Al Worthington

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Al Worthington
Pitcher
Born: (1929-02-05) February 5, 1929 (age 95)
Birmingham, Alabama
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 6, 1953, for the New York Giants
Last MLB appearance
October 2, 1969, for the Minnesota Twins
MLB statistics
Win–loss record75–82
Earned run average3.39
Strikeouts834
Saves111
Teams

Allan Fulton Worthington (born February 5, 1929), nicknamed "Red", is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of 14 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Giants (New York, 1953–54, 1956–57 and San Francisco, 1958–59), Boston Red Sox (1960), Chicago White Sox (1960), Cincinnati Reds (1963–64) and Minnesota Twins (1965–69). Worthington batted and threw right-handed.

Worthington was born on February 5, 1929, in Birmingham, Alabama. He was the seventh of 10 children of newspaper compositor Walter B. Worthington and Lake Worthington. Walter played amateur baseball locally, and two of Al's older brothers, Robert and Walter, played Minor League baseball as well. Growing up, Al went to Inglenook Elementary School and Phillips High School in Birmingham.[1] He attended the University of Alabama, where he played baseball and football.[2] The football team used him sparingly, though, and he stopped playing football during his sophomore year because he suffered a left arm and shoulder injury that was not healing quickly. The Baton Rouge Advocate considered him "lanky" for a baseball pitcher, but Worthington caught the eye of Birmingham railroad employee Dickey Martin while pitching against a local team in 1951. Martin recommended Worthington to his friend Larry Gilbert, manager of the Nashville Volunteers of the Double-A Southern Association, who signed the Alabama pitcher to a $1,500 contract in 1951.[1]

With Nashville in 1951, Worthington won his first two starts.[3] He appeared in 23 games (21 starts) for Nashville in 1951, posting a 7–10 record and a 4.57 earned run average (ERA) in 124 innings pitched.[4] He did not pitch well to begin the 1952 season; new manager Hugh Poland said the pitcher was "trying to throw too hard for his own good."[1] As the season went on, he improved, evidenced on August 24 when he allowed one run and six hits in 14 innings against the Little Rock Travelers.[1] He finished the year making 30 starts in 41 appearances, posting a 13–13 record and a 3.54 ERA in 221 innings pitched.[4]

In April of 1953, the New York Giants purchased Worthington's contract and assigned him to their Triple-A affiliate, the Minneapolis Millers, where he had a 9–5 record and a 2.90 ERA. In July, he was called up by the Giants, who added him to their starting rotation.[1][5] Making his major league debut on July 6, he allowed two hits in a complete game shutout over the Philadelphia Phillies.[6] He allowed four hits in his next start against the Brooklyn Dodgers on July 11, also a shutout, becoming the first National League (NL) pitcher to start his career with consecutive shutouts since Jay Hughes did so for the Baltimore Orioles in 1898.[7] Worthington then lost his next three starts, but his ERA remained under 1.00; in one of the games, he allowed seven runs, but only one was earned.[5] He would go on to lose eight straight decisions, however, before picking up a win on September 19, allowing one run in 8+1⁄3 innings pitched in the first game of a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates.[8] He won his final start of the season, also against the Pirates, on September 25, allowing two unearned runs in a complete game, 6–2 victory.[5][9]

Worthington failed to make the Giants' roster out of spring training in 1954, but he was the top pitcher at Minneapolis, posting an 11–7 record, a 4.32 ERA, and 93 strikeouts in 152 innings pitched for the Millers.[4] On that date, he was promoted by the Giants to bolster their pitching staff.[1][4][10] Worthington mainly pitched out of the bullpen for the Giants in 1954, though he made one start in the second game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals on August 29, allowing three runs in four innings and taking a no decision in a 7–4 Giants victory.[11] In 10 games for New York, Worthington had an 0–2 record, a 3.50 ERA, eight strikeouts, 15 walks, and 21 hits allowed in 18 innings pitched.[12] The Giants won the NL pennant that year, and though Worthington did not pitch in the 1954 World Series, he on New York's roster as the Giants swept the Cleveland Indians in four games.[1]

After spending most of the 1954 and 1955 seasons in the minor leagues, he became a full-time starter again in 1956. During 1957-58, he was used as a swingman, and by 1959 he was almost exclusively used out of the bullpen. Discovering that season that the Giants were having an employee steal opposing team's signs, observing them from the grandstands with binoculars and relaying them to the Giants' dugout, he confronted manager Bill Rigney about the fact. "I told Bill that I had been talking to church groups, telling people you don’t have to lie or cheat in this world if you trust Jesus Christ,” said Worthington. “How could I go on saying those things if I was winning games because my team was cheating?"[2] Rigney, who had been friends with Worthington since the pitcher's minor league tenure, promised to stop the practice.[2] When Worthington was with the Chicago White Sox in 1960, he discovered the team was using a flashing light on the Comiskey Park scoreboard to steal signs. Though he complained to manager Al López and general manager Hank Greenberg, the scheme continued. Not able to continue playing for the team with a clear conscience, Worthington voluntarily retired with a month left in the season. “A coach picking up signs, that’s part of the game," he said, "but this other now … Baseball ought to be played on the up and up. When it’s not, that’s the time to quit."[2]

Returning to Birmingham, Worthington enrolled at Howard College in the fall of 1960, hoping to finish his degree and pursue a coaching career. In May of 1961, he decided to return to baseball. According to Greenberg, the White Sox (who still had Worthington's rights) had tried unsuccessfully to trade him. They permitted him to play for the San Diego Padres, their Triple-A team.[2] After successive transactions between the Giants, Red Sox, White Sox and Reds, Worthington landed in Minnesota. He had a 1.37 ERA with the Twins in 1964, which Sports Illustrated called "impressive."[12][13] In 1965 he posted career-highs in saves (21) and ERA (2.13), and also won 10 games. From 1966 to 1967 he saved 32 games, and in 1968 he led the league relievers with 18 saves. In a 14-year career, Worthington compiled a 75–82 record with 834 strikeouts, a 3.39 ERA, and 110 saves in 1,246.2 innings pitched.

Following his major league career, Worthington replaced the retired Marv Grissom as the pitching coach for the Twins, serving in that capacity from 1972 through 1973.[14][15] Then, he went to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he helped start the Liberty University Flames baseball team in 1974 and became the first head coach.[16] He first found out about Liberty in 1973 when he heard Jerry Falwell speaking about it on the radio. Calling him, Worthington said the school should have a good Christian baseball coach; he wanted the job no matter what the salary.[14] He served 13 seasons as the Flames' head coach, and the team's first season was its only losing one under his tenure. As of 2010, he was the winningest head coach in Liberty's history, with a 343-189-1 record (64.4 winning percentage).[16] Future major leaguers Sid Bream, Lee Guetterman, and Randy Tomlin all played for him at Liberty.[2] He was named Liberty's Athletic Director on December 19, 1983.[16] Bobby Richardson succeeded him as head coach in 1987, but Worthington remained involved with the team as its pitching coach.[17] Under his tenure as Athletic Director, the baseball team achieved NCAA Division I status in 1988. Worthington retired in 1989. Liberty's former baseball venue was named after him.[16] Liberty Baseball Stadium replaced Al Worthington Stadium in 2013, but the new ballpark was rededicated as Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium in 2019.[18][19] In 1980, Worthington managed the Falmouth Commodores, a collegiate summer baseball team in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League.[20] He led the Commodores to the league title with a team featuring future major leaguers Steve Lombardozzi and Bream.[16][21] In May 2011, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

Worthington's nickname was "Red."[7] He married Shirley Reusse in December of 1950, while still in college. Though Worthington grew up going to church, he and Shirley became born-again Christians in 1958 on the second night of attending a Billy Graham Crusade at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. "I’d been going to church since I was six,” he said, “and I’d always wanted to go to heaven, but I’d never understood how."[1][14] In an interview with Alabama.com in 2020, he said, "I have to give God all the credit. He’s the one who’s blessed me all these years. Ever since I’ve been saved, it’s been a great life."[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Nowlin, Bill. "Al Worthington". SABR. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Stephenson, Creg (May 1, 2020). "The story of Al Worthington, who once quit baseball over sign-stealing". AL.com. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  3. ^ Fullerton, Hugh (June 8, 1951). "Sports Roundup". The Prescott Evening Courier. p. 4. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d "Al Worthington Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Al Worthington 1953 Pitching Gamelogs". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  6. ^ "Philadelphia Phillies at New York Giants Box Score, July 6, 1953". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Sheehan, Joseph M. (July 12, 1953). "Homer String Ends; Beaten by Worthington, Brooks Fall One Short of Major Mark of 25". The New York Times. p. 142. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  8. ^ Briordy, William J. (September 20, 1953). "Giants Split With Pirates by Taking First Game of Polo Grounds Twin Bill". The New York Times. p. 229. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  9. ^ "New York Giants at Pittsburgh Pirates Box Score, September 25, 1953". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  10. ^ Drebinger, John (July 29, 1954). "Antonelli Hurls 15th Victory, 10–0". The New York Times. p. 27. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  11. ^ "Al Worthington 1954 Pitching Gamelogs". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Al Worthington Stats". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  13. ^ "Minnesota Twins". Sports Illustrated. April 19, 1965. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  14. ^ a b c Montville, Leigh (November 13, 1989). "Thou Shalt Not Lose". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  15. ^ "Twins Name Worthington". The New York Times. November 12, 1971. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  16. ^ a b c d e "Al Worthington (Baseball Coach: 1974-86/Athletics Director: 1983-89)". Liberty Flames. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  17. ^ Jacobs, Barry (March 21, 1989). "Building From the Ground Up; Falwell Sees Liberty as an Athletic Powerhouse". The New York Times. p. B9. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  18. ^ "Liberty Baseball Stadium". Liberty Flames. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  19. ^ "Liberty Athletics Announces Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium Dedication". Liberty Flames. October 11, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  20. ^ "Cape League opens season on June 13". Barnstable Patriot. Barnstable, MA. May 29, 1980. p. 10.
  21. ^ "History of the Commodores". falmouthcommodores.com. Retrieved September 25, 2019.

External links

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