| April 7, 1969... Don Drysdale's first two pitches of the ball game are lined for home runs by Cincinnati's Pete Rose and Bobby Tolan. Drysdale settles down and leads the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-2 victory over the Reds. This is the big 6'6", 215 lbs., Drysdale last year in the majors... he goes 5-4 for the year, with an ERA of 4.45. For his career he's 209-106, ERA of 2.95 and was later elected to the Hall of Fame.
Pete Rose won the year's major league batting champ, .348. Rod Carew of the Minnesota Twins hit .332 to pace the American League. Carew's teammate Harmon Killebrew led the majors in homers with 49 and in RBIs with 140. Willie McCovey led the National League in homers with 45 and in RBIs with 126. baseballhistorian.com Archives |
