Al Worthington

Allan Fulton 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 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 in a less-than-modest starter the rest of the way and was demoted to the bullpen.

After successive transactions between the Giants, Red Sox, White Sox and Reds, Worthington landed in Minnesota, only to blossom into one of the American League's most dominant closers. His most productive season came in 1965, when he posted career-highs in saves (21) and ERA (2.13), and also won 10 games. From 1966-67 he saved 32 games, and in 1968 he led the league relievers with 18 saves.

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.

Worthington would continue on with his career in baseball after his retirement from the major leagues, by accepting the head coaching position at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. The field on Liberty's campus is still named in his honor.

References

• Al Worthington. (May 5, 2008). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 15, 2008.