Thursday, January 21, 2010

Don Drysdale (#145)

Don Drysdale was one of the top pitchers of the 1960s. (If I was forming a team of 1960s' stars, my pitching staff (10-man, of course, after all this is the 1960s!) would be:
Sandy Koufax
Bob Gibson
Juan Marichal
Don Drysdale
Whitey Ford
Fergie Jenkins
Jim Kaat
Sam McDowell
Luis Tiant
Tom Seaver

Relievers? We don't need no relievers!

Where was I? Oh yes...

Drysdale was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954, and played 2 seasons with their minor-league teams, including 1955 with the Montreal Royals. One of Don's teammates there was Tommy Lasorda. [Drysdale was with Montreal one year after Roberto Clemente played there. I wonder how many don't know that Clemente was signed by the Dodgers, then lost to the Pirates after one season, in the rule 5 draft. OUCH!]



Drysdale made his major-league debut in April 1956, and played his entire 14-year career with the Dodgers, retiring after the 1969 season. He won 25 games and the Cy Young Award in 1962, and won 23 games in 1965. He also led the league in strikeouts 3 times between 1959 and 1962. In 1968, he set a record by pitching 58 consecutive scoreless innings.

He even found the time to give baseball pointers to the youth of America:

2 comments:

The Kentucky Blue said...

Hello, I enjoyed reading your writings regarding Don Drysdale and his 1968 card. He was a great pitcher (even though he was a Dodger).I am a NY Yankees and Detroit Tigers fan. I remember the great World Series games between the Dodgers and the Yankees in the 50's. I was a 13 year old kid when the Dodgers won the 1955 World Series. I was heart broken. I was just the opposite when Don Larsen pitched his Perfect Game No Hitter in 1956. I lived in Detroit in 1968 when the Tigers won the World Series over the St. Louis Cardinals. Three Great Pitchers performed. Bob Gibson, Denny Mc Clain and Mickey Locich. I opened my first Baseball Card Shop in Northern California in 1991, a second in 2001, now I have retired to Kentucky I opened my third shop in 2006 (how about those 2009-10 Kentucky Wild Cats Basket Ball team). I love Sports and I look forward to reading more of your writings. God Bless! J Hines - aka - "The Sports Professor at Kentucky Blue.

Unknown said...

Just watched the highlights of the 1963 World Series Game 3, where Drysdale out-dueled Jim Boutin to beat the Yankees 1-0 on their way to a 4 game sweep. To have a guy like that as your number two pitcher, wow!