Russ Gibson

John Russell Gibson

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 195 lb.
• High School Durfee High School
• Debut April 14, 1967
• Final Game September 6, 1972
• Born May 6, 1939 in Fall River, MA USA
• Died July 27, 2008 in Swansea, MA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

A star in three sports (football, basketball, and baseball) at Durfee High School, catcher Russ Gibson signed with the Boston Red Sox organization in 1957 following graduation. After spending a decade in the minors, he joined the Red Sox in 1967. In his big league debut, he was behind the plate when Billy Rohr threw 8 2/3 innings of no-hit ball against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on April 14th, and he got two hits off Hall of Famer Whitey Ford. In his next outing, he played all 18 innings of a marathon game, making nine plate appearances. Overall that year, he hit .203 in 49 games and was the starting backstop in Game 1 of the World Series.

After three years with Boston, Gibson was sold to the San Francisco Giants, and he spent three years there, primarily as backup to Dick Dietz.

Following his baseball career, Gibson worked for the Massachusetts Lottery for many years. He died at age 69 after suffering heart problems and undergoing dialysis for more than a decade.

Further Reading

• Tom Harkins: "Russ Gibson", in Bill Nowlin and Dan Desrochers, eds.: The 1967 Impossible Dream Red Sox: 'Pandemonium on the Field', SABR, Rounder Books, Burlington, MA, 2007, pp. 52-56. ISBN 978-1-5794-0141-2

Related Sites

• Russ Gibson at the SABR Bio Project