Don Gullett, ace of the Big Red Machine, dies at 73

Don Gullett, a flame-throwing left-handed pitcher who played for three World Series championship teams in the 1970s, first with the Cincinnati Reds and then with the New York Yankees, died Wednesday. He was 73.

The Reds organization confirmed the death in a rack but gave no cause or said where he died.

The Reds were one of the greatest teams of all time during Gullett's tenure. The Big Red Machine, as it was known, was famous for its wood, with an era-defining lineup of hitters including Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Pete Rose.

Although the team's pitching rarely received top billing, Gullett established himself as a feared ace during the team's stint as a dynasty. Nicknamed Smokin' Don, he blew batters away with a fastball whose velocity ticked into triple digits, sometimes drawing comparisons to his idol, Sandy Koufax, the legendary left-handed Los Angeles Dodgers.

Willie Stargell, the Hall of Fame slugger for the Pittsburgh Pirates, once said that Gullett “could throw a ball through a car wash and it never got wet.”

With a vicious forkball that sent batters swinging into the air, he went 17-11 with a 3.04 earned run average in 1974. Sparky Anderson, the Reds manager, predicted that Gullett, “barring injury, would almost certainly is that he will make it to the top.” Hall of Fame.”

Those words would prove to be prophetic, but not in the way Anderson intended.

Gullett had the honor of starting Game 1 of the World Series three consecutive years beginning in 1975: the first two for the Reds, the third for the Yankees. In a thrilling seven-game victory over the Boston Red Sox in 1975, Gullett lost the opener but came back to win Game 5, giving up just two earned runs in 8 ⅔ innings.

After the Reds defeated the Yankees in a four-game sweep the following year, the Bronx Bombers' principal owner, George Steinbrenner, had apparently seen enough: he signed Gullett to a six-year contract for $2.1 million (the equivalent of approximately $11 million). today) as a free agent.

“He had to take it” said Bench in Gullett's obituary in The Cincinnati Enquirer. “I think it was the hardest decision Don Gullett ever made in his life, but for his family it was the only decision he could make.”

In his first year in pinstripes, in 1977, Gullett went 14-4, helping the team to its first World Series victory since 1962.

Surgery in 1978 for a double tear in the rotator cuff of his left shoulder would mark the end of his playing days. His attempts to rehabilitate his throwing arm failed. He sat out the 1979 season and the Yankees released him in 1980.

Still, Gullett had 109 wins against 50 losses during his career and finished with a winning percentage of .686 – the seventh best in league history for pitchers who logged at least 1,000 innings.

On a star-studded Reds team, his athleticism stood out to teammates, as did his unassuming demeanor. “He was one total athlete,” The Enquirer quoted Bench. “He could hit and run like the wind and the nicest, kindest person. I don't think I've ever heard a bad word about Don.”

Donald Edward Gullett was born on January 6, 1951 near Lynn, Kentucky, not far from the Ohio border, the sixth of eight children of Buford and Lettie Gullett.

As a teenager, Don built his strength baling hay on local farms while becoming a dazzling All-State star on the diamond, gridiron and hardwood departments at McKell High School. He became a local legend, known for his scoring exploits 72 points in a football game and struck out 20 of 21 batters while pitching a perfect game.

Gullett was selected 14th overall out of high school by Cincinnati in the 1969 draft and played in just 11 games in the minor leagues before quickly advancing to the major leagues in 1970, when he was 19.

In the 1970 National League Championship Series, the Reds defeated a powerful Pittsburgh Pirates team in three games, with Gullett, in relief, scoring saves in Games 2 and 3. Despite his youth, he was unimpressed by the experience.

“I wasn't one bit nervous going in there,” he said during the series. “Talking to all these reporters is a lot harder than facing Willie Stargell or Roberto Clemente.”

The Reds lost the World Series in five games to the Baltimore Orioles that year and fell to the Oakland A's (another 1970s dynasty) two years later. Still, the best years were yet to come, both for the team and for the left-handed star.

After his playing days were over, Gullett retired to a farm near his hometown, where he grew tobacco and other crops with his wife Cathy.

Information about his survivors was not immediately available.

Gullett, interviewed by The Los Angeles Times in 1989, said it took time to get over his premature departure from baseball.

“I looked at myself and I was alone 31, 32 years old” he said. “It did bother me a bit mentally. It was mentally tough to watch the games.”

But even in his regrets, he retained his trademark humility.

“It was just unfortunate in my career,” he added. “If I had stayed healthy, there's a good chance I could have been very successful.”