Don Drysdale

Donald Scott Drysdale
Born:  July 23, 1936 in Van Nuys, Calif.
Died:  July 3, 1993 in Montreal
Debut: 1956 | Pos: P
Ht: 6'6" | Wt: 216 | B: R | T: R

>> Visit the Don Drysdale biography on Baseball Almanac for complete statistics.

Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax teamed to form one of baseball's most successful pitching duos. Together, they were a part of four NL pennant winners.

Intimidation was key to Drysdale's approach and he set an NL record with 154 hit batsmen in his career. His pitching arsenal included a brushback pitch and a sidearm fastball. 

Some of Drysdale's accomplishments included:

• A 25-win season in 1962 - and a Cy Young Award.

• A 58.2-inning scoreless streak in 1968. The record was later broken by Orel Hershiser.

• He tied Don Newcombe's record of 7 home runs by a pitcher twice

• In 1965, he was the only Dodger to hit .300

• Led the NL in strikeouts 3 times

• He finished his career with a 2.95 ERA. In 8 of his 14 seasons in the majors, Drysdale finished with a sub-3.00 ERA

Drysdale made his debut in 1956 when the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn.  In 1958, the team moved to California. When he retired in 1969, Drysdale was the only remaining pitcher who had been in the rotation for the Dodgers in Brooklyn. His 14-year career was spent playing for a single manager, Walter Alston.

Drysdale pitched in 5 World Series (1956, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1966). In 7 games, a total of 39.2 innings, he posted a 3-3 record, 36 strikeouts and a 2.95 ERA. 

Following his playing career, he was an announcer for several teams including the Dodgers and Angels.

He was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1984.