Few in baseball could compare to Don Drysdale in the 1960s. From his record five All-Star Game starts to his 58.2 consecutive scoreless innings late in his career, he aged like fine wine. But perhaps his greatest accomplishment, aside from his three World Series rings and a near record-setting contract, was the fact that he was the first California-born player to win the Cy Young. This is his story.
Early Years
Don Drysdale was born on July 3, 1936 in Van Nuys, California. He learned the game at an early age from his father, a one-time minor league player. When work ended for the day at the Pacific Telephone and Telegraphy Company, young Don would join his father in the great outdoors, running down grounders and fly balls while honing his skills behind the plate.
Although he was primarily a second baseman for much of his upbringing, Drysdale proved to be a natural on the pitcher's mound as a senior at Van Nuys High School, posting a 10-1 record in his first season as a pitcher. Brooklyn liked what they saw from the young phenom and signed him right out of high school.
Brooklyn
He performed well in Bakersfield in 1954, posting an 8-5 record with a 3.46 ERA and moved up to Montreal the following season. After starting 10-2, he injured his throwing hand and stumbled the rest of the way, finishing with an 11-11 record. It was only after the season that he found out that he had played much of that year with a broken hand.
While that forgettable year would have been cause to wait, the Dodgers didn't have that luxury, having lost Johnny Podres to the Navy and Billy Loes, and Don Bessent to injury. With their rotation depleted, the Dodgers had no choice but to promote the still-developing prospect.
He wasn't horrible as a rookie. As a spot starter with 25 appearances, he posted a 5-5 record with a 2.64 ERA for the eventual National League champs. After watching his teammates lose to the Yankees in the World Series and yearning to improve, Don Drysdale entered 1957 with a vengeance, leading the club with 17 wins and posting a 2.69 ERA, tying Warren Spahn for second in the NL and coming a whisker behind teammate Johnny Podres 2.66 ERA for the league lead.
He also became known for head hunting that year. As the man on the pitcher[s mound, he felt that it was his responsibility to control the game and put mouthy batters in their place when necessary. He once started a benches clearing brawl when he twice beaned the Braves' Johnny Logan. Both he and Logan were ejected and the Braves, who were winning 4-0 at the time, quickly dubbed Drysdale "the Shooting Gallery Kid". After the season, the Dodgers moved to California where their fortunes would grow beyond their wildest imaginations.
Los Angeles
Don Drysdale and the Dodgers struggled that first year in the Golden State. With construction having begun for a new ballpark in Chavez Ravine, the Dodgers had to make do with the cavernous expanse of the Los Angeles Memorial Stadium. While they stumbled to their first non-war losing season since 1938, Drysdale's 4.17 EAR only made matters worse. But that year wasn't a total bust. Towards the end of the season he married the former Rose Parade Queen Ginger Dubberly. They would soon add a daughter, Kelly, to the family as Drysdale began to find his footing in his native state.
Once again, Drysdale came back with a vengeance, leading the 1959 Dodgers with 17 wins and the league with 242 strikeouts and 18 hit batters. For his efforts, he was given the rare opportunity to start both All-Star Games that year, throwing three hitless innings at Forbes Field and giving up three runs in three innings in the latter.
The Dodgers made it to the World Series that year where they faced the Chicago White Sox. Drysdale helped his team win in six games by winning Game Three 3-1. In seven innings of work, he posted a scintillating 1.29 ERA, struck out five and walked four.
The following year, he again led the league with 246 strikeouts and 10 hit batters. His hitting antics continued the following year when he again led the league with 20 plunked batters. While alarming, it set up for a memorable 1962.
The Cy Young
Don Drysdale's lone Cy Young campaign began innocently enough, giving up eight hits and three runs in a complete game win over the Braves. He barely survived the Giants in his next start as he was knocked out of the game with 6.1 innings and an abysmal 5.87 ERA under his belt. Luckily for him, his teammates picked up the slack and won an 8-7 squeaker. He wasn't much better at Atlanta five days later, recording a 5.12 ERA in the 6-3 loss.
He really didn't hit his stride until a June 19 win over the Cardinals. That 3-2 victory would be the last game where he would post an ERA above 3.07. He played 22 more games that year where he played in seven innings or more and in each of those, his ERA was 3.07 or below, an impressive accomplishment in any season.
The Dodgers needed that excellence from him as they were in the midst of one of the tightest pennant races of all time with the Giants breathing down their necks from start to finish. At the close of the regular season, the two teams were deadlocked with identical 101-61 records and destined for a three game playoff to determine the National League pennant.
After his team lost Game One, Drysdale started Game Two in Los Angeles, leading his team deep into the fifth inning. But after a Jim Davenport single, he was replaced by Ed Roebuck on the pitchers mound and watched as his teammates rallied from a 1-0 deficit to win the game 8-7. Although the Dodgers would lose to the Giants the next afternoon to end their season, Don Drysdale had done enough to merit consideration for the Cy Young Award.
With 25 wins and a 2.83 ERA under his belt, the Baseball Writers Association of America deemed him worthy, thus making him the first California-born baseball player to win the Cy Young Award. What's more, this was at a a time when only one award was given for both of the major leagues. It was a rare accomplishment that has survived the test of time.
Later Career and a Lasting Impact
After winning the Cy Young Award in 1962, Don Drysdale continued his dominance, beating the Yankees 1-0 in Game 3 of the 1963 World Series with Sandy Koufax finishing off the Bronx Bombers the next afternoon to complete the sweep. Two years later, Koufax shocked the baseball world and gained a loyal following when he sat out Game One of the World Series against the Minnesota Twins to observe Yom Kippur, one of the most important days on the Jewish calendar.
With Koufax sidelined, Drysdale struggled in his place. Down 1-0 in the third inning, he quickly fell down the rabbit hole once Frank Quilici hit a double and he mishandled a sacrifice bunt by his counterpart Mudcat Grant to set up one of the most lopsided innings in World Series history. Smelling blood, Zoilo Versalles hit a home run into deep left-field to drive in three runs for the Twins. That gut punch was followed by a double by Sandy Valdespino and, after Tony Oliva hit a groundout, Harmon Killebrew hit a single.
After Drysdale struck out Jimmie Hall, he walked Don Mincher and gave up a single by Earl Battey which drove in both Valdespino and Killebrew. After Mincher scored off of a Quilici single, Drysdale was mercifully replaced on the mound, having given up an unsightly six runs in the inning. Both the Dodgers and Don Drysdale would bounce back form that 8-2 debacle to win the World Series in seven.
The following year, Drysdale and Koufax embarked on one of the most challenging ventures of their lifetimes. With the two having won three Cy Young Awards in the previous years and at the top of their game, they knew that they could have leverage at the bargaining table if they went in together demanding $1 million over three years between the two.
Although it was unheard of money in those days, Koufax and Drysdale figured that the Dodgers would eventually buckle under the pressure. After all, from 1959 through 1965, the two had posted ERA's of less than 3.00 with Drysdale's record of 130-91 being ever so slightly better than Koufax's 118-57. Their agent was even drawing up plans to sue Major League Baseball to dismantle the reserve clause due to a California law banning personal service contracts beyond seven years.
In the players' view, they had the upper hand. But alas, they failed to see the influence that their employer still wielded. As their holdout stretched through the offseason, the Dodgers waged a p.r. war with them, making them to be the villains in the eyes of the media. It is often from the eyes. of the media that fans gain their emotional intelligence. Instead of seeing two decent men trying to fight against the establishment, Dodger fans saw two rich young men who didn't know a good thing when they saw it. While the two sides would ultimately settle for less than what the players originally wanted, the damage had already been done. The public would never view the two through rose-colored glasses again.
The Dodgers would end the season with a forgettable four game loss to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series and Sandy Koufax would retire with another Cy Young under his belt. After the World Series loss, Don Drysdale's record declined, with the constant struggle to stay above .500 beginning to weigh him down. Still, his ERA was hardly ever better, reaching as low as 2.15 in 1968.
After retiring in 1969, Don Drysdale worked as a broadcaster for the White Sox, Rangers, Expos, Angels and Dodgers while lending his voice to ABC's Monday Night Baseball. He was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984 and died in Quebec on July 3, 1993.
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