Don Drysdale
Encyclopedia
Donald Scott "Don" Drysdale (July 23, 1936 – July 3, 1993) was a Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 player and Hall of Fame right-handed pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 with the Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...

. He was one of the dominant starting pitchers of the 1960s, and became a radio and television broadcaster following his playing career. The Disney character Herbie
Herbie
Herbie is an anthropomorphic Volkswagen Beetle, a character that is featured in several Disney motion pictures starting with the 1968 feature film The Love Bug. He has a mind of his own and is capable of driving himself, and is a serious contender in auto racing competitions...

 has the number 53 since that was Drysdale's number.

Early life

Drysdale was born in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California
Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California
Van Nuys is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.-History:Look at the two photos of Van Nuys' first year—and then listen to what the Los Angeles Times wrote on February 23, 1911, the day after the Van Nuys town lot auction--"Between dawn and dusk, in the...

 and attended Van Nuys High School
Van Nuys High School
Van Nuys High School established in 1914, is a high school in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles, California, belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District: District 2...

, where one of his classmates was actor Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...

. While there have been assertions that Redford also played on the high school baseball team with Drysdale, and Drysdale covered for Redford by backing these up, classmates recall that Redford never actually played baseball.

Playing career

Pitching for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...

, he teamed with Sandy Koufax
Sandy Koufax
Sanford "Sandy" Koufax is a former left-handed baseball pitcher who played his entire 12-year Major League Baseball career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers...

 during the late 1950s and early-middle 1960s to form one of the most dominating pitching duos in history. The hurler (nicknamed "Big D" by fans) used brushback pitch
Brushback pitch
In baseball, a brushback pitch is a pitch thrown high and inside, usually a fastball, to force the batter away from the plate, often to intimidate. It differs from the beanball in that the intent is not to hit the batter, or intentionally throw at the batter's head...

es and a sidearm fastball to intimidate batters, similar to his fierce fellow Hall of Famer Bob Gibson
Bob Gibson
Robert "Bob" Gibson is a retired American professional baseball player. Nicknamed "Hoot" and "Gibby", he was a right-handed pitcher who played his entire 17-year Major League Baseball career with St. Louis Cardinals...

. His 154 hit batsmen remains a modern National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

 record.

Drysdale was also considered a good hitter for a pitcher. In a total of 14 seasons, he had 218 hits, including 29 home runs, and was occasionally used as a pinch-hitter.

In 1962, Drysdale won 25 games and the Cy Young Award
Cy Young Award
The Cy Young Award is an honor given annually in baseball to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball , one each for the American League and National League . The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young, who died in 1955...

. In 1968, he set Major League records with six consecutive shutouts and 58 consecutive scoreless innings; the latter record was broken by fellow Dodger Orel Hershiser
Orel Hershiser
Orel Leonard Hershiser IV is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He is currently an analyst for Baseball Tonight and Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN and a professional poker player for...

 20 years later. In 1963, he struck out 251 batters and won World Series
1963 World Series
The 1963 World Series matched the two-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the Dodgers sweeping the Series in four games to capture their second title in five years, and their third in franchise history....

 Game 3 at Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...

 over the Yankees, 1–0. In 1965, he was the Dodgers' only .300 hitter and tied his own National League record for pitchers with seven home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

s. That year he won 23 games and helped the Dodgers to their third World Championship
1965 World Series
The 1965 World Series featured the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers against the American League champion Minnesota Twins, who had won their first pennant since 1933 when the team was known as the Washington Senators...

 in Los Angeles. He ended his career with 209 wins, 2,486 strikeouts, 167 complete games and 49 shutouts. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, and had his number 53 officially retired at Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...

 on July 1, 1984. (He was the last player on the Dodgers who had played for Brooklyn.)

Drysdale took part in a famous salary holdout in the spring of 1966 along with Koufax, with both finally signing contracts just before the season opened. This holdout was the beginning of what would eventually become collective bargaining.

Broadcasting career

Don Drysdale retired in midseason in 1969
1969 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The Los Angeles Dodgers finished in fourth place in the new National League Western Division, eight games behind the Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers' record for 1969 was 85-77, which was nine wins better than 1968.- Offseason :...

 due to an ailing shoulder and became a broadcaster for not just the Dodgers (from 1988
1988 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The 1988 season was a memorable one for the Dodgers as a squad that was picked to finish fourth wound up winning the World Series, beating the heavily favored New York Mets and Oakland Athletics on the way. Kirk Gibson carried the Dodger offense, winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award...

 up until his death in 1993
1993 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The 1993 Dodgers improved on the dismal 1992 season finishing fourth in the Western Division of the National League. This was in part thanks to this years Rookie of the Year winner, catcher Mike Piazza. Piazza set rookie records with 35 home runs and 112 RBI...

), but also the Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...

 (1970
1970 Montreal Expos season
- Offseason :* December 3, 1969: Jerry Robertson was traded by the Expos to the Detroit Tigers for Joe Sparma.- Opening Day starters :* John Boccabella* Ron Fairly* Mack Jones* Coco Laboy* Adolfo Phillips* Marv Staehle* Rusty Staub* Bill Stoneman...

1971
1971 Montreal Expos season
-Offseason:* December 30, 1970: Dave McDonald was traded by the Expos to the San Francisco Giants for Ron Hunt.* January 1971: Jack Scalia was selected by the Expos third overall in the 1971 Major League Baseball Draft...

), Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...

 (1972
1972 Texas Rangers season
The Texas Rangers 1972 season involved the Rangers finishing sixth in the American League West with a record of 54 wins and 100 losses. This was the Rangers' first season in Texas, as well as the club's first year in the AL West, after playing their first 11 seasons in Washington, D.C., and from...

), California Angels
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...

 (1973
1973 California Angels season
The California Angels season involved the Angels finishing fourth in the American League West with a record of 79 wins and 83 losses.- Offseason :...

1979
1979 California Angels season
The 1979 California Angels season involved the Angels finishing first in the American League West with a record of 88 wins and 74 losses. They went on to lose to the Baltimore Orioles in the 1979 American League Championship Series, three games to one....

, 1981
1981 California Angels season
The California Angels 1981 season involved the Angels finishing with the 5th best overall record in the American League West with 51 wins and 59 losses...

), Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...

 (1982
1982 Chicago White Sox season
The 1982 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 82nd season in the major leagues, and their 83rd season overall. They finished with a record 87-75, good enough for 3rd place in the American League West, 6 games behind the 1st place California Angels....

1987
1987 Chicago White Sox season
The 1987 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 88th season. They finished with a record 77-85, good enough for 5th place in the American League West, 8 games behind of the 1st place Minnesota Twins.-Offseason:...

), and ABC (1978–1986). He also teamed with Angels partner Dick Enberg
Dick Enberg
Richard Alan "Dick" Enberg is an American sportscaster. He currently provides play-by-play for telecasts of San Diego Padres baseball on 4SD, following a long career calling various sports for such networks as NBC, CBS, and ESPN...

 on Los Angeles Rams football broadcasts from 1973
1973 Los Angeles Rams season
The 1973 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 36th year with the National Football League and the 28th season in Los Angeles. The Rams were 7-0 at home for the first time since 1945. On the road, the Rams were 5-2.-NFL Draft:-Schedule:-Week 6: vs...

1976
1976 Los Angeles Rams season
The 1976 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 39th year with the National Football League and the 31st season in Los Angeles.-NFL Draft:-Schedule:-Playoffs:-Standings:-References:...

.

While at ABC Sports, Drysdale not only did baseball telecasts, but also Superstars
Superstars
Superstars is an all-around sports competition that pits elite athletes from different sports against one another in a series of athletic events resembling a decathlon....

and Wide World of Sports. In 1979
1979 World Series
The 1979 World Series matched the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates against the American League's Baltimore Orioles , with the Pirates coming back from a three games to one deficit to win the Series in seven games...

, Drysdale covered the World Series Trophy
World Series Trophy
The Commissioner's Trophy is presented each year by the Commissioner of Baseball to the Major League Baseball team that wins the World Series. Recent trophy designs contain flags representing each team in North America's top two leagues, the National League and the American League...

 presentation ceremonies for ABC. On October 11, 1980, Keith Jackson
Keith Jackson
Keith Jackson is an American sportscaster, known for his long career with ABC Sports , his coverage of college football , his style of folksy, down-to-earth commentary, and his distinctive voice, with its deep cadence, and operatic tone considered "like Edward R...

 called an Oklahoma
1980 Oklahoma Sooners football team
The 1980 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the college football 1980 NCAA Division I-A season. Oklahoma Sooners football participated in the former Big Eight Conference at that time and played its home games in Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium where...

-Texas college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 game for ABC
College Football on ABC
ESPN College Football on ABC presented by Kay Jewelers is a presentation of the American Broadcasting Company's regular season American college football television package...

 in the afternoon, then flew to Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

 to call Game 4 of the NLCS
1980 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 7, 1980 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaGame 1 was the most ordinary contest of the series. Starters Ken Forsch and Steve Carlton dueled for the first five innings, with only one run scored by Houston in the third on an RBI single by Gary Woods...

 between the Houston Astros
1980 Houston Astros season
The 1980 Houston Astros season was a season in American baseball. The team finished in a tie for first place in the National League West with a record of 92-70 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The teams played a one-game playoff to determine the division champion, which the Astros won, marking the...

 and Philadelphia Phillies
1980 Philadelphia Phillies season
The 1980 Philadelphia Phillies season was a season in American baseball. The team finished with a regular-season record of 91 wins and 71 losses, which was good enough to regain the National League East title by just one game over the Montreal Expos...

. In the meantime, Drysdale filled-in for Jackson on play-by-play for the early innings.

In 1984, Drysdale did play-by-play (alongside Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...

 and Earl Weaver
Earl Weaver
Earl Sidney Weaver is a former Major League Baseball manager. He spent his entire 17-year managerial career with the Baltimore Orioles . Weaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.-Playing career:After playing for Beaumont High School in St...

) for the National League Championship Series
1984 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 2, 1984 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IllinoisBob Dernier led off the game for the Cubs with a homer, and things went steadily downhill for the Padres as Chicago romped to a crushing 13–0 win in their first postseason game since 1945. Gary Matthews also homered in the first...

 between the San Diego Padres
1984 San Diego Padres season
-Offseason:* October 21, 1983: Sandy Alomar, Jr. was signed by the Padres as an amateur free agent.* December 6, 1983: Joe Pittman and a player to be named later were traded by the Padres to the San Francisco Giants for Champ Summers...

 and Chicago Cubs
1984 Chicago Cubs season
The Chicago Cubs' 1984 season was the 109th season for the Cubs. The team finished with a record of 96-65 in first place of the National League Eastern Division. Chicago was managed by Jim Frey and the general manager was Dallas Green...

. On October 6, 1984 at San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

's Jack Murphy Stadium
Qualcomm Stadium
Qualcomm Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in San Diego, California, in the Mission Valley area....

, Game 4 of the NLCS ended when Padres first baseman Steve Garvey
Steve Garvey
Steven Patrick Garvey , nicknamed "Mr. Clean" because of the squeaky clean image he held throughout his career in baseball, is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and current Southern California businessman...

 hit a two run home run off Lee Smith. Drysdale on the call:


The Padres, who rallied from a 2–0 deficit in the best-of-five series against the Cubs won the decisive Game 5 the next day (thus, winning their first ever National League pennant).

In his last ever ABC assignment, Drysdale interviewed the winners in the Boston Red Sox'
1986 Boston Red Sox season
The 1986 Boston Red Sox season involved the Red Sox finishing 1st in the American League East with a record of 95 wins and 66 losses.-Offseason:...

 clubhouse following Game 7 of the 1986 American League Championship Series
1986 American League Championship Series
The 1986 American League Championship Series was a back-and-forth battle between the Boston Red Sox and the California Angels for the right to advance to the 1986 World Series to face the winner of the 1986 National League Championship Series...

 against the California Angels
1986 California Angels season
The California Angels 1986 season was the franchise's 26th season and ended with the Angels losing the American League Championship Series in dramatic fashion....

.

While broadcasting for the White Sox, Drysdale generated some controversy while covering a heated argument between an umpire and Sox manager Tony LaRussa. LaRussa pulled up the third base bag and hurled it into the outfield, to the approval of the Comiskey Park
Comiskey Park
Comiskey Park was the ballpark in which the Chicago White Sox played from 1910 to 1990. It was built by Charles Comiskey after a design by Zachary Taylor Davis, and was the site of four World Series and more than 6,000 major league games...

 crowd, and ensuring his ejection. Drysdale remarked, "Go get 'em, Dago
Dagö
Dagö is a folk rock band from Tallinn, Estonia.Dagö was formed in 1998 by Lauri Saatpalu, Peeter Rebane and Tiit Kikas. Dagö is the old name of the Estonian island Hiiumaa. In the year 2000 the band published its first album called Dagö. For this album they received the Folk/Ethno Album Of The Year...

!"


For the Sox
1985 Chicago White Sox season
The 1985 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 86th season. They finished with a record 85–77, good enough for 3rd place in the American League West, 6 games behind the 1st place Kansas City Royals.-Offseason:...

, Drysdale broadcast the 300th victory of Tom Seaver
Tom Seaver
George Thomas "Tom" Seaver , nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "The Franchise", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched from 1967-1986 for four different teams in his career, but is noted primarily for his time with the New York Mets...

, against the host New York Yankees
1985 New York Yankees season
The New York Yankees' 1985 season was the 83rd season for the Yankees. The team finished in second place in the American League Eastern Division with a record of 97-64, finishing 2 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. New York was managed by Yogi Berra and Billy Martin...

 in 1985. His post-game interview with Seaver was carried live by both the Sox' network and the Yankees' longtime flagship television station WPIX
WPIX
WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...

.

1987

Drysdale hosted a nationally syndicated radio show called Radio Baseball Cards. 162 episodes were produced with stories and anecdotes told by current and former Major League Baseball players. The highlight of the series were numerous episodes dedicated to the memory and impact of Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...

 as told by teammates, opponents and admirers. Radio Baseball Cards aired on 38 stations, including WNBC
WNBC
WNBC, virtual channel 4 , is the flagship station of the NBC television network, located in New York City. WNBC's studios are co-located with NBC corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan...

 New York, KSFO San Francisco and WEEI
WEEI
WEEI is a sports radio station in Boston, Massachusetts, that broadcasts on 850 kHz from a transmitter in Needham, Massachusetts, and is owned by Entercom Communications. The station is one of the top-rated sports talk radio stations in the nation. Studios are located in Brighton, Massachusetts...

 Boston, as a pre-game show. A collector's edition of the program was re-released in 2007 as a podcast.

1988

Drysdale conducted all of the National League player interviews for the Baseball Talk
Baseball Talk
Baseball Talk was a set of 164 "talking" baseball cards that were released with much fanfare by Topps Baseball Card Company and the LJN Corporation during the spring of 1989. Each card featured a plastic disk affixed to the back of an oversized baseball card. When placed in the SportsTalk player...

 series in 1988 (Joe Torre
Joe Torre
Joseph Paul Torre is a former American professional baseball player and manager who currently serves as Major League Baseball’s Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations. A nine-time All-Star, he played in Major League Baseball as a catcher, first baseman and a third baseman for the...

 did the same for the American League).

On September 28, 1988, fellow Dodger Orel Hershiser
Orel Hershiser
Orel Leonard Hershiser IV is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He is currently an analyst for Baseball Tonight and Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN and a professional poker player for...

 surpassed Drysdale when Hershiser finished the season with a record 59 consecutive scoreless innings pitched. In his final start of the year, Hershiser needed to pitch 10 shutout innings to set the mark – meaning not only that he would have to prevent the San Diego Padres
1988 San Diego Padres season
The 1988 season was the 20th season in Padres history. Tony Gwynn set a National League record by having the lowest batting average to win a batting title...

 from scoring, but that his own team would also need to fail to score in order to ensure extra innings. The Dodgers
1988 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The 1988 season was a memorable one for the Dodgers as a squad that was picked to finish fourth wound up winning the World Series, beating the heavily favored New York Mets and Oakland Athletics on the way. Kirk Gibson carried the Dodger offense, winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award...

' anemic offense was obliging, however, and Hershiser pitched the first 10 innings of a scoreless tie, with the Padres eventually prevailing 2–1 in 16 innings. Hershiser almost did not pitch in the 10th inning, in deference to Drysdale, but was convinced to take the mound and try to break the record. When Hershiser broke Drysdale's record, Drysdale went to hug him, and said, "Oh, I'll tell ya, congratulations... And at least you kept it in the family."

Drysdale also called Kirk Gibson
Kirk Gibson
Kirk Harold Gibson is a former Major League Baseball player and currently the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. As a player, Gibson was an outfielder who batted and threw left-handed...

's walk-off home run
Kirk Gibson 1988 World Series home run
Kirk Gibson's 1988 World Series home run occurred in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, on October 15, , at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Gibson, pinch hitting for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth inning, with injuries to both legs, hit a two-run walk-off home run off the Oakland...

 in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series
1988 World Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 15, 1988 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CaliforniaBecause of using ace Orel Hershiser in Game 7 of the NLCS, the Dodgers had to open with rookie Tim Belcher in Game 1. Meanwhile, Oakland sent a well-rested Dave Stewart to the mound. Both pitchers, however, would have...

 for the Dodgers Radio Network:

Personal

Drysdale married Ginger Dubberly in 1958, with whom he had a daughter, Kelly. They divorced in 1982. On November 1, 1986, he married basketball player Ann Meyers
Ann Meyers
Ann Meyers Drysdale is a retired American basketball player and sportscaster. She was a standout player in high school, college, the Olympic Games, international tournaments, and the professional levels.Meyers was the first player to be part of the U.S. national team while still in high school...

, who took the name Ann Meyers-Drysdale and survived him in death. It was the first time that a married couple were members of their respective sports' Halls of Fame. 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.

Death

Drysdale died of a heart attack in his hotel room in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, on July 3, 1993
1993 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The 1993 Dodgers improved on the dismal 1992 season finishing fourth in the Western Division of the National League. This was in part thanks to this years Rookie of the Year winner, catcher Mike Piazza. Piazza set rookie records with 35 home runs and 112 RBI...

. Radio station employees were sent to look for him when he failed to make the bus for Olympic Stadium. where the Dodgers were to play the Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...

. Hotel staff went in and found him face down, near his bed. The coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...

 estimated that he had been dead for 18 hours. Soon afterwards, Drysdale's broadcasting colleague Vin Scully
Vin Scully
Vincent Edward Scully is an American sportscaster, known primarily as the play-by-play voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team on Prime Ticket, KCAL-TV and KABC radio...

, who was instructed not to say anything on the air until Drysdale's family was notified, announced the news of his death by saying "Never have I been asked to make an announcement that hurts me as much as this one. And I say it to you as best I can with a broken heart." Fellow broadcaster Ross Porter told his radio audience, "I just don't believe it, folks." Drysdale was replaced by Rick Monday
Rick Monday
Robert James "Rick" Monday, Jr. is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball and is currently a broadcast announcer. From 1966 through 1984, Monday, a center fielder for most of his career, played for the Kansas City/Oakland Athletics , Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers...

 in the broadcast booth.

Among the personal belongings found in Drysdale's hotel room was a cassette tape of Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...

's victory speech after the 1968 California Democratic presidential primary, a speech given only moments before Senator Kennedy's assassination
Robert F. Kennedy assassination
The assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, a United States Senator and brother of assassinated President John F. Kennedy, took place shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, in Los Angeles, California...

. In the speech, Kennedy had noted, to the cheers of the crowd, that Drysdale had pitched his sixth straight shutout that evening. Drysdale had apparently carried the tape with him wherever he went since Robert Kennedy's death.

Drysdale's body was cremated at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...

.

Quotations

  • “Batting against him [Don Drysdale] is the same as making a date with the dentist.” – Dick Groat
    Dick Groat
    Richard Morrow Groat is a former two-sport athlete best known as a shortstop in Major League Baseball. He played for four National League teams, mainly the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals, and was named the league's Most Valuable Player in after winning the batting title with a .325...


  • “Don Drysdale would consider an intentional walk a waste of three pitches. If he wants to put you on base, he can hit you with one pitch.” – Mike Shannon
    Mike Shannon
    Thomas Michael Shannon is an American-born former Major League Baseball player and current radio sportscaster.Shannon is a radio broadcaster for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was raised in St. Louis, Missouri and played with the Cardinals during some of the team's most successful years...


  • “The trick against Drysdale is to hit him before he hits you.” – Orlando Cepeda
    Orlando Cepeda
    Orlando Manuel Cepeda Pennes is a former Puerto Rican Major League Baseball first baseman.Cepeda was born to a poor family. His father, Pedro Cepeda, was a baseball player in Puerto Rico, which influenced his interest in the sport from a young age. His first contact with professional baseball was...


  • “I hated to bat against Drysdale. After he hit you he'd come around, look at the bruise on your arm and say, ‘Do you want me to sign it?’” – Mickey Mantle
    Mickey Mantle
    Mickey Charles Mantle was an American professional baseball player. Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.Mantle was noted for his hitting...


  • "For every Dodger they [the Giants' pitchers] knock down, I'll knock down two of theirs—and they won't be .220 hitters, either." – Drysdale, still on the subject of brushback pitches; quoted from the Los Angeles Times
    Los Angeles Times
    The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....


  • "I bet right now you wish I was Jewish, too," Drysdale said to his manager, Walter Alston, after Drysdale replaced Sandy Koufax on Yom Kippur
    Yom Kippur
    Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...

     in 1965 and lost 8-2, because Koufax would not pitch on the Jewish holy day.

  • "I hate all hitters. I start a game mad and I stay that way until it's over."

  • "He talks very well for a guy who had two fingers in his mouth all of his life." - Gene Mauch
    Gene Mauch
    Gene William Mauch was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a second baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers , Pittsburgh Pirates , Chicago Cubs , Boston Braves , St...


Television

Drysdale guest starred in:
  • The Greatest American Hero
    The Greatest American Hero
    The Greatest American Hero is an American comedy-drama television series that aired for three seasons from 1981 to 1983 on ABC. Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour movie pilot on March 18, 1981...

    episode "The Two Hundred Mile an Hour Fastball", which was first broadcast on November 4, 1981 as a broadcaster for the California Stars.

  • The Brady Bunch
    The Brady Bunch
    The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...

    episode "The Dropout", which was first broadcast on September 25, 1970.

  • The Donna Reed Show
    The Donna Reed Show
    The Donna Reed Show is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the upper middle class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz appears as her pediatrician husband Alex, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children Mary and Jeff. The show originally aired on ABC at 10 pm from September...

    episodes "The Man in the Mask," first broadcast in 1962; "All Those Dreams," first broadcast in 1963; and "Play Ball" and "My Son the Catcher," both first broadcast in 1964. In all four episodes Drysdale played himself, and in "All Those Dreams" he appeared with first wife, Ginger, and daughter Kelly.

  • Leave It to Beaver
    Leave It to Beaver
    Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood...

    episode "Long Distance Call", which was first broadcast on June 16, 1962.

  • The Rifleman
    The Rifleman
    The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...

    episode "Skull", which was first broadcast on January 1, 1962.

  • The Millionaire episode "Millionaire Larry Maxwell", which was first broadcast on March 1, 1960.

  • With his first wife, Ginger, on You Bet Your Life
    You Bet Your Life
    You Bet Your Life is an American quiz show that aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio in October 1947, then moved to CBS Radio in September...

    with host Groucho Marx
    Groucho Marx
    Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...

     at some point between the 1958 and 1959 baseball seasons. The episode was released on the 2006 DVD "Groucho Marx: You Bet Your Life – 14 Classic Episodes".

  • In 1959, Drysdale appeared as a mystery challenger on the TV panel show To Tell the Truth
    To Tell the Truth
    To Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication...

    .

See also

  • All-Time leaders in Home runs for a Pitcher
  • List of MLB individual streaks
  • List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
  • List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions
  • List of Major League Baseball wins champions
  • MLB All-Time Hit Batsmen List
    MLB All-Time Hit Batsmen List
    This is a list of top 100 Major League Baseball pitchers who have the most hit batsmen of all time. There is an of hitters who have been hit by pitch the most times.Active players are denoted in bold text.-The List:* Bold denotes active player...

  • Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time
    Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time
    In baseball, a strikeout occurs when the batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. Strikeouts are associated with dominance on the part of the pitcher and failure on the part of the batter....

  • MLB all-time leaders in home runs by pitchers
    MLB all-time leaders in home runs by pitchers
    This is a list of the all-time leaders in home runs hit by Major League Baseball pitchers, with the pitcher being defined as a player who pitches in at least three games in the given year...

  • Major League Baseball titles leaders
    Major League Baseball titles leaders
    At the end of each Major League Baseball season, the league leaders of various statistical categories are announced. Leading the league in a particular category is referred to as a title....


External links


The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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