Jerry Dean "Jake" Gibbs (born November 7, 1938) is an American former

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 ...

player who played for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

as a platoon

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

from 1962 to 1971. Although Gibbs was the regular starting catcher for New York in 1967 and 1968, he was primarily a back-up for

Elston Howard Elston Gene Howard (February 23, 1929 – December 14, 1980) was an American professional baseball player who was a catcher and a left fielder. During a 14-year baseball career, he played in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues and Major Leag ...

and then Thurman Munson at the tail-end of his career. Prior to beginning his professional baseball career, Gibbs had successful careers in

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

and

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

(Ole Miss) for the

Ole Miss Rebels The Ole Miss Rebels are the 18 men's and women's College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that are funded by and represent the University of Mississippi, located in Oxford, Mississippi, Oxford. The first was the Ole ...

. He was also a member of the

Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Alpha (), commonly known as Pike is a college fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1868. The fraternity has over 225 chapters and provisional chapters across the United States and abroad with over 15,500 undergraduate mem ...

(PIKE) Fraternity. He returned to Ole Miss to coach the baseball and football teams.

Amateur career

Gibbs attended the University of Mississippi, where he played

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

Ole Miss Rebels football The Ole Miss Rebels football program represents the University of Mississippi, also known as "Ole Miss". The Ole Miss Rebels, Rebels compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Colleg ...

team, and also played for the Ole Miss Rebels baseball team. Both teams compete in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC). Gibbs led the Rebels to their first SEC baseball championship, in 1959. During his junior football season, Gibbs was best remembered for punting the ball to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

Billy Cannon in a Halloween Night game at Tiger Stadium. On a third-and-19 with 10 minutes remaining, and the third-ranked Rebels ahead of defending national champion and top-ranked LSU 3-0, Cannon picked up the ball on one bounce at his own 11-yard line and raced past the Rebel coverage unit, including Gibbs, 89 yards for the game's only touchdown. The play helped Cannon win the 1959 Heisman Memorial Trophy. The 7-3 loss cost Ole Miss a chance at the wire service national championships, since those polls were voted upon at the time prior to bowl games and did not take into account Ole Miss' 21-0 humiliation of LSU in the 1960 Sugar Bowl, 62 days after the teams played in Baton Rouge. During his senior year at Mississippi, Gibbs led the football team to a 10–0–1 record, with the lone blemish a 6-6 deadlock against an inferior LSU squad (the Tigers went 5-4-1 after winning 20 of 22 games in 1958 and 1959) at

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, 14th most populous city in Mississippi, United States, and the county seat of Lafayette County, Mississippi, Lafayette County, southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis. A college town, Oxford ...

. The Rebels won the 1961 Sugar Bowl, defeating the

Rice Owls football The Rice Owls football program represents Rice University in the sport of American football. The team competes at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, NCAA Division I FBS level and compete in the American Athletic Conference. Rice Stad ...

team 14-6, as Gibbs scored both touchdowns. The Rebels were recognized as

national champions National champions are corporations which are technically private businesses but due to governmental policy are ceded a dominant position in a national economy. In this system, these large organizations are expected not only to seek profit but als ...

by the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

. Gibbs was named to the

1960 College Football All-America Team The 1960 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1960. The six selectors recognized by the ...

. That year, he was also named SEC Player of the Year.

Professional career

Gibbs decided instead to go professional in baseball despite being drafted by the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

in 1961. Gibbs signed with the

in 1961, receiving a $100,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

under the bonus rule. Gibbs signed as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

and

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

. He began his professional career with the Richmond Virginians of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

; he recorded five hits in a double header in his professional debut and started his career with an eight-game

hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 pl ...

. The Yankees optioned him to Richmond in 1962, but his season was limited by injuries. The Yankees asked Gibbs to switch to

in 1963. Gibbs spent the 1963 season with the Virginians, before the Yankees promoted him again in September. Gibbs spent his four first professional seasons in

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

, where his highest season

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

was .284 and he managed to hit 28

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 ( ...

s across the four seasons. With

Yogi Berra Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (born Lorenzo Pietro Berra; May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of Manager (baseball), manager and Coach (baseball), coach. He played 19 seas ...

's retirement before the 1964 season, Gibbs competed for a spot on the Yankees' roster. He was unable to appear in the

1964 World Series The 1964 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1964 Major League Baseball season, 1964 season. The 61st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the National Leagu ...

due to broken fingers. He also missed the end of the 1966 season after suffering a broken left hand. Gibbs backed up

for a number of years. When the Yankees traded Howard during the 1967 season, Gibbs became the team's starting catcher. He eventually lost the first-string job to Thurman Munson, but continued as a back-up with the team. In June 1971, he announced his retirement from baseball, effective at the end of the season. He played his final game on September 29, 1971.

Coaching career

Gibbs returned to Ole Miss as an assistant football coach in 1965, working during the Yankees' offseason. In this role, Gibbs mentored Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback

Archie Manning Elisha Archibald Manning III (born May 19, 1949) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the New Orleans Saints from 1971 to 1982. He also h ...

. After the 1971 season, Gibbs returned to Ole Miss full-time as a baseball coach and football recruiter. In 1972, he coached Ole Miss to the SEC championship. The team set an SEC record for consecutive conference wins, and went to Omaha for the

1972 College World Series The 1972 NCAA University Division baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1972 NCAA University Division baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the C ...

(CWS), and Gibbs was named coach of the year. Gibbs was named coach of the year again in 1977. Gibbs retired in 1990 with 485 wins, more than any coach in Ole Miss history, though this was later surpassed on March 9, 2013, by Mike Bianco. Gibbs returned to the Yankees' organization in 1993 as the team's

bullpen catcher The bullpen catcher is a member of a baseball team's staff, often a former professional player, who catches the ball for relief pitchers warming up before entering a game and starting pitchers before games. A bullpen catcher differentiates from a ...

. In 1994 and 1995, Gibbs managed the Tampa Yankees, the Yankees'

Class A-Advanced High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

affiliate in the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

Honors

On February 15, 2020, Gibbs' baseball number, 41, was retired in a ceremony prior to the Ole Miss baseball game vs Louisville. In 1995, Gibbs was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

. He appeared at the Yankees'

Old-Timers' Day Old-Timers' Day (or Old-Timers' Game) refers to a tradition in Major League Baseball where a team devotes the early afternoon preceding a weekend game to honor retired players who played for the organization during their careers. The retired play ...

in 2012 and 2014.

References

External links