Bob Gibson, the baseball Hall of Famer who passed recently, was if anything greater than his public persona. I knew Bob Gibson personally for four days in 1988 while on assignment with the Los Angeles Times. I spent a stint at the Dodgers Fantasy Camp with 13 Hall of Famers for breakfast and dinner and games played in between by campers who paid big bucks for the opportunity.  The HOFers "managed" the teams. I was assigned to write about it. I did — with shamefully gushing terms of endearment.  I don't apologize. I was awestruck at the ripe age of 39.  I expected Gibson to be a mean beast of a man as he appeared on the mound.  Rather, he was the nicest guy in camp — nicest by a wide margin amid a bakers' dozen of nice guys that included renown nice guys Roy Campanella and Ernie Banks.  Gibson was cordial, humble, kind, considerate.  Disarmingly so. That's probably why...(Read Full Post)