Dillon Davis of the State News reports that current Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson had his baseball jersey number retired by his alma mater on Saturday. Gibson joins fellow player Robin Roberts as the only Michigan St. Spartans baseball players to have their numbers retired by the school.
Gibson's No. 30 was retired at a ceremony on Saturday, which also presented 2012 Spartan Baseball Alumnus of the Year honors to Earl Morrall.
As strange as it may seem, Gibson was primarily a football player in college. He set school and Big Ten receiving records as a Spartans wide receiver and was a multiple All-American. He played one year of baseball at MSU but made it count, batting .390 with 16 home runs in 48 games. He was drafted by both MLB and NFL teams but decided to go the baseball route, much to the delight of Tigers, Dodgers and Diamondbacks fans everywhere.
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