#157 Don Gullett

A ring barer....threw heat....A 20 year pressed into World Series service to face the Baltimore Orioles onslaught....accounted for himself well with a 1.35 ERA....coupled with Clay Carroll scoreless outing, the duo was the only pitching bright spot in an anticlimactic WS.....A year before, Gullett took an exponential jump from the Northern League, a lower single A circuit that disbanded shortly afterwards....Gullet took his WS momentum into a starter role with 16-6 record....the lonely bright spot for the Reds....future looked very bright....A set back in 1972 by hepatitis resulted in a 9-10 record, his only losing season from a specialist in high win %....took a good portion of season to get fully untracked but was called on to start WS game ... comeback complete in 18 wins 1973....followed up with 17 in ’74....next two years characterized by effective winning pitching (26 wins versus 8 losses) blemished by injuries....Gullet did walk away two WS rings...was content to stay with Red Legs for 1977, but NYY beckoned a longer 2 million dollar contract....year turned out to be a reprise 75-76.....stayed in enough games to collect 14 wins but spent several week on the injured list...culprit was sore shoulder....was able to get post game work with mixed results...with or without Gullett was secured his third successive championship....shoulder did not heal appeared in only 8 games in 1978.....diagnosis double torn rotator wiping out a possible Hall of Fame career....as a member of the Yankees got a fourth championship ring.....no longer pitched eventually released 1980....As it stands Gullet can take solace in that he has one of the top win loss percentages in baseball history with pitcher over 100 decisions....currently holds the 11^th spot bettering Koufax, Lefty Grove, a multitude of dead ball pitchers, and Babe Ruth....out of 1000s who played this is a high honor.