Hothead Drysdale

Drysdale still made it into the top ten of current ERA leaders

Today, I probably played my strangest game in my 1966 NL replay so far.  It was an April 24th matchup between the Dodgers and the Cubs.  The Northsiders were trying to even the series in Chicago after getting whupped 8-2 in the first game. 

Forget the fact that it was Cub pitcher Ken Holtzman’s first start of the season and he didn’t make it out of the second inning.  That was the least of it.  Holtzman allowed eight runs and gave up an Al Ferrara 2-run homer before the skipper could give him the hook. 

LA’s Don Drysdale was on a roll, though.  Through six innings, he had a 2-hit shutout going.  Only Ron Santo and Randy Hundley had been able to get through to him with singles.  Yes, it looked like Don was on his way to fantastic game. 

Then comes the top of the seventh inning.  With the Dodgers up 10-0, Cub reliever Bill Faul loaded the bases and Drysdale came up to bat.  No slouch at the plate, I figured he could help his cause.  No such luck.  The hothead pitcher is ejected arguing a called strike with the umpire in a ten-run game in which he has a shutout going!

The Dodgers did end up winning though the Cubs made it slightly interesting.  They scored four runs off reliever Bob Miller before Johnny Podres shut the Cubs down with the bases loaded in the ninth.  Final score 10-4

First rule of baseball:  Don’t argue balls and strikes!