Welcome to Baseball History Podcast, featuring baseball biographies. I’m your announcer Bob Wright.
This is game 53 of the 2010 baseball season.
In the first inning let’s take a look at This Week in Baseball History for the 4 week of December.
December 27
1977 Right-handed relief pitcher Dick Drago signs with the Red Sox.
Richard Anthony “Dick” Drago was born June 25, 1945 in Toledo, Ohio.
Originally signed by the Detroit Tigers in the 1964 amateur draft, Drago was selected by the Kansas City Royals during the 1968 expansion draft. He started his Major League career with the Royals in 1969, becoming the ace of their pitching staff in 1971.
) is a former American League relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Kansas City Royals (1969-1973), Boston Red Sox (1974-1975, 1978-1980), California Angels (1976-1977), Baltimore Orioles (1977) and Seattle Mariners(1981). He batted and threw right-handed.
Drago made the majors when he was picked by the Royals in the expansion draft, and he became the ace of their struggling staff.
After his freshman year at University of Detroit, a Detroit Tigers scout signed Drago to a professional contract.
His continued success throughout the Detroit minor league system would suggest that a Tigers call-up loomed for 1969. Instead, the promising pitcher was selected by the brand new Kansas City Royals in the 1968 expansion draft.
For the Royals, Drago became the workhorse. During his five years in Kansas City, he averaged 32 starts, 10 complete games, and well over 200 innings pitched. His best year, and the only one in which he had a winning record with Kansas City, was 1971 when he posted a 17-11 record and had an Earned Run Average under 3.00, and was selected as the Royals’ Pitcher of the Year.
In 1973, his last year as a Royal, his Earned Run Average exceeded 4.00 for the first time. Later, Drago said that Royals manager Jack McKeon quit on him that year. McKeon has denied this but it soon became clear that the Royals were ready to deal Drago in the offseason.
On October 24, 1973 the Royals dealt Drago to the Red Sox. Rookie Boston skipper Darrell Johnson used him in 33 games 1974, 18 as a starter and 15 out of the bullpen. Drago said he favored starting but it was his relief work that made him a success in Boston. Although his season Earned Run Average was 3.48, his relief Earned Run Average was a dominating 1.40. During the stretch run in which the Red Sox fell out of contention he pitched well but lost two games by scores of 3-1 and 2-1.
Over the offseason, the return from injury of veteran starter Rick Wise cemented Drago’s role in the bullpen for 1975. Wise led the team in victories and Drago emerged as the premier reliever. His 15 saves ranked fifth in the league and his 34 games finished placed him ninth. In the heat of the stretch drive beginning August 27, he pitched in 13 games, earning one win and eight saves.
In the playoffs against Oakland Drago proved his worth, pitching 4 2/3 innings in Games 2 and 3, earning saves in both. In Game Two at Fenway, Johnson sent for Drago after Moret walked the first batter in the top of the seventh. After Drago was announced, Oakland manager Al Dark countered with pinch-hitter Billy Williams. Williams, a lifetime .290 hitter and former National League batting champ, was not Drago’s only concern as he prepared to pitch, because the batter whom Moret had walked was former Sox teammate, Tommy Harper, one of the best base stealers in the game.
Nursing a one-run lead, Drago showed a lot of interest in the runner leading off first. Drago began Williams’ at-bat with three throws to first, making Harper dive back while Williams worked the count to 2-2. After one more toss to first, Drago struck Williams out with a high fast ball. Drago threw to first once more before pitching to the next batter, Billy North, before North lined the first pitch to center and Fred Lynn’s throw to Cecil Cooper easily doubled up Harper. In a postgame interview Drago was asked how he was able to deal with the threat of Harper and still focus on the batters. He answered: “That is what I get paid for.” The final two innings were much less stressful because his teammates got him an insurance run in both the seventh and eighth innings.
Moving to Oakland for Game 3, Drago came in to relieve the starter Wise with one out, two runs in, and two men on in the bottom of the eighth with the Red Sox holding a slim 5-3 lead. The pressure of the situation on the field was magnified by the frenzied Oakland fans whose unbridled exuberance caused a delay in the proceedings more than once. But it didn’t faze Drago, whose one pitch to Joe Rudi was grounded to short for an inning-ending double play.
Drago’s ninth was not as easy. Once again he faced Williams who, on a 2-2 count, lined the ball off Drago’s shin. The ball caromed to Cooper who tossed to the bloodied but alert pitcher covering first for a painful 1-3-1 putout. After the game Boston Globe reporter Peter Gammons commented on Drago’s “bloody stocking” (the first reporting of a Red Sox pitcher’s bloody sock in postseason play). Gene Tenace popped to short for the second out. Drago then walked North on four pitches, bringing Johnson to the mound for a visit. Drago’s wildness continued as Jim Holt worked the count to 3-0. Drago now bore down and after Holt fouled off one 3-2 count he grounded slowly to Doyle at second who threw to Cooper and the celebration began.
Drago also pitched in two of the seven games of the World Series. In the second game Drago was called upon in a save situation. With the Red Sox leading 2-1, Johnson summoned Drago in the top of the ninth to replace starter Bill Lee after Lee surrendered a first-pitch leadoff double to Johnny Bench. With the tying run on second, Drago got Tony Perez to ground out to short but Bench advanced to third. George Foster flied to left but much too shallow to challenge the arm of Carl Yastrzemski. With two down, Dave Concepcion bounced a good pitch over Drago’s head. Doyle fielded it but couldn’t make a play as Bench scored the tying run.
On the next pitch, Concepcion took off for second and despite Fisk’s throw the lead run was in scoring position. Ken Griffey fouled off two of Drago’s fastballs before he lined a double to left scoring Concepcion. After Drago walked Cesar Geronimo intentionally, he got pitcher Rawly Eastwick to ground to second forcing Geronimo. After the Red Sox were retired in the bottom of the ninth, Drago suffered the loss and the series was tied 1-1.
After sitting out all three games in Cincinnati and waiting out three days of rain, Drago was next summoned into the sixth game with score tied to start the ninth inning. Drago easily disposed of the three future Hall of Famers: Joe Morgan, Bench, and Perez. Sitting in the dugout during the bottom of the ninth Drago, probably thought he was going to even his series record as the Red Sox loaded the bases with no outs. However, this situation just added to the drama of this legendary game as the Red Sox failed to score sending the game into extra innings.
In the 10th, Drago didn’t have it as easy. After retiring Foster, Drago faced his Game Two nemesis Concepcion who singled and again stole second. Drago struck out Geronimo before pinch-hitter Dan Driessen flied out to Bernie Carbo in left.
The Red Sox went down 1-2-3 and quickly Drago was back on the mound for his third inning of work. A cursory look at a scorebook for this inning would indicate a fairly routine three-batter, three-out inning: a hit by pitch, a force out, and a double play. However, it was anything but routine and required two outstanding plays by two Gold Glovers. After Drago hit leadoff batter Pete Rose with a fastball, Griffey tried to sacrifice him to second but, but Fisk threw to second base to force Rose. On a 2-2 pitch, Morgan lined Drago’s offering deep to right where Dwight Evans pulled Morgan’s drive out of the first row of fans and instinctively threw quickly – if not accurately – towards first. Yaz fielded it and flipped to an alert and hustling Rick Burleson covering first to record the third out. In the bottom of the 11th, Drago was pinch-hit for and, when the Red Sox didn’t score, it ended his chance to win one of the greatest games in World Series history.
On March 3, 1976 the Red Sox sent Drago, their best reliever, to California, ostensibly, for three players who would never play an inning for Boston. The term “ostensibly” is used because it was reported that Drago was sent to the Angels as “the player to be named later” for Denny Doyle who was acquired the previous June.
Drago pitched for the Angels for a year and a half. In 1976, he appeared in 43 games, all in relief, going 7-8 with a 4.42 Earned Run Average.
On July 20, 1976, Drago gave up the last of Hank Aaron’s then-major league record 755 career home runs.
The next season, he appeared in 13 games for the Angels with a record of 0-1, and a 3.00 Earned Run Average, before being traded on June 13 to the Orioles. Drago pitched well for Baltimore appearing in 36 games and going 6-3.
After the 1977 season, Drago became a free agent and rejoined the Boston Red Sox. He spent the next three years on teams that were never quite good enough to get into the postseason. During these three years he appeared in 133 games, mostly in relief. His composite record was 21-17 with 23 saves, and an Earned Run Average around 3.52.
The most important game Drago appeared in during this second stint with Boston was on October 2, 1978 – the infamous Bucky Dent playoff game. He came on in relief of Andy Hassler with two outs in the top of the ninth with Paul Blair on first. After keeping the speedy Blair close with three throws to first, he pitched to Thurman Munson who hit a grounder in the hole which third baseman Frank Duffy missed cutting off, but Burleson fielded it just forcing Blair at second.
Just before the 1981 season began, Drago was dealt to Seattle. The deal upset Drago, who blasted the Red Sox for not releasing him so he could become a free agent.
For Seattle, he went 4-6 record with the highest Earned Run Average of his career; his 5.53 was more than one run above any previous season and almost two runs higher than his career mark. As disappointing as 1981 was for Drago, it became even more disappointing in that it was his last year. The Mariners released him on April 2, 1982.
In a 13-season career, Drago posted a 108-117 record with a 3.75 ERA and 58 saves.
A large part of this biography comes from the SABR Baseball Biography Project written by Tom Harkins. It can be found online at http://bioproj.sabr.org
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Well, that’s it for today’s Baseball History Podcast. I’ll see you later at the ballpark.
