"Sometimes Bob Gibson seemed to forget how imposing he was.
He knew he was threatening on the mound....
That was deliberate.
But he had little sense that for many people he was unapproachable and distant off the mound.
He hated small talk.
He was a man who lifted an entire team.
His own standards were so high that the other players did not like to let him down, and they played harder when he pitched.
In time, this became true on the other days as well.
Years later, Steve Carlton, a pitcher who apprenticed on the Cardinals when Bob Gibson was in his prime, would talk about how much he had learned from Gibson, which became critical to his making the Hall of Fame:
The ability to focus on a game.
The ability to be tough.
And, perhaps even more important, the ability to create a mystique of toughness."
"October 1964."
David Halberstam.
Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton.