Dibble was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the first round of the 1983 amateur draft, and he made his debut with the Reds on June 29, 1988. On June 4, 1989, Dibble struck out three batters on nine pitches in the eighth inning of a 5–3 win over the San Diego Padres. Dibble is one of 90 pitchers in Major League history to accomplish the nine-pitch/three-strikeout half-inning, a feat known as an immaculate inning. He was an MLB All-Star in 1990 and 1991, and was the 1990 NLCS Most Valuable Player. In 1990, Dibble and the Reds won the World Series by beating the Oakland Athletics in four consecutive games. Dibble recorded his 500th career strikeout in fewer innings—368—than any other pitcher in modern baseball history up to that point.
Temper
During his career Dibble was known for his temper. During a game in July 1989, he hit Mets second basemen Tim Teufel in the back with a pitch; Teufel then charged Dibble, causing a benches clearing brawl. After saving a game in April 1991 despite giving up two runs in relief, Dibble threw a baseball 400 feet into the center-field seats at Cincinnati, inadvertently striking a woman. He was also involved in a brawl in 1991 with Astros shortstop Eric Yelding. Later in the 1991 season, he threw a baseball into the back of Cubs outfielder Doug Dascenzo as he ran down the first base line and was subsequently ejected from the game. Dibble also was involved in a brawl with manager Lou Piniella in the Reds clubhouse after a game in 1992.
Later career
Dibble required surgery to his pitching arm in 1994, and missed the entire season as a result. Dibble signed with the Milwaukee Brewers and also played with the Chicago White Sox. He signed with the Chicago Cubs at the end of the 1995 season, but voluntarily retired from the team the following March after a rough spring. Weeks later, he opted to make a comeback, signing a minor league contract on April 14, 1996 with the Florida Marlins, but Dibble would ultimately see no game action with the Marlins or their minor league affiliates.
Broadcasting career
In 1998, Dibble joined ESPN as a baseball analyst, working mostly on Dan Patrick's radio show. He worked on The Best Damn Sports Show Period as a co-host until 2008, when he left to join FOX on their Saturday baseball program as an analyst. Dibble also spends time as a co-host/analyst of First Pitch on XM Channel 175/Sirius channel 210. He formerly hosted The Show with Jody McDonald. Dibble served as co-analyst for FOXSports.com on a weekly video segment entitled "Around the Bases." Dibble also is a co-host with former Major League player Denny Hocking on Fox Sports Radio Sunday night programming. In 2009, Dibble signed a three-year contract to replace Don Sutton as the color voice of the Washington Nationals on MASN. While broadcasting a game in August 2010, Dibble drew negative attention for focusing on a group of female spectators in the Nationals crowd, and questioning their focus on the game. He later apologized for the comments. Later in the month, Dibble criticized Nationals rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg for missing a start due to an injury: "Suck it up, kid. This is your profession. You chose to be a baseball player. You can't have the cavalry come in and save your butt every time you feel a little stiff shoulder, sore elbow." It was revealed shortly afterward that Strasburg had torn an elbow ligament and required Tommy John surgery. Dibble took a few days off from MASN after making the comments, and on September 1, 2010, MASN announced that Dibble would no longer be calling Nationals games. After losing his job with the Nationals, Dibble apologized for the Strasburg comments on his radio show. In April 2011, Dibble said in an interview on FoxSports.com that the reason for his dismissal was because of an email Strasburg's father sent to the Lerner Family, the owners of the Nationals. Dibble also continued to express his belief that Strasburg should have pitched through his pain. Strasburg denied the claim about his father's e-mail, and Stan Kasten, the president of the Nationals, called Dibble's account "fictional" and "sad". As of October 31, 2011, Dibble became a member of Mike North's talk radio show. Dibble had a brief stint as the varsity baseball head coach at Calabasas High School in Calabasas, California. He was fired from his head coaching job on March 27, 2013, only ten games into the season. As of December 18, 2013, he, along with Amy Van Dyken, were replaced on Fox Sports Radio'sFox Sports Tonight. Dibble also called games for the Los Angeles Angels for Compass Media. On March 27, 2014, Dibble became the host of the 3–7 pm sports talk show on WUCS 97.9 FM and WAVZ 1300 AM in the ESPN stations in Hartford and New Haven, CT respectively. He joined interim host Paul Nanos who filled in when Mike Bower's contract was not renewed. Up until the end of October the show was billed as The Rob Dibble Show with Paul Nanos. In October, the show was renamed The Rob Dibble Show.
