Ex-diamond giants dissect fundamental duel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Separated by a distance of sixty feet, six inches, the Hall of Fame pitcher and Hall of Fame hitter were once natural enemies.

In retirement, however, pitcher Bob Gibson and slugger Reggie Jackson share a mutual respect, a love of the game and 38 seasons of insight in "Sixty Feet, Six Inches," a collaborative book about baseball at the highest level.

The title refers to the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate over which the fundamental duel of the Summer Game is waged.

Laid out as a conversation between these two giants of the diamond, the duo tackle the dynamics between batter and pitcher, reminisce about players of their eras and air their views of the current generation and how the game is played today.

Gibson admits he might have been tempted to try steroids for a competitive edge and acknowledges once throwing an experimental "spitter," a ball with saliva applied to one side to affect its flight.

He also explains the necessity of hitting the occasional batter but says batters are now at risk of serious injury because of the way umpires protect them.

"One of these days some hitter is going to get hurt really badly because he doesn't expect the ball inside," Gibson, sitting across from Jackson, told Reuters in an interview.

Umpires issue warnings after pitches too far inside before ejecting players to ward off an escalation of aggression.

INTIMIDATING FORCE

An intimidating force in 17 seasons with the St Louis Cardinals, Gibson hit 104 batters in his career and used his sizzling fast ball and sharp-breaking slider for 251 wins and a string of superlative post-season successes.

Jackson, nicknamed "Mr. October" for post-season home run hitting heroics, said the hard-nosed Gibson inspired him.

"I watched Bob Gibson beat the Red Sox three times in the 1967 World Series and strike out 17 Detroit Tigers in the opening game of the 1968 World Series," Jackson said.

"Bob Gibson was in my Hall of Fame speech about how to play the game, the intensity and tenaciousness and the will to win. Gibson was an inspiration."

The one-time snarling power pitcher, now 73, and the cocky home run hitter, 10 years his junior, form something of an odd couple in collaboration.

Jackson played football at Arizona State University before choosing a life in baseball and still works out with weights. He made conditioning a year-round project and channeled his nervous energy on big-game days into focus.

"I didn't get nervous. I got intense," said Jackson, famed for hitting home runs on three successive pitches for the Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1977 World Series and winning MVP honors to go with the 1973 World Series MVP award he received with the Oakland A's.

DOZING OFF

Gibson, a basketball player at Creighton University, preferred to let his body recover during baseball's off-season and was so relaxed before he pitched -- even in a World Series -- that he would doze off in the trainer's room with a towel draped over his head to muffle his snoring.

Their credentials command respect, and with the World Series starting on Wednesday so too do their views on rising to the occasion.

Jackson likened the feeling to digging deeper when lifting weights. "When I hear people grunting, straining in the weight room I say, 'just add a little strength and pick it up, add a little bit.' It was like that for me in a game."

Gibson smiled in recognition.

"I didn't have a problem reaching back and giving a little extra when it meant so much, like the World Series," said Gibson, also twice a World Series MVP.

"You can't go through your whole sports life playing like that. But you've got a week, got 10 days, two weeks to just put a little extra in."

Jackson weighed in on the psychological side.

"For players that falter...I think that they get a lot of unnecessary things in their mind," he said.

"Did I think of failing? I knew it was a possibility.

"What was on my mind was what I needed to do. There wasn't a lot of clutter. I was going to have the ball and the barrel of the bat in the strike zone at the same time."

NATURAL ORDER

The duo both thought some of the old 'hardball' ways were softening in the current game and regretted that.

"I just never like it when they mess with what I consider to be the natural order of the game -- the war between the batter and the pitcher," Jackson said.

"Retaliation is a part of that. I think we're a little over-policed."

Gibson said his pitching approach was to keep the ball on the outer edge of the 17-inch-wide home plate and a hard pitch inside was an ingredient for success.

He could not afford to let a hitter lean over the plate to reach a pitch on the outside.

"Think of a hitter as a dog with an electronic collar. You just administer a slight correction...if he tries to get out of his yard.

"Throw the ball inside so he can't wander into the wrong area. Don't let him lean where he shouldn't be leaning.

"If you throw it inside and he's still leaning, it usually hits him. Or, the way I look at it, the batter hits himself."

(Editing by Dave Thompson. To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)