Don Drysdale

At 56 years old, Don Drysdale has this physical status:

Donald Scott Drysdale (July 23, 1936 – July 3, 1993) was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator.

A right-handed pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers for his entire career in Major League Baseball, Drysdale was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984. Drysdale won the 1962 Cy Young Award and in 1968 pitched a record six consecutive shutouts and ?58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings.One of the most dominant pitchers of the late 1950s and early to mid 1960s, Drysdale stood 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) tall and was not afraid to throw pitches near batters to keep them off balance.

After his playing career, he became a radio and television broadcaster.

Early life

Drysdale was born in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, and attended Van Nuys High School, where one of his classmates was actor Robert Redford.

Personal life

In 1958, Drysdale married Ginger Dubberly, a native of Covington, Georgia, and a former Adrian fashion model. The couple had a daughter, Kelly, but divorced in 1982. On November 1, 1986, he married basketball player Ann Meyers, who took the name Ann Meyers-Drysdale. Drysdale and Meyers had three children together: Don Junior ("DJ") (son), Darren (son), and Drew (daughter).

In 1990, Drysdale published his autobiography, Once a Bum, Always a Dodger.

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Playing career

He pitched for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers from the late 1950s to mid 1960s, forming one of the most dominant pitching duos in history.

Drysdale was a good hitting pitcher. He had 218 hits in 1,169 at-bats for a.186 batting average, including 96 runs, 26 triples, 29 home runs, 113 RBI, and 60 bases on balls in 14 seasons. Drysdale was used as a pinch-hitter at times, particularly during the World Series.

Sandy Koufax, a drysdale and fellow Dodgers pitcher, spent six months in the United States Army Reserve at Fort Dix in New Jersey after the 1957 season and before spring training in 1958. Drysdale wrote, "Those six months were fine for me," he wrote in his book titled "Becain a Bum, Definitely a Dodger." It gives you a lot of discipline when you wake up at three o'clock every morning and you find that some of your classmates are just getting back home. Every child in America should attend the service. You thought you were hot stuff being a major league pitcher, but then you went to Fort Dix and discovered that it doesn't matter who you were. There were no exceptions.

Drysdale won 25 games and the Cy Young Award in 1962. He beat the Yankees 1–0 in 1963 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles's World Series. He struck out 251 batters and won Game 3 of the World Series. He was the Dodgers' only.300 hitter in 1965 and tied his own National League record for pitchers with seven home runs. He also played 23 games and helped the Dodgers reach their third World Championship in Los Angeles.

Drysdale set major league records in 1968 with six consecutive shutouts and 58+2nd consecutive scoreless innings. Orel Hershiser, a fellow Dodger 20 years ago, set the previous record. Hershiser, on the other hand, did not beat Drysdale's record of six consecutive shutouts.

Drysdale's career ended with 209 victories, 2,486 strikeouts, 167 complete games, and 49 shutouts. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984 and saw his number 53 retired at Dodger Stadium on July 1, 1984. Drysdale was the last remaining player on the Dodgers who had played for Brooklyn at the time of his retirement.

He received three NL Player of the Month awards, including six-0 records, 1.71 earned run average, 51 strikeouts), and July 1960 (6–0 record, 52 strikeouts), and May 1968 (5–1 record, 0.53 earned run average, 45 strikeouts) to begin his scoreless inning streak (which was extended to June).

Sandy Koufax was unable to pitch the first game of the World Series in 1965 because it was on Yom Kippur, a Jewish holy day. Drysdale batting for the Dodgers rather than Koufax, losing seven runs in 220-223 innings. "I bet right now, you wish I was Jewish, too," Walter Alston, the boss, said. The Dodgers lost the game to the Minnesota Twins 8–2, but they went on to win the Series 4 games to 3.

In 1966, Drysdale and Koufax were involved in a historic salary holdout together. With a total of 592, they tied for a NL record for strikeouts by teammates. Both intended to be paid $500,000 over three seasons, but Dodgers' GM Buzzie Bavasi preferred to give them one-year contracts, according to team policy. They both agreed to one-year deals right before the season began. The Drysdale's was worth $105,000, while Koufax's was worth $130,000. They were the first pitchers to make more than $100,000 a year due to their long service.

Drysdale had to retire after suffering from a torn rotator cuff in 1969.

Drysdale, nicknamed "Big D" by fans, feared batters were intimidated by woodback pitches and a sidearm fastball, a nodulation of his Hall of Fame rival Bob Gibson. When both were Dodger teammates in the 1950s, veteran Sal Maglie, who was also known for bushback pitches, taught Drysdale how to pitch aggressively. Drysdale was the NL's top batter for four seasons from 1958 to 1961. His 154 hit batsmen set a new National League record. Drysdale explained, "My own little rule was two for one." "If one of my teammates was knocked down, I knocked down two on the other team."

"He was mean enough to do it, and he did it regularly," Said Hall of Fame founder Frank Robinson said. You could count on him doing it. And if he did it, he just stood on the mound and stared at you to let you know he meant it." Maglie said, "I don't believe Don has ever threatened to send someone to the hospital." A pitcher must pitch inside to begin with. And if one of your teammates is hurt, you do what you need to do to even get the score.

Broadcasting career

Drysdale began broadcasting in 1970 (1970–1971), then the Texas Rangers (1972), Chicago White Sox (1982–1986), then ABC (1978–1986), and finally in Los Angeles with the Dodgers (1990–1996). Dickenberg, the Angels' partner, appeared on Los Angeles Rams football broadcasts from 1973 to 1977. Drysdale piqued the fans' interest with tales from his playing days.

Drysdale's television appearances were not limited to baseball, but also regional college football games, as well as Superstars and Wide World of Sports. Drysdale covered ABC's World Series Trophy presentation ceremonies in 1979. Keith Jackson called an Oklahoma–Texas college football game on ABC in the afternoon, then travelled to Houston to call Game 4 of the NLCS between the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies on October 11, 1980. In the meantime, Drysdale stepped in for Jackson on play-by-play for the early innings.

Drysdale played-by-play (alongside Reggie Jackson and Earl Weaver) for the National League Championship Series between the San Diego Padres and the Chicago Cubs in 1984. Game 4 of the NLCS began on October 6, 1984 at San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium, when Padres first baseman Steve Garvey retired with a two-run home run off of Lee Smith.

Drysdale on the call:

In his last ABC assignment since the 1986 American League Championship Series against the California Angels, Drysdale interviewed the winners in the Boston Red Sox's clubhouse following Game 7 of the 1986 American League Championship Series.

Drysdale, an umpire and Sox manager, caused some controversies on August 14, 1983 when reporting a tense match between an umpire and Sox boss Tony La Russa. La Russa used his third base bag and hurled it into the outfield, to the delight of the Comiskey Park crowd and ensuring his dismissal.

Drysdale remarked, "Go get 'em, Dago!"

Tom Seaver's 300th victory over the host New York Yankees in 1985 was broadcast on the Sox, Drysdale. Both the Sox' network and the Yankees' long-time flagship television station WPIX broadcast his post-game interview with Seaver.

Radio Baseball Cards, a nationally syndicated radio show, was hosted in Drysdale. Current and former Major League Baseball players wrote 162 episodes with tales and anecdotes. Several episodes dedicated to Jackie Robinson's life and impact were highlighted in the series by colleagues, critics, and admirers. As a pre-game show, Radio Baseball Cards aired on 38 stations, including WNBC New York, KSFO San Francisco, and WEEI Boston. In 2007, a collector's edition of the program was re-released as a podcast.

In 1988, Drysdale conducted all of the National League player interviews for the Baseball Talk series (Joe Torre did the same for the American League).

As Hershiser finished the season with a record 59 consecutive scoreless innings pitched on September 28, 1988, he defeated Drysdale. Hershiser needed to pitch ten shutout innings to set the record, not only that he'd need to stop the San Diego Padres from scoring, but that his own team would also need to fail to score in order to guarantee extra innings. The Dodgers' anemic offense obliged, and Hershiser pitched the first ten innings of a scoreless tie, with the Padres eventually winning 2–1 in 16 innings. In deference to Drysdale's deference to Hershiser, he almost did not pitch in the 10th innings, but the hershiser was persuaded to go out and smash the record. Drysdale came out on the track to salute Hershiser, saying, "I'll tell ya, congratulations... And at least you kept it in the family."

Kirk Gibson's walk-off home run was also recorded in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series for the Dodgers.

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