This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/24/2016
ADDENDUM: The notation on this baseball is not a match with the one Don is holding in the photo. The three baseballs in the attached image could be ceremonial ones used for the photo op in the clubhouse. We are confident that the milestone game-used baseball in this lot, having ended up as a keepsake in Drydale's personal collection, was plucked from that historic inning in which Don reached his final 58 2/3 scoreless innings mark.
In 1968, at the age of 31, Los Angeles Dodgers pitching great Don Drysdale set a major league record few thought would ever be broken. Pitching six consecutive complete game shutouts from May 14 vs. the Chicago Cubs until June 4 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Drysdale recorded 54 straight scoreless innings. The streak finally ended in the fifth inning of the team’s 5-3 win against the Phillies on June 8 at Dodger Stadium. Despite the streak’s end at 58 and 2/3 innings, Drysdale still earned his seventh straight win that day. He struck out a total of 46 batters during the streak. Drysdale’s mark would stand for 20 years until another Dodgers’ pitcher, Orel Hershiser, set the new record in 1988 by pitching 59 consecutive innings without allowing a run.
This lot features a game-used baseball from the final inning of the streak in Drysdale’s seventh straight game. The ONL (Giles) Spalding baseball, which shows some usage, contact marks and slight toning, is handsomely marked “58 2/3” in black marker on the north panel. Drysdale was cruising with a 4-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning when he allowed back-to-back singles to Tony Taylor and Clay Dalrymple to put runners at first and third. After striking out Roberto Pena, Drysdale saw his streak end when pinch-hitter Howie Bedell hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Taylor. It was the only run Bedell would drive in during 1968, and only the third career RBI for the journeyman outfielder. The attached photo shows Drysdale in the clubhouse holding three different notated baseballs chronicling his incredible streak: one that tied Walter Johnson’s old mark (“56”); one that broke Johnson’s mark (“56 1/3”); and one that officially set the new bar (“58 2/3”). What an incredible sports artifact this is to commemorate one of Major League Baseball’s greatest pitching achievements in history.
Includes LOA from the Drysdale Family.