Don Gullett was mad at the world. His baseball career - once on track for the Hall of Fame - was over by the time he was 27. His left shoulder - once able to generate major heat - was so shredded he couldn't play catch. He went home to South Shore, Ky., and worked the family farm.

Don Gullett, pitching against the Red Sox in the 1975 World Series, was 93-44 with the Reds and 109-50 in his big-league career. (File photo) | ZOOM |

        “I was bitter,” he said. “I wasn't mad at anybody. I was just very bitter at the fact my career had ended at 27. I couldn't understand why I had the injury. It was tough for me mentally.”

        As a player, Gullett had prepared himself to coach, but the bitterness kept him from pursuing it.

        “I thought I'd coach eventually,” Gullett said. “I didn't know when.”

        His chance came when Lou Piniella, Gullett's old New York Yankees teammate, called in 1990. Piniella had just been named Reds manager.

        Piniella's call, in a roundabout way, led to Gullett becoming the Reds' pitching coach.

        Gullett and Bid McPhee will become the 58th and 59th members of the Reds Hall of Fame today. These days, Gullett is about as well-known for developing pitchers as he is for pitching, which is saying something, because Gullett was quite a pitcher. He went 109-50 with a 3.11 ERA in his nine-year big-league career, and his .685 winning percentage is fourth-best in modern history.

Gullett talks on the dugout phone while a monitor shows a pitcher warming up in the bullpen. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        As a pitching coach, Gullett consistently turns around the careers of veterans the Reds have signed cheaply. Pete Schourek, Pete Harnisch, Jeff Brantley, Jeff Shaw and Elmer Dessens are among Gullett's success stories.

        So is Gullett better known as pitcher or as a coach?

        “That's for someone else to decide,” Gullett said.

        “He was a great pitcher,” Reds general manager Jim Bowden said, “and he's a great pitching coach.”

        Piniella wanted Gullett on his staff in 1990, but that didn't work out.

        “Lou Piniella entertained the possibility of me being the bullpen coach,” Gullett said. “He said, "I can't really offer the pitching coach's job because of the inexperience and the fact that you've been away from the game for as long as you have.' ”

        The bullpen coach job went to Larry Rothschild, who had been in the Reds organization as a minor-league instructor.

Gullett talks on the mound with pitcher Joey Hamilton and catcher Jason LaRue. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        But the Reds had another opportunity for Gullett. He was named the pitching coach at Double-A Chattanooga and took the same job with Triple-A Nashville the next year.

        “I enjoyed the challenge of working with young individuals, seeing them be successful and graduate to the higher levels,” Gullett said. “That's the exciting thing about being a minor-league coach.”

        But Gullett, like every coach, wanted the chance to work in the big leagues. He spent a year as a roving minor-league instructor before joining the Reds as bullpen coach in 1993.

        He became pitching coach in May 1993 when Davey Johnson took over after Tony Perez was fired. Gullett has served as pitching coach under Johnson, Ray Knight, Jack McKeon and now Bob Boone.

        He has been the only pitching coach Bowden has hired.

        “He's low-key,” Bowden said. “He's well-respected by the pitchers. He's great at finding ways to improve pitchers, whether it's the grip of the baseball, mechanics or pitch selection.

GULLETT FILE

Name: Donald Edward Gullett   Age: 51   Hometown: Lynn, Ky.   Current position: Reds pitching coach   Playing career: Seven years for the Reds, from 1970-76. He was 93-44 as a Red. Played for the New York Yankees in 1977 and '78. He was 18-6 as a Yankee before a shoulder injury ended his career.   Three-sport star: Played for McKell High in South Shore, Ky. As a senior, he scored 72 points in a football game; threw a perfect game in baseball, striking out 20 of 21 batters; and scored 47 points in a basketball game.

        “But the biggest thing is his track record. Look at what he's done with Jeff Brantley, Jeff Shaw, Pete Schourek, John Smiley. The list goes on and on.”

        Said Bruce Chen, one of Gullett's current projects: “He communicates very well. When I got traded here, he looked at the tape and knew what I had to do. Everything he says is very simple. He's easy to relate to because he was successful as a pitcher.”

        Gullett credits Larry Shepard, his pitching coach while with the Reds, with some of that. But Gullett says most of what he does is self-taught.

        “The single biggest thing for me was excelling as an individual,” Gullett said. “Also, when I wasn't pitching, I watched the other pitchers, my peers, the opposition. I watched different styles, different mechanics. I watched how they went about things and how they got the job done.”

        Gullett is excellent at recognizing small mechanical flaws that lead to big problems. Elmer Dessens has been a living example of that this season. Dessens struggled all during spring training and was racked in his first regular-season outing, giving up four runs in three innings. Afterward, Dessens had a bullpen session with Gullett.

        “I was too open in my delivery,” Dessens said. “He watched tape and found it. He shortened my stride.”

        Dessens threw seven innings of four-hit, one-run ball his next time out. He has been among the league leaders in ERA since and was at 2.91 with a 6-5 record through Friday.

        Dessens is typical of the pitchers with whom Gullett works. The Reds signed him as a bargain free agent after the 1999 season, and he was 2-8 with a 6.12 ERA in parts of three seasons with Pittsburgh. He spent most of '99 in the Japanese minor leagues.

        But under Gullett, Dessens went 11-5 in 2000.

        “He gave me the confidence,” Dessens said. “He told me I had all the pitches to pitch in the big leagues. He told me to throw strikes, keep the ball down. He helped me a lot with my confidence.”

        Gullett's message varies with the pitcher.

        “What I want out of them is to understand the game, understand themselves,” Gullett said. “I want them to use their physical and mental ability to go out and have success.”

        Gullett is in the last year of his contract. Neither he nor Bowden will say if there have been discussions about an extension. But you get the idea Gullett will be able to stay with the Reds as long as he wants.

        “I take it one year at a time,” he said. “As long as I'm doing what I like doing, I'm going to stick with it.”

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