Don Gullett, a flame-throwing left-handed pitcher who starred for 3 World Sequence champion groups within the Seventies, first with the Cincinnati Reds after which with the New York Yankees, died on Wednesday. He was 73.
The Reds group confirmed the dying in a assertion however didn’t cite a trigger or say the place he died.
The Reds throughout Gullett’s tenure have been one of many nice groups of all time. The Huge Pink Machine, because it was recognized, was well-known for its lumber, with an era-defining lineup of hitters that included Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Pete Rose.
Whereas the crew’s pitching hardly ever obtained prime billing, Gullett established himself as a feared ace through the crew’s run as a dynasty. Nicknamed Smokin’ Don, he blew away batters with a fastball whose velocity tickled triple digits, at instances drawing comparisons to his idol, Sandy Koufax, the storied Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander.
Willie Stargell, the Corridor of Fame slugger for the Pittsburgh Pirates, as soon as mentioned that Gullett “might throw a ball via a carwash with out it ever getting moist.”
Including a nasty forkball that left batters waving at air, he went 17-11 with a 3.04 earned run common in 1974. Sparky Anderson, the Reds’ supervisor, predicted that, “barring an harm,” Gullett “is sort of positive of creating the Corridor of Fame.”
These phrases would grow to be prophetic, however not in the way in which Anderson supposed.
Gullett had the honour of beginning Sport 1 of the World Sequence for 3 straight years starting in 1975 — the primary two with the Reds, the third with the Yankees. In an exciting seven-game conquer the Boston Pink Sox in 1975, Gullett misplaced the opener however got here again to win Sport 5, surrendering solely two earned runs in 8 ⅔ innings.
After the Reds steamrolled the Yankees in a four-game sweep the subsequent 12 months, the Bronx Bombers’ principal proprietor, George Steinbrenner, had apparently seen sufficient: He signed Gullett to a six-year contract for $2.1 million (the equal of about $11 million as we speak) as a free agent.
“He needed to take it,” Bench was quoted as saying in Gullett’s obituary in The Cincinnati Enquirer. “It was the toughest choice I feel Don Gullett ever made in his life, however for his household it was the one choice he might make.”
In his first 12 months in pinstripes, in 1977, Gullett went 14-4, serving to the crew to its first World Sequence victory since 1962.
Surgical procedure in 1978 for a double tear within the rotator cuff of his left shoulder would mark the tip of his enjoying days. His efforts to rehabilitate his throwing arm failed. He sat out the 1979 season, and the Yankees launched him in 1980.
Nonetheless, Gullett had tallied 109 wins in opposition to 50 losses throughout his profession, ending with a profitable proportion of .686 — the seventh greatest in league historical past for pitchers who notched at the least 1,000 innings.
On a Reds crew stacked with stars, his athleticism had stood out to teammates — as had his humble method. “He was a whole athlete,” The Enquirer quoted Bench as saying. “He might hit and run just like the wind and the nicest, nicest particular person. I don’t assume I’ve ever heard a nasty phrase ever mentioned about Don.”
Donald Edward Gullett was born on Jan. 6, 1951, close to Lynn, Ky., not removed from the Ohio border, the sixth of eight kids of Buford and Lettie Gullett.
As a teen, Don constructed his power baling hay on native farms whereas turning into a stunning All-State star on the diamond, gridiron and hardwood at McKell Excessive College. He turned a neighborhood legend, recognized for feats like scoring 72 factors in a soccer recreation and putting out 20 of 21 batters whereas pitching an ideal recreation.
Chosen 14th general out of highschool by Cincinnati within the 1969 draft, Gullett appeared in solely 11 video games within the minor leagues earlier than being fast-tracked to the massive leagues in 1970, when he was 19.
Within the Nationwide League Championship Sequence in 1970, the Reds swept a strong Pittsburgh Pirates crew in three video games, with Gullett, in aid, tallying saves in Video games 2 and three. Regardless of his youth, he was not awed by the expertise.
“I wasn’t nervous a bit getting in there,” he mentioned through the collection. “Speaking to all these reporters is loads harder than going through Willie Stargell or Roberto Clemente.”
The Reds misplaced the World Sequence in 5 video games to to the Baltimore Orioles that 12 months and fell to the Oakland A’s (one other dynasty of the Seventies) two years later. Nonetheless, the perfect years have been but to return, each for the crew and for its star left-hander.
After his enjoying days have been over, Gullett retired to a farm close to his hometown, the place, along with his spouse, Cathy, he grew tobacco and different crops.
Details about his survivors was not instantly obtainable.
Interviewed in 1989 by The Los Angeles Instances, Gullett mentioned that it took time to recover from his untimely exit from baseball.
“I checked out myself and I used to be solely 31, 32 years outdated,” he mentioned. “It form of bothered me mentally. It was mentally robust to observe video games.”
Even in remorse, nonetheless, he maintained his trademark humility.
“It was simply unlucky in my profession,” he added. “If I had stayed wholesome, there may be the prospect I might have been very profitable.”