By Dan Hock
REDS STATEMENT ON FRANCHISE HALL OF FAME LEFTY
FEBRUARY 14, 2024
The Cincinnati Reds offer condolences to the family and friends of Reds Hall of Fame pitcher Don Gullett, who died today at age 73. Reds CEO Bob Castellini said, “Don dedicated 24 years to this franchise as a player, coach and minor league instructor. An anchor on the pitching staff of one of the greatest baseball teams in history, his contributions to our rich tradition, our city and his community will never be forgotten.”
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Donald Edward Gullett (January 6, 1951 – February 14, 2024) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from 1970 through 1978. He was a member of the Cincinnati Reds Big Red Machine dynasty that won four National League pennants and two World Series championships between 1970 and 1976. Gullett was also a member of the New York Yankees teams that won two consecutive World Series championships in 1977 and 1978.
After his playing career, Gullett served as pitching coach for the Reds from 1993 to 2005. In 2002, he was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
Gullett died on February 14, 2024, at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio due to heart issues and other natural causes at the age of 73.
CINCINNATI REDS CAREER
1970-1976
The Reds selected Gullett in the first round of the 1969 Major League Baseball draft. He pitched for the Sioux Falls Packers of the Northern League that season.
In 1970, Gullett impressed the Reds in spring training. Despite his inexperience, he made the big league roster of a team that would go on to win the NL pennant. Pitching in relief of starter Ray Washburn, Gullett debuted on April 10, 1970, on the road against the San Francisco Giants. In his rookie season, Gullett appeared in 44 games (42 in relief) posting a 5–2 record and a 2.43 earned run average. In the 1970 World Series against the Baltimore Orioles, Gullett pitched 6+2⁄3 innings and allowed just one earned run (1.35 earned run average) as he and veteran Clay Carroll helped keep an injury-riddled pitching staff competitive in the series. During the 1972 season Gullett suffered from hepatitis. That season turned out to be the only one in which he had a losing record.
Gullett was the pitcher when Willie Mays hit the 660th and last home run of his Major League Baseball career on August 17, 1973. Gullett also surrendered Hank Aaron‘s 660th home run on August 6, 1972. He went 6–1 with a 1.83 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched in July 1974, winning the National League Player of the Month Award. In a 1975 National League Championship Series game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Gullett pitched a complete game and hit a single and home run, collecting three runs batted in.
Hall of Fame Manager Sparky Anderson predicted that Gullett would one day enter the Hall of Fame. As noted in the Gullett’s biography in the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR): “The three best southpaws of the previous generation—Warren Spahn, Whitey Ford, and Sandy Koufax—were in the Hall of Fame. When Gullett celebrated his 25th birthday in 1976 he had already won 91 games—many more than Spahn (8), Ford (43), and Koufax (53) had won by that age.”
