Floyd Giebell
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Floyd George Giebell (December 10, 1909 – April 28, 2004) was an American
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
player who is best remembered as the
pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
who, in his third career start, shut out
Bob Feller Robert William Andrew Feller (November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010), nicknamed "the Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob", and "Rapid Robert", was an American baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Clevel ...
and the
Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
to clinch the 1940
American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...
pennant for the
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...
of
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
(MLB). Listed at and , Giebell threw right-handed and batted left-handed.


Early career

Born in
Pennsboro, West Virginia Pennsboro is a city in Ritchie County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,050 at the 2020 census. The city is located at the junction of U.S. Route 50 and West Virginia Route 74; the North Bend Rail Trail also passes through ...
, Giebell attended
Salem International University Salem University is a private for-profit university in Salem, West Virginia. It has about 250 students on campus and about 600 online students that are enrolled in undergraduate as well as graduate programs. The university was founded by the S ...
. His first
professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...
team was the
minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...
Evansville Bees Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 census, it is Indiana's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the most populous city in S ...
in 1938. Giebell played briefly for the major league
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...
in 1939, but he only pitched innings in relief before being sent to the minor league
Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A baseball team nicknamed the ...
, where he pitched most of the 1939 season.


The 1940 season

In September 1940, Giebell was brought back up to the major leagues and had two outstanding starts during the 1940 pennant drive. Giebel pitched a pair of
complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...
victories and gave up only two runs in 18
innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...
for an
earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...
of 1.00. Giebell got his first start on September 19, 1940, with Tigers and Indians tied for first place. Giebell, who had just been called up from the
Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...
where he went 15–16, pitched a complete game, giving up only two runs as the Tigers beat the
Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...
, 13–2.


Pennant-clinching shutout over Bob Feller

On September 27, 1940, the Tigers needed one more win to clinch the pennant. With 27 game winner
Bob Feller Robert William Andrew Feller (November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010), nicknamed "the Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob", and "Rapid Robert", was an American baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Clevel ...
scheduled to pitch for the Indians, Detroit
manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
Del Baker Delmer David Baker (May 3, 1892 – September 11, 1973) was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager. During his time as a player, he spent three years (1914–1916) in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a backup catcher for t ...
decided to start Giebell against Feller rather than "waste" his aces
Bobo Newsom Louis Norman "Bobo" Newsom (August 11, 1907 – December 7, 1962) was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. Also known as "Buck", Newsom played for nine of the 16 then-existing big-league teams from 1929 through 1953 over all or ...
or
Schoolboy Rowe Lynwood Thomas "Schoolboy" Rowe (January 11, 1910 – January 8, 1961) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, primarily for the Detroit Tigers (1932–42) and Philadelphia Phillies (1943, 1946–49). He was a three-time Al ...
. ''Time'' magazine described Giebell at the time as "a gawky stringbean", who "looked like a sacrificial lamb as he ambled out to the mound." But, as ''Time'' reported after the game, Giebell was "no lamb" that day. Instead, " th cunning change of pace and the control of an oldtimer, the green-as-grass rookie shut out the Indians 2-to-0."Time (magazine)
/ref> Feller gave up only three hits for the day, but one of them was a two-run wind-blown
home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...
by
Rudy York Preston Rudolph York (August 17, 1913 – February 5, 1970) was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher and a first baseman between and , most notably as a member of t ...
. That was all the Tigers needed thanks to Giebell's pitching that day. The setting in Cleveland that day was raucous. The Indians had built a reputation as the "Cleveland Crybabies" for their whining about manager
Ossie Vitt Oscar Joseph "Ossie" Vitt (January 4, 1890 – January 31, 1963) was an American Major League Baseball third baseman and manager in the American League for the Detroit Tigers (1912–1918) and Boston Red Sox (1919–1921). Vitt later became man ...
, and had been subjected to chants of "Cleveland Crybabies", "Boohoo Indians" and "papeese" (plural of papoose) when they played in Detroit. Tiger fans threw baby bottles on the field during the game, decorated the dugout with diapers, and pushed a baby carriage along the dugout roof during the game. The Indians fans turned out in force, 45,000 strong, and armed "with eggs, eggplants, cauliflowers, fruit." As soon as the Tigers went on the field they were pelted from the stands. By the time
Rudy York Preston Rudolph York (August 17, 1913 – February 5, 1970) was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher and a first baseman between and , most notably as a member of t ...
hit one of Feller's pitches for a two-run home run, ''Time'' reported that the field "looked like a vegetable plate." The umpire called time twice, and Indians manager
Ossie Vitt Oscar Joseph "Ossie" Vitt (January 4, 1890 – January 31, 1963) was an American Major League Baseball third baseman and manager in the American League for the Detroit Tigers (1912–1918) and Boston Red Sox (1919–1921). Vitt later became man ...
begged the fans to stop. When the umpire made an announcement threatening a forfeit, an immediate fruit barrage ensued.
Hank Greenberg Henry Benjamin Greenberg (January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus", and "the Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and team executive. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB), p ...
was drilled with a tomato as he ran after a fly ball. At one point, an entire bushel basket of tomatoes dropped from the upper grandstand into the Tiger bullpen, barely missing Tigers ace
Schoolboy Rowe Lynwood Thomas "Schoolboy" Rowe (January 11, 1910 – January 8, 1961) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, primarily for the Detroit Tigers (1932–42) and Philadelphia Phillies (1943, 1946–49). He was a three-time Al ...
, but making a direct hit on Detroit catcher
Birdie Tebbetts George Robert "Birdie" Tebbetts (November 10, 1912 – March 24, 1999) was an American professional baseball player, manager, scout and front office executive. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Detroit Tigers, Bos ...
, knocking Tebbetts unconscious." The Cleveland police quickly apprehended the offender, Armen Guerra, and took him to the Detroit clubhouse. Tebbetts, now conscious, beat up Guerra while the cops looked the other way. Guerra, who earlier had dropped the crate on Tebbets, filed criminal assault charges, but Tebbets was acquitted. Giebell remained calm through the commotion in Cleveland, and shutout the Indians for nine innings in one of the great "David vs. Goliath" moments in baseball.


Career and life after 1940

The pennant-clinching win over Feller was only the third of Giebell's career, but it proved to be his last. Having played in only three games, he was not eligible to play in the
1940 World Series The 1940 World Series matched the 1940 Cincinnati Reds season, Cincinnati Reds against the 1940 Detroit Tigers season, Detroit Tigers, with the Reds winning a closely contested seven-game series. The victory secured the Reds the second champions ...
. Giebell pitched briefly for the Tigers in 1941 but his ERA soared from 1.00 to 6.03. Giebell was sent back to the minor leagues. He pitched for Buffalo in 1941 and 1942 and then served in the military for three years during World War II. He returned to baseball following the war, but never made it out of the minor leagues. His final season playing professional baseball was 1948, with the minor league Dallas Eagles. Over his three-year major league career, Giebell was 3–1 in 28 games (four as a starter) with a 3.99
earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...
in innings. According to his obituary, Giebell worked in the quality control labs of
Weirton Steel Weirton Steel Corporation was a steel production company founded by Ernest T. Weir in West Virginia in 1909. It was at one time one of the world's largest producers of tin plate products. History Weirton Steel Corporation was an integrated ste ...
until his retirement. He died in 2004 at age 94 in
Wilkesboro, North Carolina Wilkesboro is a town in and the county seat of Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,687 at the 2020 census. The town is located along the south bank of the Yadkin River, directly opposite the town of North Wilkesbor ...
. According to published accounts, Giebell still had a silver tray that had been signed by all the Detroit players to commemorate the pennant-clinching victory.


Notes


References


Further reading

*Dennis Snelling: ''A Glimpse of Fame'', McFarland & Company, Jefferson N.C., 1993, pp 183–200


External links

, o
Baseball Almanac
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Giebell, Floyd 1909 births 2004 deaths Detroit Tigers players Evansville Bees players Toledo Mud Hens players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Syracuse Chiefs players Dallas Rebels players Dallas Eagles players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from West Virginia People from Pennsboro, West Virginia Salem Tigers baseball players 20th-century American sportsmen