Major League Passings, 2011

[Chad ochoseis]

Ryne Duren, 81, who was famous for scaring the living crap out of batters with a Nolan Ryan fastball and Ollie P control.

[MFS62]

Memories of Ryne (without looking at the article):
He would scare batters with his "lack of control" by tossing at least one warmup pitch all the way back to the screen when he came into the game.

Then when he took the mound, he'd peer down at the figures at home through his thick glasses, pushing them back on his nose, as though he couldn't see clearly without doing that.

I remember a game against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Bases loaded, extra innings. The batter was power-hitting first baseman Vic Wertz. Duren apparently found his control after the count went to 3-2. He threw at least a half dozen strikes that Wertz kept fouling back to the screen. Then Vic found one he could handle, and hit a Grand Slam into the back of the right-center bleachers. Great mano-a-mano duel that even a youngster like I was at the time could appreciate.

Later