- Died in his hotel room of a heart attack hours before he was to work the television/radio color commentary for the Los Angeles Dodgers-Montreal Expos game.
- Pitched 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in 1968, a record which stood until Orel Hershiser topped it 20 years later.
- Was an excellent hitting pitcher; hit 29 home runs during his career and was frequently used as a pinch hitter. Was the only Dodger to hit .300 in 1965.
- When he was a student at Van Nuys High School, one of his classmates was Robert Redford.
- Star basketball player at UCLA.
- Won Cy Young Award as Major League Baseball's top pitcher in 1962 for leading National League in wins (25), innings pitched (314 1/3), strikeouts (232) and games started (41).
- Took part in a publicized salary holdout in the spring of 1966 along with teammate Sandy Koufax.
- Pitched in eight All-Star games.
- Made major league debut on 17 April 1956.
- Uniform number 53 retired by the Dodgers.
- Retired in mid-season in 1969 after suffering a torn rotator cuff in his pitching shoulder.
- Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984 in the same ceremony with Pee Wee Reese.
- Held the record for consecutive 200-strikeout seasons with six, until Tom Seaver broke it with his seventh consecutive such season in 1974.
- Pitcher for the National League's Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, 1956-1969. Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, 1984.
- Still holds the National League record for most hit batsmen (154).
- Finished 5th in voting for National League MVP in 1962 and 1965.
- Pitched in eight All-Star games (1959, 1961-1965 and 1967-1968).
- Father, with Ginger Drysdale, of daughter Kelly Drysdale.
- Member of 1956 National League Champion Brooklyn Dodgers team and 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers team. Member of 1959, 1963 and 1965 World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers teams.
- Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 169-171. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
- Born at 9:10am-PDT
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content