Drysdale played second banana to Sandy Koufax for years, but was a legitimately great pitcher himself.
Here we have future Hall of Famer Don Drysdale, who spent his entire 14-year MLB career with the Dodgers, at Wrigley Field. After I tell you the date this was taken, there’s something interesting about it beyond just the date.
First, here’s the entire photo as I received it, which pretty much gives it away:
If you took snapshots with the sorts of cameras available back then, you know that when you sent film in for developing (how quaint, seems like centuries ago) that often, as shown here, the month and year were printed on the side of the photo. That way, if you didn’t remember the exact date, you’d at least have an idea when the photo was taken.
In this case “AUG 68” gives it away. Don Drysdale started exactly one game at Wrigley Field that year, the first game of a doubleheader Sunday, July 28, 1968. The shadow confirms that this is the game, because Drysdale is clearly warming up … well, where, exactly? This isn’t near where the bullpens were in those days.
Back in that day, pitchers warmed up for their starts exactly where you see it here. There was a dirt cutout near where the on-deck circle was located, and pitchers would do some throwing in that area. In fact, this had been the case for some time. RIght near the beginning of this video of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, you can see Yankees starter Bob Turley warming up in a similar location at Forbes Field:
So here’s one more thing to sleuth: When did that warmup practice end?
This sleuthing article from last year answers the question. In it, there’s this aerial photo from Opening Day 1969, which does not show those areas:
So 1968 appears to be the last year warmups like that were used.
As for that 1968 game? The Cubs won 8-3. Billy Williams homered off Drysdale, who threw the entire game even while giving up eight runs, common practice in those days. After a 35-45 start, that game pulled the Cubs to .500 at 51-51, so that was a 16-6 run. They swept that doubleheader, the second game a 1-0 shutout by Ken Holtzman. The Cubs eventually finished that season with a 49-33 second half, presaging the great start to their 1969 season. The 1968 season was the only time the Cubs had come from 10 games under .500 to finish with a winning record until they did it again last year, going from 26-36 to a final mark of 83-79.
Hoping for better things, of course, in 2025.
As for Drysdale, he retired after 1969 after suffering a torn rotator cuff and then went directly into broadcasting. He called games for the Expos (1970-1971), Rangers (1972), Angels (1973-1979, 1981), White Sox (1982-1987), and Dodgers (1988-1993). It was while he was a Dodgers broadcaster in 1993 when he suffered a fatal heart attack in a Montreal hotel room. He was there to call a Dodgers/Expos game. Drysdale was just 56 when he died.