Drysdale Chronology

July 23, 1936--Born in Van Nuys. His father, Scott, a onetime professional baseball player, later became a part-time scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

June, 1954--Signed out of Van Nuys High by Dodger scout Lefty Phillips and assigned to Bakersfield. He spent 1955 in Montreal, where he was 11-11 and had three shutouts.

April 24, 1956--Made his major league debut at age 19 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-1, at Philadelphia. He struck out nine batters, including the first three he faced.

April 15, 1958--Was the Dodgers’ starter in their first regular-season game in Los Angeles. The Dodgers lost, 8-0, to San Francisco.

Sept. 27, 1958--Married Ginger Dubberly, 19, of Pasadena in San Gabriel. The bride was a 1958 Tournament of Roses princess.

Oct. 4, 1959--Won Game 3 of the World Series, 3-1, over the Chicago White Sox.

Jan. 31, 1961--Signed a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers for $32,000, making him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball at the age of 24. During the 1961 season, Drysdale hit 20 batters in 244 innings, leading the National League in that category for a fourth consecutive year.

1962--Had a 25-9 record and won the National League Cy Young Award.

Oct. 5, 1963--Shut out the Yankees, 1-0, on three hits in Game 3 of the World Series.

1965--Had a 23-12 record.

Oct. 10, 1965--Won Game 4 of the World Series, 7-2, over the Minnesota Twins.

Spring, 1966--Drysdale and Sandy Koufax held out in tandem seeking a three-year, $1.05 million deal to be divided equally, missing spring training before settling for more than $100,000 each, the first pitchers to reach six figures.

1968--Had six consecutive shutouts and went 58 2/3 innings without allowing a run, which was the major league record until Orel Hershiser broke it in 1988 with 59 consecutive shutout innings.

Aug. 5, 1969--Pitched his last game for the Dodgers, an 11-3 loss to Pittsburgh. Citing arm problems, he retired from baseball after pitching in five World Series, being selected to 10 All-Star games and making a record five All-Star starts. In his 14-year career, he compiled a record of 209-166 with an earned-run average of 2.95.

Oct. 28, 1969--Ginger Drysdale filed for divorce in Santa Monica Superior Court, ending an 11-year marriage. The couple had one daughter, Kelly, born in 1959.

1970--Joined the Montreal Expos as an announcer.

1972--Joined the Texas Rangers as an announcer.

1973--Joined the Angels as an announcer and was paired with Dick Enberg. He and Enberg also did Ram radio broadcasts for three seasons. Drysdale also worked for ABC while with the Angels, and left the team in a salary dispute in 1980, working exclusively for ABC. He returned to the Angels in 1981.

Nov. 20, 1981--Signed a five-year contract with the Chicago White Sox to replace Harry Caray, who defected to the Cubs.

May 31, 1982--Was mugged by two men in a hotel elevator in Cleveland, suffering cuts and bruises in a scuffle with the muggers. The men robbed him of a gold watch, a gold chain and about $500.

Jan. 10, 1984--Elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame.

July 1, 1984--Had his number, 53, retired by the Dodgers.

December, 1979--Met Ann Meyers, a four-time All-American basketball player at UCLA, in the Bahamas, where Meyers was competing in a “Superstars” competition and Drysdale was announcing the event for ABC.

Nov. 1, 1986--Married Meyers, who in 1993 was inducted in the basketball Hall of Fame, making Don and Ann the only husband and wife in professional Halls of Fame.

July 23, 1987--Don Jr., Drysdale’s first child with Meyers, was born, 51 years to the day after his father was born.

March, 1989--A group headed by Drysdale purchased the Visalia Oaks of the Class-A California League.

Sept. 5, 1989--Was robbed of a Rolex watch and his Hall of Fame ring and other jewelry at a Houston hotel by two women who, police said, drugged him.

Jan. 21, 1992--Arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after being involved in a traffic accident near Universal City. A Breathalyzer showed a reading of .19%. The legal limit is .08%.

Feb. 14, 1992--Pleaded no contest to a misdeameanor drunken driving charge and was fined $2,350. Also ordered to attend a 90-day alcohol education program and to do 200 hours of community service.

March 10, 1993--Drew Ann, Drydale’s third child and first daughter with Meyers, was born.

July 3, 1993--Found dead in his hotel room in Montreal.