Don Drysdale

Don Drysdale (born July 23, 1936, Van Nuys, California, U.S.—died July 3, 1993, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) was an American professional baseball player who was a star right-handed power pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1950s and ’60s, helping lead the team to three World Series championships (1959, 1963, 1965). In 1968 he pitched 58.2 consecutive scoreless innings—a record that stood until 1988, when another Dodger, Orel Hershiser, pitched 59.

A native of Van Nuys, California, Drysdale signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954 after graduating from high school and pitched in their farm system until 1956, when the Dodgers called him up to the major leagues. He moved to Los Angeles with the club in 1958. Standing 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 metres) tall, Drysdale was known as the “Big D.” He had a banner year in 1962, when he had 25 wins, 9 losses, and 232 strikeouts and won the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in the National League. He intimidated batters with his sidearm fastball and trademark brushback pitches (he hit 154 batters in his career, a modern National League record). Drysdale and left-handed Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax formed one of the most imposing tandems of starting pitchers in Major League Baseball in the 1960s.

Drysdale pitched in five World Series and was named to nine All-Star teams before retiring in 1969. He had a career record of 209 victories, 166 losses, 2,486 strikeouts, 49 shutouts, and a 2.95 earned run average. Drysdale was also an excellent hitter. Occasionally, he was used as a pinch hitter, and he finished his career with a total of 29 home runs. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984.

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After retiring from play, Drysdale became a sports announcer. He published an autobiography, Once a Bum, Always a Dodger in 1990.