Bob Gibson strikes out seventeen in the 1968 World Series - A Hunt and Peck

It is the baseball offseason. The cold begins to set in, the ground becoming hard and unforgiving. Lemonade is replaced with warm cider, and beer is replaced with... well, people still drink beer. Baseball followers move on from discussing current roster construction to future ones. The promise of next season is one of the best parts of the offseason.

But the winter break can be a good time for reflection as well. Sometimes to fully grasp and appreciate the possibilities for a Carlos Martinez, we need to look to the past at the fully realized potential of a Bob Gibson. And while that comparison is undoubtedly impossibly unfair, it is still fun to dream on. That is the thing about the future: it can be anything we want it to be until it happens.

So until then, let's watch Gibby strike out seventeen batters in the 1968 World Series, and hope that one day we might see Carlos Martinez strike out eighteen.

what else is going on in baseball...

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what the cardinals are up to...

• Trying to Put a Value on Jason Heyward in Free Agency | FanGraphs Baseball
• Cards ready to make pitch to Heyward : Sports | STL Today
• Cardinals pull top pitching prospect Alex Reyes from Arizona Fall League | Viva El Birdos

KNOW THINE ENEMY...

the nl central

• 5 ways Cubs can get better this offseason | cubs.com
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