Sunday, February 10, 2002
What might have been
Blown shoulder curtailed Gullett's Cooperstown career
By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
If Don Gullett's left rotator cuff hadn't exploded on him in June 1978, he might be in Cooperstown by now. Gullett was 27 years old and one of the top pitchers in the game when his shoulder gave out.
If he had pitched into his late 30s, instead of his late 20s, he might have put up Hall of Fame numbers.
“He certainly would have had a chance,” former Reds manager Sparky Anderson said. “He was awfully, awfully good. He had a great arm.”
And he put up great numbers. Gullett was 109-50 with a 3.11 ERA when his career ended after only nine years in the big leagues. Projections are always risky, but Gullett certainly was on pace to make the Hall. Just look at the records and winning percentages after the first nine years of Gullett's contemporaries who ended up in the Hall of Fame.
• Jim Palmer 129-69, .652
• Nolan Ryan 105-98, .517
• Tom Seaver 168-96, .636
• Don Sutton 139-113, .552
Gullett's winning percentage (.686) is better. Gullett was a hard thrower. He had great control. Except for the year he was hurt, he always gave up less than one hit per inning.
Above all, Gullett was a winner.
“He was a different style of pitcher,” Anderson said. “But he reminded me of Whitey Ford. Donald just knew how to win.”
|
GULLETT VS. FORD
|
DON GULLETT
YEARS W L PCT ERA
1970-78 109 50 .686 3.11
WHITEY FORD
YEARS W L PCT ERA
1950-67 236 106 .690 2.75
|
The comparison to Ford, the Hall of Famer from the New York Yankees, is an interesting one. Ford is third on the all-time list in winning percentage (.690). If Gullett had enough decisions to qualify, he would rank fourth.
Ford went into the Hall of Fame in 1974 with a 236-106 record, a relatively low victory total. If Gullett had pitched 10 more seasons and performed at the same level as he did during his eight healthy seasons — when he averaged a 13-6 record — he would have finished 235-108. That excludes the 4-2 record he had in 1978, when he was hurt.
Gullett admits he has thought about such things.
“I always felt when I took the mound that I would win every game,” he said. “I'll always wonder what I might have done with seven or eight more years.”
Seven or eight more probably would have left Gullett short because he wasn't durable. He made 30 or more starts only three times in his career. But because he broke in so early (at 19), he easily could have pitched 10 or 12 more years. Palmer, Seaver, Sutton and Ryan all pitched pitched 20 years or more.
The tough thing for Gullett is, his injury would have been easily repaired today. As pitching coach of the Reds, he deals every day with pitchers returning from rotator cuff surgery.
“With modern medicine and the arthroscope, that's relatively easy to fix,” Reds medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek said. “His injury was very similar to Scott Winchester's. We see that all the time.”
But Gullett doesn't let the irony get him down.
“That's baseball,” he said. “As I always tell our young pitchers, "Every pitch may be your last.' You never know. Your arm is like a piece of machinery. Eventually, it is going to break down. Mine was something they couldn't fix.”
Gullett grew up in Lynn, Ky., as a Reds fan. “My father always listened to games on the radio,” Gullett said. “He made me a Reds fan. I tried to emulate the great pitchers they had then. Jim Maloney. Joey Jay.”
But as a left-hander, Gullett's favorite was Sandy Koufax, the ace of the Los Angeles Dodgers. “I always wanted to be Sandy Koufax,” Gullett said.
Years after Gullett dreamed about pitching like Koufax, the two crossed paths.
“We were out in L.A.,” Anderson said. “Sandy's a good friend of mine. I told him to take a look at this kid we had. He took one look at Donald throwing and said, "You don't need to worry about him.'”
That was 1970, Gullett's rookie year. Gullett was already a sports legend in and around Lynn before the Reds picked him first in the 1969 draft. At McKell High in South Shore, Ky., Gullett once scored 72 points in a football game. In baseball, he threw a perfect game, striking out 20 of the 21 batters he faced.
Gullett's minor-league apprenticeship lasted a half season. He pitched in 11 games at Class-A Sioux Falls in 1969. He was invited to spring training the next year.
“He never said much at all,” Anderson said. “He wasn't one for conversation. He was very polite. He just didn't talk much.”
The plan was to give Gullett a taste of big-league camp. He wasn't expected to make the club. But the Reds had no choice but to take him north after seeing him throw.
“We wanted to bring him along slow,” Anderson said.
That meant pitching out of the bullpen. Gullett appeared in 44 games as a rookie in 1970, but only made two starts. He went 5-2 with 2.42 ERA. He was even better in the postseason. He pitched 10 1/3 innings and allowed only one run on six hits in the National League playoffs and World Series. He saved two of the three wins over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Championship Series.
The next year, Gullett went into the rotation. He went 16-6 (his .727 winning percentage led the NL) with a 2.65 ERA.
“I remember him pitching against the Dodgers,” Anderson said. “The crowd went, "Ahhh” on the first pitch. They went, "Ahhh” even louder on the second pitch. When the crowd knows you're throwing good, you're really throwing good.”
Gullett remained the Reds' ace until he departed for the New York Yankees after the 1976 World Series championship. The Reds simply did not bid on free agents in those days.
Gullett had one good year with the Yankees, going 14-4 with a 3.59 ERA in 1977. The next year, the shoulder gave out. Gullett was warming up for a start in old County Stadium in Milwaukee when he heard something pop in his shoulder. He made the start, but he lasted only two innings before the pain forced him out.
He iced the shoulder, thinking it was nothing major. “When I tried to shave after the game,” he said, “I couldn't lift arm above my arm above 90 degrees.”
Gullett had surgery. It was primitive by today's standards and didn't really help. He spent two years trying to get healthy, but he would never pitch again.
Even today, 24 years later, he can barely toss. Gullett doesn't usually dwell on the past. But he wonders from time to time.
“It's the goal of every player to get into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown,” he said. "I'm not saying I would have or could have made it. But we'll never know.”
Reds Stories
A pointed victory for UC
SULLIVAN: No denying Bearcats' dominance
UC notebook
Muskies unravel; streak is over
Late calls rankle Musketeers' West
DAUGHERTY: Bledsoe the real deal
Bengals Q&A
AFC outguns NFC to win Pro Bowl
Roundup: Boys hoops
Roundup: Girls hoops
Ohio boys basketball scores
Ohio girls basketball scores
Kentucky boys basketball scores
Kentucky girls basketball scores
Indiana boys basketball scores
Indiana girls basketball scores
Seventh-grader stands tall against opponents
Swimming: CovCath, Notre Dame cruise
Swimming: Ursuline cruises to victory in sectionals
Ursuline has unique way to honor signees
League wrestling: Mount Healthy wins first SW Ohio Public title
Wrestling: Lakota West wins team GMC title
Cottrell returns from injury, leads NKU women to victory
NKU's Sanders all about the game
RedHawks' rally fizzles Rockets
Indiana 77, Louisville 62
Kansas has big day despite Knight
No. 7 Kentucky 68, LSU 56
Notre Dame nips Hoyas in 4 OTs
Ohio 85, Ball St. 71
Top 25 roundup
Ducks blank Rats
Horses: Miss Pickums wins Likely Exchange Stakes
All-Star 2002: East typifies how things have changed
Rafalski, Devils win thriller in OT
Stojakovic edges Person in 3-point shootout
Young guns ready for Daytona
Coming up this week
Enquirer's Page Two power rankings
• Return to Reds front page...
What might have been
