Dodger Stadium
60th Anniversary
Updated October 2024
Posted October 2022
Donald Scott Drysdale (July 23, 1936 – July 3, 1993) was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator.Don Drysdale:
- Drysdale was born in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, and attended Van Nuys High School, where one of his classmates was actor Robert Redford.
- A right-handed pitcher for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers for his entire career in Major League Baseball
Don DrysdaleDrysdale was a good hitting pitcher. In 14 seasons he had 218 hits in 1,169 at-bats for a .186 batting average, including 96 runs, 26 doubles, 7 triples, 29 home runs, 113 RBI and 60 bases on balls. Drysdale was occasionally used as a pinch-hitter, once during the World Series.
- Drysdale was inducted into the Baseball 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 to mid 1960s
- 1962 Drysdale won 25 games and the Cy Young Award. In 1963, he struck out 251 batters and won Game 3 of the World Series at Los Angeles's Dodger Stadium over the Yankees, 1–0.
- 1965 He was the Dodgers' only .300 hitter and tied his own National League record for pitchers with seven home runs. That year, he also won 23 games and helped the Dodgers to their third World Championship in Los Angeles.
- 1968 Drysdale set Major League records with six consecutive shutouts and 58 2⁄3 consecutive scoreless innings. The latter record was broken by fellow Dodger Orel Hershiser 20 years later. Hershiser, however, did not match Drysdale's record of six consecutive complete-game shutouts. [https://www.eatlife.net/dodger-stadium/orel-hershiser.php]
Don DrysdaleDrysdale stood 6 ft 5 inches tall and was not afraid to throw pitches near batters to keep them off balanceDrysdale 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 retired at Dodger Stadium on July 1, 1984.
Don DrysdaleAt the time of his retirement, Drysdale was the last remaining player on the Dodgers who had played for BrooklynAfter his playing career, he became a radio/television broadcaster.