1960 Profile: Ryne Duren

"The big bullpen blazer in the majors is still Ryne Duren, the man from Cazenovia, Wisconsin, whose thick spectacles make him look like a fugitive from Outer Space. Ryne had a 3-6 mark in '59 but allowed less than two runs a game. He struck out 96 in 44 innings, better than two per inning.

Now 31, Ryne scrambled a long time before hitting the majors. He began with Wausau in 1949 and saw service with Pine Bluff, Dayton, San Antonio, Anderson and Scranton before a brief '54 trial with the Orioles. Two more seasons in the minors followed before the A's called him up in '57. Ryne had a brilliant 13-2 record in '57 at Denver before coming to the Yankees in '58."

-Don Schiffer, 1960 Mutual Baseball Annual

"When Ryne Duren vaults the low bullpen fence in right field and ambles toward the mound, every fan in the park sits up and takes notice. For this flame-throwing right-handed ace of the Yankees is one of the more colorful performers of the day. Duren ... the man who wears thick glasses ... and isn't always sure where his pitches are going, can throw as hard as anyone in baseball for a couple of innings.

It took the 31-year-old resident of San Antonio a long time to make it in the majors. He had trials with the Browns, Orioles and Athletics before the Yankees gave him his big chance. In two seasons with the Yanks, Ryne has posted earned run marks of 2.01 (1958) and 1.87 (1959). As a rookie reliever in '58, Ryne saved 18 games for the champion Yankees. He saved 14 last year and had an amazing streak of 31 2/3 consecutive innings of scoreless relief work covering 17 appearances.

Late in the season, he suffered a broken right wrist when a young "fan" tried to grab his cap as he was leaving the field after a game. Ryne is in good shape now ... which is important to the Yankees."

-The New York Yankees Official 1960 Yearbook

Rinold George Duren (P)     #26

Born February 22, 1929 in Cazenovia, Wisconsin, resides in San Antonio, Texas. Height: 6-1 1/2, weight: 200. Bats right, throws right. Married and the father of one boy, Stephen (10).

-The New York Yankees Official 1960 Yearbook

"In two seasons with the Yankees, Ryne Duren has developed into a fireman of the mold of Johnny Murphy and Joe Page. A throw-in in one of the best Yankee-K.C. deals, Ryne has actually been the best man in the trade, at least for New York.

His won and lost record (9-10) during the 1958 and 1959 campaigns is no indication of the work he has done. In the former season he appeared in 44 games and had a 2.01 earned run average while fanning 87 in 76 innings. And, last season before being shelved by a broken wrist, Duren worked 77 innings, fanning 96, with a stingy 1.87 ERA.

The 31-year-old righty broke into Organized Ball with Wausau of the Wisconsin State League in 1949. As a minor leaguer he took three strikeouts crowns- Pine Bluff (233) in 1950, Dayton (238) in '51 and San Antonio (212) in '53.

Eventually, the Baltimore Orioles gave him a quick once over, allowing him to toss two frames in 1954. In '55 and '56 he was back in the minors and did little to warrant another crack at the big leagues.

Kansas City, however, gave Ryne a trial in '57- he was 0-3- before sending him to Denver in the Billy Martin-Harry Simpson deal. Duren found himself with the America Association Bears, posting a 13-2 mark and fanning 116 in 114 innings of relief.

The Yankees gambled and won on the 6'1 1/2" Wisconsin native, who wears just about the thickest glasses made, and won.

As a batter, Ryne ranks with Lefty Gomez which is rank. But as a reliever, ah, that's another and sweeter story."

-New York Yankees 1960 Yearbook (Jay Publishing Co.)

THE LONG AND SHORT

"In baseball terminology, a 'long man' is a relief pitcher who can go five or six innings, while a 'short man' begins to lose his effectiveness after three innings. Most renowned of the short men is Ryne Duren. 200 pounds and six feet plus. His fireball smokes so much that he has been nicknamed The Torch.

He wears thick glasses and stares so blindly at the plate that batters get nervous. Nor does he restore equanimity as he warms up. His favorite pitch is a rocket that shoots alarmingly over Yogi Berra's glove and crashes sickeningly against the screen.

The talkative Yogi doesn't help.

'He's got four pairs of glasses,' Yogi has told enemy hitters, 'and he can't see out of any of 'em.'

It was Duren's relief work that helped win both pennant and World Series for the Bombers in 1958. He might have done it again last year if the rest of the pitching staff had not collapsed. Yankee pitching was so weak there was more need of long men than a quick game-saver at the end."

-Arthur Daley, New York Times (Baseball Digest, July 1960)

"Ryne Duren, the fire-balling right-hander, is another Yankee hurler whose '60 season was paradoxical. Brilliant at times, wild and ineffective in other spots, Ryne always poses a real threat when he strolls in from the bullpen. His strikeouts and hits-per-inning ratio again were most impressive this season."

-1960 World Series Official Souvenir Program