Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 5, 1993 TAG: 9307050045
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella, whose career was cut short by an automobile accident in 1958, died June 26 of a heart attack at his home near Los Angeles.
All week, the Dodgers mourned the loss of Campy, who died at age 71, but at least they could console themselves with the thought that their friend had lived a full life and no longer would have to endure his pain.
No such consolation came when news spread of Don Drysdale's death of an apparent heart attack Saturday in Montreal. Drysdale, in his sixth season as a Dodgers broadcaster, was 56 and appeared healthy.
"What a shock, two straight Saturday nights," Giants manager Dusty Baker said in New York, where his team was playing the Mets. "I knew him pretty well from my days with the Dodgers. . . . It's another great loss for baseball."
"It's been a bad week," said John Roseboro, who caught most of Drysdale's games with the Dodgers. "I saw Don at Campy's funeral. Here he is, 6-foot-6, in his loud clothes, as happy as ever."
Ironically, Drysdale died in a city where he once played as a minor-leaguer and later began his major-league broadcasting career.
"We played here, he was my roommate, I took him under my wing," Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda recalled Sunday.
That was in 1955 when Drysdale, at age 19, played for the Montreal Royals, a Dodgers farm club.
"On the field, he was as mean as a snake," Lasorda said. "Off the field, he was as nice a guy as you'd want to meet."
Known for his sidearm delivery that made him particularly tough on right-handed hitters, Drysdale was 209-166 with a 2.95 ERA in 14 seasons with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1956-69. He was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1984.
He had some great confrontations with Hall of Fame hitters such as Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson and Willie McCovey.
McCovey, in particular, owned Drysdale. And Aaron hit more of his 755 homers against Drysdale (17) than any other pitcher.
"I respected Don not only as a player, but as a man," Aaron said. "I just saw him a couple of weeks ago and we had the best conversation since he retired. We were both unhappy about some of the things going on in the game."
Drysdale never hesitated to back a hitter off the plate. Or, if need be, hit him.
"I think he was a little bit above a competitor," Roseboro said. "He was kind of a warrior out there, a fighter. He went out to destroy you any way he could. And when he was in the lineup, we had another good bat.
"I don't think too many people liked to hit against him. If somebody knocked down one of our players, Drysdale would try to get two-for-one, at least. He was a very nice guy off the field, but when he put that uniform on and got on the mound, he was all business. He kept the hitter a little intimidated at all times. I think the intimidation factor helped make him a great pitcher, definitely. It was like pulling teeth to bat against him."
Drysdale holds the major-league record for career hit batsmen - 154. But that didn't seem to bother the opposition like it might today, when hitters charge the mound after the slightest brushback pitch.
"He always said, `The plate was 18 inches wide, and the hitter's got to give me some of it. If he doesn't, then I'm going to take it,' " recalled former pitcher Larry Sherry, a teammate of Drysdale's from 1958-63. "Don threw inside and threw up around your neck. You went down, and you thought twice about [digging in] next time."
Perhaps Drysdale's most impressive achievement was a string of 58 shutout innings in 1968, a major league record that lasted 20 years until broken by current Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser.
by CNB