Spotlight on the Hall of Fame: The Great Don Drysdale

Spotlight on the Hall of Fame: The Great Don Drysdale



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The Great Don Drysdale

Don Drysdale (July 23, 1936 – July 3, 1993) was a right-handed pitcher for the Dodgers for his entire major league career (1956-1969). He was one of the most dominant pitchers of the late 1950s and early-to-mid 1960s. Standing 6’5″ tall, he was an intimidating presence on the pitcher’s mound and, wasn’t afraid to throw pitches close to batters to keep them off balance. Drysdale set a major league record by pitching 58 2⁄3 consecutive scoreless innings in 1968. After his playing career, he became a radio and television broadcaster.

Pitching for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, Drysdale teamed with Sandy Koufax to form one of the most dominating pitching duos in history. Nicknamed “Big D,” Drysdale used brushback pitches and a sidearm fastball to intimidate batters, similar to his fierce fellow Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. His 154 hit batsmen remains a modern National League record. Drysdale was also a good hitter for a pitcher. In 14 seasons, he had 218 hits, including 29 home runs, and was occasionally used as a pinch-hitter, once even during the World Series

Over his 14-year career, Drysdale went 209-166, with a 2.95 ERA, and 2.486 strikeouts. He was a nine-time All-Star; a member of three World Series Championship teams; and was the National League Cy Young Award winner and Major League wins leader in 1962. Three times in his career he led the National League in strikeouts. His #53 has been retired by the Dodgers, and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984.

-Gary Livacari
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Photo Credits; Thanks to John Quinlan for sending me the main photo; others from public domain

Information: Excerpts edited from the Don Drysdale Wikipedia page.

Statistics from Don Drysdale Baseball-Reference page.

 

 

I'm a baseball historian who also enjoys writing. My forte is identifying ballplayers in old photos, and my special interest is the Dead Ball Era.

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