Al Worthington
Allan Fulton "Red" Worthington (born February 5, 1929 in Birmingham), nicknamed "Red", is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played 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. He has been considered the first great closer in Twins history.
After playing for the Howard Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide, Worthington began his career with the Giants pitching two shutouts in his first two major league games. After that, however, he turned lost eight of his next ten starts to finish 4-8 with a 3.44 earned run average. He spent most of the next two years in the minors, but returned to the Giants' starting rotation in 1956 and moved to a relief role in 1959.
Worthington was traded to the Boston Red Sox just before the 1960 season. He spent some time in their farm system and was traded to the Chicago White Sox during the season. He spent another two seasons mainly in the minors before returning to the Major Leagues as a member of the Cincinnati Reds in 1963. Midway through the next season, he was traded to the Minnesota Twins.
After Worthington landed in Minnesota, he blossomed into one of the American League's most dominant closers. In 1964 he compiled a 5-6 record with 59 strikeouts and a 1.38 ERA. His most productive season came in 1965, when he posted a career-highs 21 saves, won 10 games, and made an appearance in the World Series. From 1966-67 he saved 32 games, and in 1968 he led the league's relievers with 18 saves. He retired after the 1969 season.
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.
In 1974 Worthington accepted the job of creating a baseball program at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Over the next 13 years his Flames compiled a 343-189-1 record. He took on the added duties of Athletics Director in December 1983. The baseball field on Liberty's campus was named in his honor on his final day as coach on May 3, 1986. He remained on staff as AD long enough to usher the Flames into the NCAA's Division I in 1988.
References
- Al Worthington. (May 5, 2008). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 15, 2008.