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: