Mitch Williams or Ryne Duren: The Original “Wild Thing?”
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Long before the British era of the Beatles and Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones were the Music craze and long before Mitch Williams made the major league scene, Ryne Duren was the original “Wild Thing.”
Dubbed with the nickname ‘Blind Ryne’, it is recorded that Duren “… had uncorrected vision of 20/70 and 20/200, would frighten hitters when he entered the game, squinting toward home through bottle-thick glasses.” It is further told that he was soo erratic in the minors that “he once hit the on-deck batter.”
Duren’s career spanned over 10 years where he pitched for 7 different ball clubs compiling a record of 27-44 with a lifetime 3.83 ERA. He managed to make 3 relief appearances in the 1958 World Series winning 1, losing 1 with 1 save as the Yankees defeated the Milwaukee Braves in 7 games.
In 1959, Duren had a streak where, at one point, he pitched 36 innings in 18 games without allowing a run. In 1958 and 1959 combined, Ryne gave up a mere 89 hits while fanning 183 in just 151 innings.
In 1960, Duren made two 1 inning appearances for the Yanks in the World Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates and was not a factor in either game. Pittsburgh defeated the Yanks in 7 games on Bill Mazeroski’s 7th Game 9th inning game-winning homer.
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By the way, for all of you old Brooklyn Dodger fans, check out the Feature “This Is Next Year” linked in the upper-left hand corner of the Walter O’Malley site. It’s a great momento of that unforgettable year 1955 when the Dodgers finally defeated the Yankees for their first World Championship.
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