Don Drysdale in 1968 : The great pitcher who made a miracle happen
- Makio Mukai
- Aug 1
- 5 min read
The Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1960s had two great pitchers, Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. The Dodgers won three league championships (1963, 1965, 1966) and two World Series (1963, 1965) in the 1960s, and it was largely due to the efforts of these two pitchers.
Drysdale was a top-class pitcher who won the Cy Young Award once, the most wins once, and the most strikeouts three times. However, even he may look a little pale in comparison to Koufax, because Koufax was an incredibly great pitcher who won the Cy Young Award three times and the pitcher's Triple Crown three times. However, Drysdale set an unprecedented record in 1968 that even Koufax could not achieve. This was something that could be called a miracle.
On May 14, 1968, Drysdale pitched a shutout victory against the Chicago Cubs. He continued to pitch shutouts every time he took the mound thereafter, and on June 4, he pitched another shutout victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates, achieving the amazing record of six consecutive shutout wins. This was a new major league record, breaking the previous record of five consecutive shutout wins set by Doc White in 1904, 64 years ago.
Drysdale also accomplished one more incredible thing. At the time of his sixth consecutive shutout win on June 4, he had pitched 54 consecutive scoreless innings, but in his next appearance on June 8 against the Philadelphia Phillies, he pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings, achieving the amazing record of 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings. This was a remarkable achievement, breaking the major league record of 52 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings set by Walter Johnson in 1913.
So, when comparing the two new records that Drysdale set in 1968, which one is more impressive? Both are truly impressive, so it may be pointless to compare them, but if we were to compare them, which one is more impressive? The reason I say this is that in Japan, many people mention the 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings record, but never mention the six consecutive shutout wins. In other words, it seems that in Japan, the 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings record is considered the more impressive record. What about in the United States?
So what do I think? I think six consecutive shutout wins is more impressive, because I think it's less likely to be broken than 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings. In fact, the major league record of 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings was broken 20 years later in 1988 by Orel Hershiser, who updated it to 59 consecutive scoreless innings. On the other hand, not only has the record of six consecutive shutout wins not been broken, but no pitcher has ever tied the record.
I don't think Drysdale's record of six consecutive shutout wins will ever be broken. In today's major leagues, the division of roles between pitchers - starter, setup man, and closer - is functioning, and it's rare for one pitcher to pitch an entire game, so I think it's fair to say that it's impossible for any pitcher, no matter how good they are, to achieve six consecutive shutout wins.
So how did Drysdale manage to achieve such an incredible feat as six consecutive shutout wins? In other words, why was it Drysdale who managed to achieve such an incredible feat? Actually, when I think about it, I can only say that this record achievement is nothing short of a miracle. Normally, one would expect a pitcher who achieves this record to have many shutout wins in their career. However, Drysdale's 49 shutout wins in his career ranks only 21st in history (the first place goes to Walter Johnson with 110), and his highest number of shutout wins in a season was eight in 1968, when he achieved six consecutive shutout wins, which ranks only 52nd in history (the first place in history is Grover Alexander and George Bradley, who both had 16. Bradley was a pitcher who was active in the 19th century). In 1968, Drysdale only had two shutout wins other than the six consecutive shutout wins. The most shutout wins that year was 13 by Bob Gibson. This record by Bob Gibson is the third highest number of shutout wins in a season in history. It was Drysdale who achieved six consecutive shutout wins, not Bob Gibson, who achieved such an amazing record. No one knows how this happened. So, this is nothing short of a miracle.
For reference, let's look at the records in Japanese professional baseball. The highest record for consecutive shutout wins is six games, the same as in the major leagues, and was achieved by a pitcher named Hideo Fujimoto in 1943. Fujimoto's 19 shutout wins that year are the most in history for shutout wins in a season, and his 63 total shutout wins in his career are eighth in history.
In Japanese professional baseball, it's safe to say that there's nothing surprising about a pitcher achieving consecutive shutout wins.
Finally, here is an example of how once people form an opinion, it is difficult for them to break free from it. This is related to the two records achieved by Drysdale in 1968.
As mentioned above, in Japan, the 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings record is more commonly mentioned than the six consecutive shutout wins record. In other words, the 58 2/3 consecutive shutout innings record is more famous. Mistakes that seem to be caused by this are often made in Japan. Let me explain them.
Robert F. Kennedy (nicknamed Bobby) was the younger brother of the 35th US President John F. Kennedy. He served as Attorney General during his brother's administration. He later became a senator from New York State, and in 1968 ran in the Democratic primary for president.
Then, on June 4th, the day Drysdale set a new major league record by pitching six consecutive shutout games, Bobby won the California Democratic primary. On the following day, June 5th, Bobby gave a speech in front of a large crowd of supporters in Los Angeles, and at the beginning of the speech, he praised Drysdale for his six consecutive shutout wins. Then, immediately after the speech, Bobby was shot and died the following day, June 6th.
However, in Japan, this story is often told incorrectly, like this: "In his speech, Bobby praised Drysdale for setting a new major league record by pitching 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings. Immediately after the speech, Bobby was shot and died."
There is no way Bobby would praise Drysdale for his 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, because that streak had not been achieved on June 5th, the day Bobby gave his speech. It was achieved three days later, on June 8th.
Why do people make this mistake? The only thing I can think is that many people think that 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings is more impressive than six consecutive shutout wins.
But if they watch the American movie "Bobby" (2006), they will no longer make this mistake. The movie accurately depicts Bobby praising Drysdale for his six consecutive shutout wins at the beginning of his speech, and then being shot immediately after the speech. The people who make this mistake probably don't even know that this movie exists.
( If I’ve made a mistake or left out something important, please let me know. I’ll try to make corrections or additions.)