Kirk Gibson

“One leg, one swing, one fist pump, and a mustache for the ages.”

89STACH SCORE

✂ Chevron Athlete Era: 1980s Born 1957

Is this a Legendary Stach?

Stach Stats

Stash Power87

Ruggedness96

Curl Factor25

Legend Status92

Stats are for entertainment purposes. The mustache committee's decisions are final and occasionally arbitrary.

Style: Chevron
Peak Era: 1980s
Born: 1957
Fan Votes: 0 legendary · 0 meh

The Story

About Kirk Gibson

Kirk Harold Gibson was born in 1957 in Pontiac, Michigan. An All-American wide receiver at Michigan State, he chose baseball and debuted with the Detroit Tigers in 1979. He was the emotional engine of the 1984 World Series champion Tigers, hitting two home runs in the clinching Game 5, including a famous blast off Goose Gossage.

Signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988, he won the National League MVP and then authored the most famous pinch-hit in baseball history: hobbled by injuries to both legs, he limped to the plate in Game 1 of the World Series and hit a walk-off home run off Dennis Eckersley. He never batted again in the Series; the Dodgers won it in five.

He later played for the Royals, Pirates and again the Tigers, then managed the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2010 to 2014, winning NL Manager of the Year in 2011. He announced a Parkinson's disease diagnosis in 2015 and has been a Tigers broadcaster and advocate since.

The Verdict

Why the Stach Became Iconic

Gibson's mustache was pure 1980s ballplayer: thick, unfussy and permanently attached to a scowl. It is frozen in time in the image of him pumping his fist rounding first base in 1988, the single most replayed mustache in the sport.

It was not a fashionable mustache. It was a football player's mustache that happened to hit home runs.

On the Record

Career Highlights

Detroit Tigers (1979–1987, 1993–1995) — World Series champion 1984
Los Angeles Dodgers (1988–1990) — NL MVP and World Series champion 1988
Kansas City Royals (1991) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1992)
Arizona Diamondbacks manager (2010–2014) — NL Manager of the Year 2011

Fun Facts

He was drafted by the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals in 1979 despite having chosen baseball.
His 1988 walk-off came on a 3-2 backdoor slider he had been told to expect in a pre-game scouting report.
Vin Scully's call, "In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened," is a baseball classic.
He is a member of the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.