carlton in a speech, with Gibson in the crowd. McCarver, who caught both pitchers in their primes, told the crowd that if Carl Hubbell had the best screwball ever, Nolan Ryan the best fastball and Sandy Koufax the best curveball, then surely Carlton had the best slider. He gets about six inches from my face and says: ‘The best left-handed slider in the history of the game!’ He kind of skulked away and laughed. And that was OK.”Deep into retirement, Gibson pitched in an old-timers’ game and gave up a home run.

Source: New York Times October 04, 2020 22:41 UTC