"He instinctively can find the shining greatness of our American culture and does a good job of highlighting it (although he also does have those rare lapses when he writes about hockey, but that is something caused by impurities in the Eastern waters or something)." Erik Keilholtz
Under the patronage of St. Tammany
Mark C. N. Sullivan is an editor at a Massachusetts university. He is married and the father of three children. Email
The pride of the Spindle City was catcher for the '67 "Impossible Dream" Red Sox. He spent 10 years in the minors before making it to the big leagues. His first game in the majors, he caught fellow rookie Billy Rohr's fabled near-no-hitter.
Gibby was a great story-teller. A couple of years ago, talking for the millionth time about the Rohr one-hitter, he stopped in mid-sentence and said, “Here’s one nobody’s ever talked about. We found out that Lee Remick, the actress, was in the stands that day. About the fourth inning, Tony Conigliaro decides he wants to ask her out, and he gets an usher to take a message up to her.
“After the game, we’re all excited about the one-hitter, but we’re also waiting to see if Tony’s gonna get his date with Lee Remick. She sent a note to him that said, ‘Wake up.’ Tony just laughed.”
Rohr, who was on the 17th hole of a California golf course yesterday when he heard of Gibby’s death, said, “He was a rock. He was a strong, tough-as-nails guy. In those days, he was as chiseled as that jaw of his. He maybe didn’t have the tools that other players had, but man did he ever get the most out of his talent.
“When people ask me about Gibby, I just say, ‘He was a catcher.’ That’s what Gibby was. He was a catcher.”
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