RIP, Ryne Duren

[Smasher_Sloan]

Former MLB pitcher best known for a blazing fastball, Coke-bottle glasses and a drinking problem that undermined his career.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/story/14521909/former-yankees-allstar-reliever-duren-dies-at-81

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Who knows how great he might have been if it hadn't been for his drinking. To his credit, he sobered up and did great work counseling other alcoholics.

RIP.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Was the inspiration for not only the spelling of Ryne Sandberg's name, but also the movie characters Rick Vaughn and Nuke Laloosh.

Duren's unique first name lives on in baseball history. Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg's plaque in Cooperstown includes this note: "Named after former Yankees pitcher Ryne Duren." They are the only major leaguers named Ryne, according to baseballreference.com.

But it was Duren's blazing heater -- and 20/200 vision in his left eye, 20/70 in his right -- that always attracted attention. The look was very Ricky Vaughn from the movie "Major League."

Duren was known for coming out of the bullpen and throwing at least one of his warmup pitches to the backstop on the fly. He later kidded that he sometimes did it on purpose. Either way, opposing batters took notice, and Duren's reputation grew.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/news/story?id=6000341

My dad was a Yankee fan growing up, and Duren was one of the guys he always spoke of in reverential terms.

 

[YankeeFan]

Nice obit in the Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/sports/08duren.html?hpw

Looks like he wrote a couple of books about baseball and alcoholism:

http://www.amazon.com/I-Can-See-Clearly-Now/dp/1593300131/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294501665&sr=8-1