Rinold George "Ryne" Duren (February 22, 1929 – January 6, 2011) was an American

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. He was known for the combination of his blazing

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thr ...

and his very poor vision. With his thick eyeglasses, few batters dared to dig in against Duren.

Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, the expansion New Y ...

said, "I would not admire hitting against Ryne Duren, because if he ever hit you in the head you might be in the past tense."

Career

Duren was originally signed by the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

as a free agent before the season. His only game with the franchise, his major league game debut, came on September 25, , by which time the Browns had become the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. On September 21, , he was traded to the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 sea ...

with

Jim Pisoni James Peter Pisoni (August 14, 1929 – February 4, 2007) was an American professional baseball player, a backup outfielder in Major League Baseball. Pisoni played mainly as a center fielder for four teams between 1953 and 1960. Listed at , , he ...

in exchange for Al Pilarcik and Art Ceccarelli. The Athletics and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

were frequent trading partners in that era, and on June 15, , Duren, Pisoni, and

Harry Simpson Harry Leon "Suitcase" Simpson (November 30, 1924 – April 3, 1979) was an American outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Athletics, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and Pitts ...

were sent to the Yankees for

Billy Martin Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yan ...

Ralph Terry Ralph Willard Terry (January 9, 1936 – March 16, 2022) was an American baseball player who played as a right-handed starting pitcher for twelve seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics ...

Woodie Held Woodson George "Woodie" Held (March 25, 1932 – June 11, 2009) was a shortstop/outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for the New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, Baltimore Orioles, ...

, and Bob Martyn. Duren kept his A's uniform number of 26 with the Yankees. Duren received the first of his three All-Star selections in . He has been retroactively credited with saving 20 games in 1958, the high mark in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

that year. In 1959, his win–loss record was much poorer, but his

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

of 1.88 was the best of his career. Duren was a showman. In those days the Yankee bullpen was a part of the short-porch right field and only a low chain link fence served as the boundary. When called upon by Casey Stengel to relieve, he wouldn't use the gate, but preferred to hop the fence with one hand and begin a slow walk to the mound with his blue Yankee warm-up jacket covering his pitching arm; he followed this routine even on the hottest days. When he finally took the ball and began his warmups, the first pitch was sometimes a hard fastball 20 feet over the catcher's head. The succeeding warmup pitches would be thrown lower and lower (but not slower) until Duren would finally "find" the plate. He was so wild that he allegedly hit a player in the on-deck circle. Duren stayed with the Yankees until May 8, , when he was traded to the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

; Duren, Johnny James, and Lee Thomas went to the Angels in exchange for

Tex Clevenger Truman Eugene "Tex" Clevenger (July 9, 1932 – August 24, 2019) was an American Major League Baseball relief pitcher and spot starter who played for the Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators, Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees from 1954 to ...

and

Bob Cerv Robert Henry Cerv ( ; May 5, 1925 – April 6, 2017) was an American professional baseball left fielder. Prior to his professional career, he was a collegiate baseball and basketball player at the University of Nebraska. He was born in Weston, Ne ...

. Shortly after being traded to the Angels, he struck out seven successive

Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

batters, then an American League record. He was sold to the Philadelphia Phillies before the season. Early in the season, he was shipped to the Cincinnati Reds. Released by Cincinnati in April , he was signed by the Phillies; after being released two months later, he joined the Washington Senators, but was released again on August 24 to bring a close to his 10-year Major League career.

Personal

In , Duren was presented with the Yankee Family Award for his conquering

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...

, and for service as an alcohol abuse educator. In 2003, Duren and author Tom Sabellico wrote the book, ''I Can See Clearly Now''. Duren talks from the heart about life, baseball and alcohol. The foreword was written by Jim "Mudcat" Grant. Duren's nephew is singer Blackie Lawless of the heavy metal band W.A.S.P. Baseball Hall of Famer

Ryne Sandberg Ryne Dee Sandberg (born September 18, 1959), nicknamed "Ryno", is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies (19 ...

was named in honor of Duren. Duren was the inspiration for the character Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn in the movie '' Major League'', according to its author and director David S. Ward.

References

External links

Ryne Duren
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Ryne Duren
at Baseball Almanac
Ryne Duren
at Baseball Biography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duren, Ryne 1929 births 2011 deaths Alcohol abuse counselors American disabled sportspeople American expatriate baseball players in Canada American League All-Stars Anderson Rebels players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Wisconsin Cincinnati Reds players Dayton Indians players Denver Bears players Kansas City Athletics players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball pitchers Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela New York Yankees players People from Cazenovia, Wisconsin Philadelphia Phillies players Pine Bluff Judges players San Antonio Missions players Scranton Miners players Seattle Rainiers players Vancouver Mounties players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players Wausau Lumberjacks players Writers from Wisconsin

Career

Personal

See also

References

External links